Bubble Buster

Conversation with one of my patients today:

Patient: "You keep yourself looking slim and trim."

Me: Thanks, .........!

Patient: "I like someone who's pleasingly plump."

Me:

Patient: Well, your not there.

Me: Thanks, ........!

In the span of five seconds, I went from feeling really great to totally deflated.

Signs of Spring

We're finally seeing signs that winter is over and spring is here. Of course, switching from standard to daylight savings time is always helpful. It stays light until well after 8:00 now. My husband and I can go on our after dinner walks again.

The daffodils are starting to come up.

I saw my first robin (Michigan's state bird) last week. What a sight for sore eyes.

We have ducks swimming in our yet-to-be-opened pool.

Unfortunately, however, the glacier in front of our house is still there.

We live at the end of a cul-de-sac and the snowplow pushes all the snow from the neighborhood into our yard. Hopefully this thing will melt before it starts to move and carve a canyon through our house. If my blogging suddenly stops, you'll know what happened.

Widow Weekend

Every year, I become a widow on the weekend of the Master's Golf Tournament. My husband plops down in front of the TV from morning until night. Not only does he watch the golf live, he then watches the recaps, interviews, projections for the next day, and on and on. With limited commercials, I'm surprised he doesn't put a commode in the family room, so he doesn't have to leave for bathroom breaks. Maybe he hasn't thought of it and I'm certainly not going to suggest it. He does occasionally get up and putt a few balls across the carpet, just to feel like he's part of the game. I can't wait until Sunday evening, when life returns to (our) normal.

Spring Running

The weather in West Michigan is taking a turn...at least for today. It was 37 degrees (F) and sunny when I started my run today. This is the first time I haven't had to wear gloves or a headband in months.

Since I haven't run in a few weeks, it felt great. I strapped on my iPod and put on my running playlist. The songs have to have the right beat for my pace (which is slow).

The first main street I come to has lots of trees and a few rolling hills. It's scenic, with the occasional views of Mona Lake.

I passed the house with the dog that I feel sorry for. This poor dog is always lying in the driveway, rain or shine, hot or cold, waiting for his master to come home. On occasion, I stop and give it some lovin'.

Today, as with most days, I came across a dead squirrel. (It's the price they pay for being indecisive. They get in the middle of the road and then can't decide which way they should run. Make up your mind, already!)

One summer, there was a dead raccoon on my running route. Every time I passed him, I would tell myself not to look. It never failed--I looked. As time wore on, he began to deteriorate. As his flesh disappeared, his teeth started to show. It looked like he was smiling.

I passed the high school,

waved to a friend who was outside with her grandchildren, and savored the smell of the fresh air.

I love this road in the summer because it's shady and cool.

I like to save running through Lake Harbor Park for last. It's so pretty and serene. It's my reward for hard work.

This little channel goes out to Lake Michigan.

These dunes are popular in the winter for sledding.

On the way home, I came across a deer. I'm always surprised when I see them.

I finally hit the home stretch. Lunch was waiting (well, not exactly waiting. I still had to make it).

Stats:

Distance: 6.2 miles,

Time: 65 minutes (slow, but some of that was used for photo-ops),

Maximum heart rate: 169 bpm

Average heart rate: 156 bpm

Calories burned: 628 (according to my heart rate monitor)

It's official--I'm Old

A few years ago, one of my patients brought a brochure into class about a new seniors' center. It had loads of things to offer "older people", like fitness assessments, Zumba classes, computer lessons, a book club, martial arts classes, and a cute little cafe, among other things. She was so excited about it, as it was only $60/year to join. As I looked over the brochure, I read that it was open to older adults, age 50 and up. My first (disappointing) thought was "Oh, I guess I'm older." This was a new revelation to me.

Two summers ago, I was getting some physical therapy for a shoulder injury. As I was waiting for my therapist, I picked up a magazine. The usual fare of waiting room options were there: Good Housekeeping, People, Women's Day, etc., but I picked the magazine with Ron Howard on the cover. Then I noticed the name of the magazine, AARP. (For those of you too young to know what those initials stand for it's the American Association of Retired People.) I dropped the magazine like a hot potato.

Fast forward two years. Yesterday, my husband and I received our AARP membership cards and benefits packet in the mail. I am now an official member. We're going to try it for a year. You supposedly get discounts on hotels, restaurants and some stores, like Borders bookstore. I'll give you an update in the future on whether or not it's worth $16 a year.

