My History with Oatmeal

Growing up, I was the youngest in the household. I was always the last one to roll out of bed in the morning. My mother, a June Cleaver wanna be, usually prepared breakfast for the family in the morning. My mom & dad always ate breakfast first, then my brother, then me. On oatmeal mornings, my oatmeal was left in the pan. By the time I ate it, it was cool, thick and lumpy. Mom also poured my juice when she poured the rest. My orange juice was always warm. Consequently, I grew up thinking oatmeal should be doused with two tablespoons of sugar, floating in a pool of milk, cool, bland and lumpy and served with warm orange juice. As an adult, I continued this way of thinking....until recently.

I've looked at recipes for oatmeal with added ingredients but never dared try the recipes. I have substituted raisins for 2 tablespoons of sugar but never added anything more. I met Kate Woods on line this summer (a whole other story). Kate writes a blog - in one of her posts she tells about her love of oatmeal. I've decided to follow Kate's suggestions and dress up my oatmeal - and I'm glad I did.

For breakfast this morning I had oatmeal with 1/4 cup warm homemade applesauce, 1/8 cup raisins and some walnuts sprinkled on top. In addition to the oatmeal, I had a small glass of ice cold Trop 50 orange juice and a large mug of pumpkin spiced coffee. The coffee was fresh pressed in my French press I received from a friend during a swap on recipezaar and served in the mug the oldest daughter painted for me.

Breakfast today not only "broke the fast" but it also came with good memories of times past.

Dancing with the Stars and Rain

The new season of Dancing With the Stars began this week. I love watching DWTS. I was glued to the TV Monday night - opening night of the show. I immediately fell in love with some of the stars and, at the same time, hoped certain other stars would be sent home soon.

Tuesday after work I came home, changed my clothes & headed to to the gym before dinner so I would be home for DWTS at 8 pm. Well, I got to the Jeep & didn't have my keys so I went back in the house to grab my keys. I drove to the gym - about 15 minutes from home. Upon arrival in the gym parking lot I realized I forgot my gym pass key - the key that opens the door for me. Drat, I drove back home. By the time I arrived at home I realized I was really tired and opted to take a nap instead. After a 30 minutes nap, I got up & fixed supper for da hubby & me. After supper I decided to go back to the gym.

I had a pretty good work-out - 20 minutes on the recumbent bike, 30 minutes on the weight machines and then I headed to the treadmill. After 5 minutes on the treadmill, DWTS came on TV. Oh-oh!!! I gave it a little thought and then changed my treadmill time from 20 minutes to 55 minutes and proceeded to walk & watch DWTS. Soon I realized the show was going to go 2 hours that night so I calculated what time I would have to leave to get home before the first people were told they were safe this week. Unfortunately, about 15 minutes before I planned exit, the facility lost satellite reception and the TV's went mute.

I quickly changed my shoes, grabbed my purse and headed to the exit. That is when I realized it was raining - buckets!!! I made a mad dash to the Jeep which fortunately was parked in the first row straight out from the exit. It was raining so hard I was drenched by the time I unlocked the Jeep door. I made the decision to drive through the "hood" instead of taking the business loop home. Talk about terror - branches had fallen and the roads were flooded. All I could think was a branch was going to fall down and through the soft top of the Jeep. I managed to make it home unscathed. I rushed in the house & turned on the TV. I made it in time to hear who the first "safe" couples were. I sat through the final hour of DWTS in my wet clothes - afraid I would miss something important if I left the room to change.

I think I will be more cautious about timing next week.

Protein Drinks

Yum, I am seriously hooked on chocolate protein shakes. The only thing better than a chocolate protein shake is a chocolate and banana protein shake. I drank a shake for breakfast and another one for lunch today. I had a few hunger pangs mid morning and mid-afternoon but a handful of walnuts & raisins chased the hunger away. We ate at Applebees for dinner tonight - my dinner was Grilled Shrimp and Island Rice - 380 calories. Between the shakes, nuts, raisins, apples and dinner my total calorie intake was 1190 today. We shall see what tomorrow brings.

Time....

I have a confession to make. When I was 16 I could not tell time very well. My mother bought me a watch for my 16th birthday that did not have all of the numbers on the face. I lost that watch on purpose because I could not tell time on it. My mother knew I had a problem but, on the advise of the cranky watch salesman, bought the watch for me anyway.

