Love, Loss, Family & Cell Phones

I remember this:


This was how we got our information.  This was how we caught up on our family life.  Hours of conversation and stories. Exchanges of hugs and kisses and love.  But that has all changed and life has moved forward.  My late mother tried to prepare me.  She told me often, "Getting old is hell."  And she was NOT a cursing woman!

The family tree has new branches with their own leaves & some leaves have fallen to the ground, while new buds are just emerging.  It is such a mixed message in the heart - joy and sorrow.  I am allowed to participate in a few of the joys, but the older I get the more I realize how much "loss" we have to deal with.


Loss of family members,

Loss of children running through the house,

Loss of child bearing ability,

Loss of traditions & gatherings,

Loss of youth,

... All leaves on the ground.

But I don't want this to be a sad blog.  It's just a fact blog.  We grow old and we observe change and loss.  I think that is one of the crazy things about Facebook -- the Timeline.  I resisted it.  It was hard to maneuver and even harder to load into my phone. Alas, I am getting used to it... okay.. I like it.  I see the value.  We are the new "scribes".

This means that most family gatherings are no longer filled with stories and information and hugs. There is no need for that because everything is out there on the web.  Births, deaths, and marriages are announced FIRST on Facebook.  MANY are the moms, sisters, and others with hurt feelings because we read it "first" in a public post.  We are sent cyber {hugs!!} and pokes.  Our family history is laid out in 3 to 5 sentence posts.

Now the family gatherings are spent with everyone observing the latest technology (looking at their cell phones), surface conversations about sports, movies, or planned calendar activities, and painful forced verbal exchanges about the latest online posts.

I miss the stories told "on stage".  I miss the surprises and announcements with real facial expressions.  I miss the uncomplicated love and hugs.

....... as I charge up my cell phone to head to a birthday party! Guilty as charged.

The Total Gym Recliner

THIS is my current position (except that I have the laptop in my lap).





THIS will be me on the cruise (except that I will have on a one-piece suite).


Unreal expectations?  OF COURSE, SILLY!! LOL.

The top picture is pretty close to my activity level.  HOWEVER I am thinking about getting up any moment and putting on my workout clothes that are already laid out.  (blog quick, Rebecca -- write like the wind!!)

Someone suggested that I needed more sleep instead of exercise.  Too much sleep is what has helped get me to where I am - out of shape, achy, & typical.  Besides, my body clock goes off at 4:45am whether I like it or not.  I can either lay there and toss and turn, or get up and start my day.  I get up.

The reason I exercise (your reasons may vary!):
1.  I'm over 50 and sit at a desk in one position for 8 to12 hours every day.
2.  I'm over 50 and don't want osteoporosis.
3.  I'm over 50 and need more flexibility.
4.  I'm over 50 and there ain't no turning back the fact.

... bones ... flexibility ... aging ... future...

I don't hop around and get all sweaty and red faced.  Been there, done that, got the leg warmers.  One must pace oneself! lol.  But doing "something" is better than doing absolutely NOTHING.

I do it because in 20 years (NOT too far off anymore) I do not want to shuffle around with a walker because my bones are brittle and my back is bowed.  I do it because in 20 years I do not want to have someone else pick up my socks because I cannot reach the floor.  I do it because I don't want to feel old, even if the calendar is against me.  I do it because I don't want to break a hip!

.... and of course... I am trying to get the mind-set and CONVINCE MYSELF...



REALLY?!?  When does that happen?

Wearing Cappuccino

Spent the weekend researching Paleo & Primal.  What am I doing right?  What am I doing wrong?  What are others doing? etc etc etc  We have the big cruise coming up and I am trying to acquaint myself with the topics.  Atkins I know - these others are the newbies.

In ONE post an author had 15 rules for following a Paleo lifestyle.  Rule #1 said "A Paleo diet should be ... moderate in animal protein..." etc... followed by Rule #3 "... eat generous amounts of animal protein..."

REALLY?!??

So I read on... dug further.  I have read a few eBooks about the science and about the results.. but it is very hard to dig out the REAL fundamentals.  I saw "sweet potatoes" & "grapes" on some of the food lists.


NUH-HUH!!!!!  What???  (mouth is watering.. blood sugar is shooting up!)