Eat your heart out, youngsters.

Extra Bananas

I have bought bananas at the grocery store every week since I can remember. For about the first fifteen years of my marriage, I would go to the store and think to myself, "I'd better get bananas for Mike," thinking that my husband loved bananas. I didn't realize that as he was eating them, he was thinking, "I'd better eat the bananas before they go bad." He likes them, but he doesn't LOVE them like I thought. As he often says, he has the banana burden in our family. I don't remember how we figured out our mistaken thinking, but I've cut back a bit on the bananas.

Last week he was out of town, so I had extra bananas around--a great opportunity to make banana bread. I found this recipe on Allrecipes.com. Not only is it really good, it only has 1 gram of fat.

Lower Fat Banana Nut Bread

3/4 cup fat free sour cream

4 egg whites

1/4 cup chopped walnuts

1/3 cup raisins (optional)

2 teaspoons baking powder

2 teaspoons baking soda

6 very ripe bananas, mashed

2 tablespoons reduced fat margarine

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon salt

2/3 cup packed light brown sugar

4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Lightly spray two 8x4x2 inch loaf pans with a non-stick cooking spray.
2. Combine the fat free sour cream, egg whites, vanilla, bananas and margarine and mix on medium speed of electric mixer until smooth, creamy and well blended.
3. Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and brown sugar into the banana mixture. Stir with a spoon until combined. Add more flour if necessary until a thick and rather resistant dough is formed. Fold in the nuts and raisins. Mix for 1 minute on the low speed of an electric mixer. Divide dough evenly between the two loaf pans.

4. Bake at 375 degrees F until golden and the center tests done. Remove breads from pans immediately and allow to cool on a rack before slicing.

I cut the recipe in half because I only had 3 bananas but I kept the nut and raisin portions the same. I realize the loaf looks a little small. Either someone (moi) ate a couple of pieces or it's like looking in your rear view mirror where objects appear smaller than they really are.

Sewing Revisited

I don't enjoy sewing. Twenty five years ago, I vowed I would never sew again. The incident that preceded this oath was my attempt to make curtains for our little boy's bedroom. I was pregnant with our third child and we were moving Dave out of the nursery. We were in the midst of decorating his new room in primary colors and the curtains that came with the house when we moved in weren't going to fit the bill. I first tried dying the original curtains (an important fact in the sewing decision). They came out looking faded. So, I bought some red fabric, and decided to try my hand at sewing. Instead of measuring the windows, I measured against the old curtains (another important fact). I worked hard on this project. I even lined the curtains and put those little weights in the hem so they would hang right. I was so excited to see them hung up. Unfortunately, my husband had been dilly-dallying with the wallpaper and he didn't want to hang the curtains until he had the paper up around the windows. Late one evening, after much nagging, I mean, encouragement, he told me to go to bed and when I got up in the morning, those curtains would be hanging. When I got up the next morning, I ran to the room to see my handiwork. Oddly, the door was closed and there was a note that said, "Stop! Do not enter this room unless it's an emergency." I opened the door and saw my curtains hanging. They looked great, except for the fact that they were 2 inches too short. Apparently, when I dyed the old curtains (in hot water, like the directions said), they must have shrunk. That was when I uttered my vow.

My children had heard this story many times, and knew how I felt about sewing. When they were in high school, they had a "pops" choir concert coming up and needed to sew a simple tunic for one of their numbers. They didn't mention this to me until I happened upon their costumes in the family room. They had taken it upon themselves to make their tunics. Annie had stapled hers together and Dave had actually gotten out needle and thread and basted his.

Also my husband never asked me to mend anything; he had the cleaners sew any missing buttons on his clothing.

Fast-forward to 2011. I recently read in Real Simple that orange is big this year. Perfect. I have an orange dress that I've had for two years and never worn. I don't like the sleeves.

Original Sleeves

Since both my daughters have gotten into sewing, they've inspired me. So out came the seam ripper, needle, and thread, and I tried my hand at refashioning the sleeves.

Taking out the elastic.

Gathering the top of the sleeve.

First Design

Second Design

I was thinking I liked the second design best, but after looking at the pictures, I'm not sure. Any thoughts?