Fast forward - I still need all of the numbers on the watch (or clock) to tell time. I don't like the look or feel of a digital watch - it looks more like a tool than a piece of jewelry. So, for many years I've been buying watches with the face full of numbers. Two years ago I had a terrific watch. The face was just big enough so I could read the little numbers but not so big that it dominated my arm. I gave that watch to my darling daughter when we went to visit her overseas. I have not worn a watch since - until a couple of weeks ago.

I spotted a nice little watch on sale for under $12.00. Did I mention, it's a little watch. Small enough but actually too small because I do have to put my glasses on to read the dial. Anyway, I leave the watch in a place so I remember to put the watch on every morning. I wore that watch everyday but did not realize I did not use the watch much.

This fact became very apparent to me at the fitness center late one afternoon. I was on the treadmill, pushing myself past my limit when I decided I should check my pulse rate. I glanced down to check my watch and realized the watch was upside down - and had been that way all day!

Do I really need to wear a watch?

Weight Loss

Da hubby was accepted in the weight loss program at our local hospital. Last week was his first week of appointments to meet with the nurse, nutritionist and fitness trainer. I tagged along to the first two meetings but skipped the fitness trainer. I wish I had gone to that appointment too - da hubby convinced the trainer he couldn't use any of the weight machines and the trainer believed him. Today da hubby saw the nurse & got weighed - he lost 8 pounds since last week. The nurse assured him it was probably water weight and the weight loss wouldn't be as high next week. Losing weight that fast is not healthy. We shall see what next week brings.

His first weight loss class was tonight - I tagged along. The subject was weight training. There are some machines I would encourage him to stay away from but others would do him a lot of good to use. He is still unsure so the instructor promised to type up a list of the machines for da hubby to bring with him when he sees the doctor later this month. I think I will tag along for that visit.

His weight loss has encouraged me to get serious about losing my weight too. I've been trying but the pounds will not budge. Today was the first day of eliminating fat foods for lunch. For the next two weeks, I'm going to drink a protein shake for lunch. Hopefully this will kick start the weight loss again.

Rainy Day

It's been awhile since I locked myself in my sewing room, otherwise known at The Cave. Today turned out to be a perfect day to return. Plans for this morning were to meet Linda at the White Lake library for a walk along the beautiful bicycle path. After our walk we were going out for lunch and then to her mom's duplex to help Linda lift & load some boxes into her car for delivery at the Whitehall Goodwill Store. Unfortunately, it rained this morning. Actually, it rained all day. We tabled our plans, perhaps tomorrow afternoon would bring better weather.

Since da hubby is working 3rd shift, I knew I would either have to leave the house or be very, very quiet. When I got up this morning he was sleeping soundly in the recliner in the living room. He continued to occupy the chair all day so retreating to the sewing cave seemed like a good idea. Upon entering the cave, I realized I had been dumping books and supplies for the past month. The room was a mess - complete with three purses waiting to be completed. Since I cannot stand working when the room is a mess, I spent considerable time straightening, sweeping and rearranging. Once the surfaces were cleared, I proceeded to sew covers for three pillows. My next project awaits me - a liner for a felted purse that was crocheted by a friend. Hopefully it will be finished before I go to bed tonight.

My efforts prove a rainy day can be a very productive day!

Mixed Emotions

The first week of school is over. The first couple of weeks are always quite interesting. We have schedules that we tweak over and over. No matter how much we tweak, there will always be teachers who are not happy. Such is the case today. The teachers were given an option - do you want library time on Wednesday or Friday afternoon. "I want Tuesday" was the response. That was not an option. To have library on Tuesday would mean I would be switching schools three days instead of one. When I switch school, I waste 20 minutes travel time. Twenty minutes also equals the amount of time I spend with one class. Twenty minutes is time well spent shelving, processing or repairing books. I prefer to be flexible and do what is best for the students. It is not all about me.

Labor Day Bridge Walk

We had a terrific weekend. The weather was a bit iffy but we did not let that deter us. Last night we bought fixings for s'mores. John, from the Coach House Motel in Indian River, provided sticks for us to roast our marshmallows. We sat around the fire roasting marshmallows and chowing down on our s'mores, keeping warm & toast in front but our backsides were a bit chilled. Beds in our accomodations were a bit squishy. I probably had the firmest bed - I slept on the couch!