I found one diet plan for full meals for breakfast, lunch, & dinner, including 2 snacks.  The meals were gourmet and sounded delicious, but my boss won't buy kitchen appliances that allow me to produce the quality of food required for that menu!  Awesome menu, but totally not practical for a working woman.  On the flip side, I also cannot squat in the middle of the office lobby and build a quick fire to roast my catch of the day.  I have evolved.  There were high fat paleo blogs, low fat paleo blogs, there were paleo "zone" diets, I did NOT, however, see any Paleo Vegetarian diets, but I know they exist because of this image I found while googling.









I LOVE the way my friend Kim put it when I asked her about the differences.  She said, "It's like Atkins for hippies."  Ahhhhh... THAT I could understand.  The whole "caveman" thing is too gritty & sweaty for this fashionable child of the 70s.  "Hippy" is a concept I can grasp - organic ... flowers ... natural ... flowers ... raw ... flowers ... peace ... love ... & flowers.

SERIOUSLY.

So.. off I toddle hoping to find a key.  I have had no sugar since December 27th (that I am aware of).  I have had no starch either.  HOWEVER, something is stopping my loss.  I am teetering between 5 pounds up and down, and CANNOT seem to break into the next "10 lb" nest.

So tweaking is in order:
1.  No more dairy.  -- OK OK... no more EXCEPT in my coffee.  As a compromise, I mixed equal parts unsweetened SO coconut milk & dairy cream.  Baby steps.  BUT absolutely no cheese!  BAD cheese!

2.  No more splenda.  Sigh.  Good bye little tabs.  You were so easy to carry in my purse, but alas, you have been replaced with two bottles of Sweet Leaf liquid stevia -- Hazelnut for coffee & Lemon for tea.  Sigh. (We're gonna need a bigger boat... I mean purse!)

3.  6AM - move that jiggly body.

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO... NOt that!!!!  ANYTHING but tha-hut!!!  I hate exercise.  I am rebellious in that manner.  Abhor, hate, despise, grrrrrrr

"Find something that you enjoyeee" -- shopping???  Walking down the beach?? (means I can quit my job?)
"Use the right music!!" -- Mood music? -- Death Metal??? (that is my mood when exercising)
"Work out with a friend!" -- all my friends are like me, thus why we are friends! Woohoo!
"Just walk around the block!" -- with a big stick and pepper spray?  I dun think so.

SO... I joined a pseudo gym.  Again, baby steps.  But I'm the toughest hydrolic pumpalator you have ever seen.  I give those little white bars the best push, pull, and shove of their existence.  THEN I think "Slow Burn" from Fred Hahn and I go SLOW as possible... within the 30 seconds before the lady says "Change Stations Now".



So there you have it... Paleo in THREE steps.  Eating low carb isn't a step -- that is a "given".  The rest of the items on the list are things I have said before -- but this time I mean it.

REALLY!!!

Typical day:
5:00am - coffee & paper (actually internet news)
5:45am - off to Curves for Women!  Curvy Women!  (actually all the "over 50" set is there that early)
6:40am - home, shower, and go to work
8:30am - pick up 2 scrambled eggs & 3 strips of bacon waiting for me at the deli on my way up to my office! (Love my deli lady!)
WORK WORK WORK ... WORK some more...
10:30am - growling tummy is ignored
11:30 - LUNCH (meat and something green -- today was a pork rib & eggplant ratatouille)
3:30pm - growling tummy enticed with a  protein "cappuccino"

OH.. almost forgot the title of this blog -- "Wearing Cappuccino" -- W- E - L - L ... I went into the office kitchen and made me a perfect cup of the BariWise drink mix (containing aspartame!! gasp!!).  I was heading out the door at a fast pace and suddenly realize that the paper cup was FREAKIN' HOT!!! My hands disengaged before the brain could stop them.  I poured it down the front of my shirt and all over the floor.  Good thing for me I was wearing a leopard print top because the brown splotches didn't show, only the red, peeling blisters on my chest from the hot beverage. hahaha. just kidding - it wasn't that hot.  Anyway... now I smell like the inside of a very sweet Starbucks.  For the first 10 minutes it was kind of funny and pleasant.  NOW, an hour later.. I am nauseous at the smell!  ugh.

Photo of self in leopard print -- hahaha  NOT!  My hair is not that long, and my name's not Kim.


Now it is an hour before I go home from "WORK WORK WORK".  And I have a stocked fridge waiting for me.  ..... cabbage, chicken wings, & perhaps some blueberries... maybe.  Who knows... maybe I'll watch a movie on the treadmill.



No.  Don't think so.