As we headed north to Mackinaw City it rained a little. By the time we found a decent parking spot, the rain quit. The line to board the bus was extremely short and never quit moving. We boarded our bus and were on our way toward St. Ignace. The govenor was running south as our bus went north. We walked the bridge from St. Ignace to Mackinaw in 1 hour, 28 minutes - stopping to take photos from time to time. After the walk, we walked into Mackinaw City and located a restaurant. We waited ~ 30 minutes , not a bad wait considering all the other hungry walkers milling around the city. After breakfast we found the way to several fudge shops and then headed home.

It started to rain again once we were on the road home. Traffic was not bad - for a holiday weekend - until we reached Cadillac. US 131 seemed like a giant parking lot from time to time. Finally, around exit 120, we exited for gas and never got back on the highway. With the use of a paper map and my trust iPhone GPS, we found our way through the back roads. Now we are all home safe and sound.

Thank you Stephanie, Julie & Cathy for making this Labor Day Bridge Walk weekend a terrific trip. Let's do it again next year!

Jeep Windows

It has been awhile since I put the back windows in my Jeep - like a year ago. With our pending trip up north and temperatures in the mid 50's to mid 60's, I thought it might be wise to zip the windows in. Surprisingly, the windows went in quite easily Friday afternoon. Well, yesterday I discovered I missed a complete step in securing the windows properly. There is a channel along the back of the doors where a piece of rubber snaps into place. This step must be done prior to zipping, snapping the rubber channel in the bottom of the window and velcroing the top safely over the zipper. I'm heading outside now to remove the two side windows and doing the job right. We can't be driving up north with the windows flapping back and forth - more than the normal flap in a soft side jeep.

Pre Labor Day Bridge Walk

Several years ago I asked my daughters to join me on a bus trip up north to walk the Mackinaw Bridge with thousands of other people. The idea was to help me overcome my fear of riding across the bridge. Walking is an awesome experience with Lake Michigan on the right and Lake Huron on the left as we walked from St. Ignace south to Mackinaw City, a total of 5 miles.

That first year was fun so my oldest daughter joined me again the next year. We bumped up the challenge that year, ditched the bus crowd and drove up with our bikes on the back of the car. When we reached Mackinaw City, we dropped and locked our bikes at the ferry terminal and then drove (gulp, yes I drove) across the bridge and spent the night in St. Ignace. Early Monday morning, we drove to the bridge, parked the car and joined the thousands crossing the bridge. After walking across, we proceeded to the ferry terminal, retrieved our bikes and boarded the ferry where we biked the perimeter of Mackinaw Island - at least 8 miles around. After our ride and visits to various fudge and gift shops in town, we boarded the ferry, heading to St. Ignace. We rode our bikes from the St. Ignace ferry dock to the bridge, loaded the car and headed home.

The two of us walked the bridge together two more years with several of her friends joining us until she graduated from college and moved half a world away. Somehow continuing the tradition isn't worth the trip home every year - I understand. My husband joined me for the walk one year and friends T & S joined my husband and me another year. I took last year off because da hubby had to work Labor Day weekend and I couldn't find any victims to join me for the walk.

This year, friends Cathy, Julie and Stephanie will join me for the walk. The plan was to have the top down on the yella jeep and head up north early Sunday afternoon. Unfortunately, the temperatures have taken a huge tip - the prediction is for the warmest temps to be around mid 60's. Consequently, the top is up and the windows are zipped tightly in the jeep. We will still have fun - Hopefully I'll be back to post photos and commentary in a couple of days.

In the meantime, if you see a yella jeep heading north, wave - it is a Jeep thang!

Monday morning, as I left the house, I found someone had ransacked my Yella Jeep. I feel so violated to know somebody pawed through my belongings but I was also angry to find out they also stole my bike. I just paid to have my bike tuned up, got a new seat - comfy for my old lady butt. The bike also has high handlebars so my old lady back doesn't get hurt bending over. I drove throughout the neighborhood looking for my bike but didn't find it. I filed a police report and I called several pawn shops in the neighborhood. No bike. Everytime I pass a person riding a bike I look to see if it's my bike.

Tonight, da hubby and I are coming home from dinner with his sister. As we traveled along Getty Street we spotted a kid on a bike. We both realized at the same time it was my bike. Da hubby did a quick turn around (luckily there was minimal traffic on the 5 lane road). As soon as the kid saw the yella Jeep turning around, he ditched the bike and ran into a dump of a trailer park. We looked for the punk but he was too fast. My bike is now home, safe, sound and locked up.