Month is whizzing by

I don't have as much to write about as last year, primarily because most of my decorations and activities are the same as last year. A couple of nights ago we went to see the Wicked West again. It was more extensive this year because they added a maze.

Here is my fireplace display for the year:

Moving on up

First, to catch up on what is now old news: I didn't win my division in the Harvest Fair Run this year. Three speedy friends all running together took 1st, 2nd and 3rd place in 24 minutes, while I was eating their dust six minutes later. I can no longer claim to be an undefeated running champion!

Now for the exciting news: I got a job upstairs in the fitness center!

I gave my supervisor in the Membership Center almost 3-week's notice, and she's not happy to be losing me.

Right now my schedule is crazy, because I'm training for my new job while I'm still working the old job, plus I'll be subbing for the Arthritis Strength teacher while she's on vacation for a couple of weeks. My poor brain is working overtime.

A new part

Day 128

Have you ever changed your part from one side of your head to the other? I have, but not for the past several years. This seemed like a good time to do it because I just got a hair cut that I'm not thrilled with, and I figured it was a good time to train it to lie down on the other side since it looked awful anyway.

What do you think of my chopstick smile? Haven't you heard? This is how customer service people are trained to smile in China.

Here we go again

Day #127

Remember how much I hate running? And remember how I got talked into running the Harvest Fair 5K last year on my birthday and triumphantly finished 1st in my division? And then I announced that I was a retired running champion and never, ever had to run again?

Well, I guess I'm a masochist, because I'm doing it again. Signed up today.

That gives me 2-1/2 weeks to train, plenty of time. This year it's happening the day before my birthday, not actually on my birthday.

Certified

Days 125 and 126

This is what I was doing last Friday night and all day Saturday. My eyes were glazing over by the time we were done.

(Does anybody else think "insane" when they hear the word "certified"?)

State of the Garden Address

My garden this summer is definitely not up to par. For one thing, we're letting the ground lie fallow this year and I did all my planting in containers. A bigger factor than that, however, is the crappy weather we've had. In the 26 years we've lived in Santa Rosa, CA, we've never had this little sun.

Last year at this time I was dealing with mountains of zucchini and crookneck squash. This year, we haven't even grown enough to eat our fill, let alone sneak it onto the neighbors' porches.

So, I was thrilled when Rob did some weeding and uncovered a volunteer:

We just got our first veggie off of it yesterday, and it appears to be a weird hybrid of a zephyr squash and a zucchini:

Don't know what it was, but it tasted as good as any other summer squash.

The tomatoes took their sweet old time, but now they're the only thing we're getting in excess:

Ever heard of growing pumpkins in a container? Me neither, but I'm doing it. I found out about these containers called Smart Pots that are apparently the #1 choice of pot growers everywhere because of their high-yield results due to air-pruning. This is a 25-gallon Smart-Pot, and here are the two pumpkins growing on it:

I can't remember what variety I planted but it was a type that's not supposed to get very big, since I really wasn't sure if even small ones would grow very well.

Scallop Meal #2

Day 124

For the 2nd pound of scallops from Anderson Seafoods, I wrapped the scallops in bacon and stuck them under the broiler, served with a side of sauteed zucchini and cashews.

So easy and so good.

At another meal, Rob and I ate the prepared meal of Szechwan Shrimp. The shrimp itself was fantastic, but I was not crazy about the sauce and veggies that it came with; Rob polished that off for me.

Curried Scallop Soup

Day #123

I got really lucky last week and won a $150 gift certificate for Anderson Seafoods from Averie's blog. I ordered two 8-oz albacore steaks, a pre-made szechwan shrimp meal, and 4 pounds of premium scallops. I love scallops, but haven't had them for years because they're so pricey. They arrived frozen in the mail the day after I ordered them.

Today I made Curried Coconut Milk Soup with one pound of the scallops:

Very easy. Sauteed thin strips of red bell pepper, carrots and the scallops for 3 minutes, added curry powder, salt and chives, then added a can of light coconut milk and heated. Mmm, mmm good!

Something you don't see everyday

Day 122

ME in a DRESS? Definitely a routine-breaker.

It was dollar day at the thrift store, so I figured what the heck. If we ever get a hot summer day, this will be comfy for standing behind the welcome desk at the Y.

Downtown Cattle Drive

Day 121

In conjunction with our county fair, the organizers did something new this year: Driving a herd of cattle from the downtown courthouse square to the fair-grounds a couple miles away. Because of work I didn't have time to walk all the way, but it started a few blocks away from our house, so I had to go. My husband and I even made it onto the front page of the local paper the next day; we were two tiny little ant specks in the crowd, but definitely recognizable with a good magnifying glass.

New kitchen item.

Day 120

Today I found something at a thrift store that I've wanted for a long time; a butcher block island table:

Check out the close-up of the space for knives along the back:

I finally have a large surface for chopping my veggies. I already sterilized it with a vinegar/water solution, and now I need to buy some food-grade vegetable oil for sealing it. It has a bunch of knife marks in it, which I'm guessing is why the previous owner got rid of it, but they don't bother me at all. Now I just need to make sure that stuff doesn't get piled on it. This is my FOOD PREP area, not the pile-up area! Naturally this has set off a flurry of rearranging my kitchen stuff once again. I haven't figured out what I want to put on that one level with all the dowels. I'm guessing that's supposed to be for storing wine, but we don't drink wine.

The 30 Day Challenge

Days 90 through 119

Today's post is brought to you by procrastination. The details are a bit vague and fuzzy since events took place about three months ago. I can also thank Josie for giving me a prod by commenting on an old post.

My husband and I have been mucking around with low-carb diets for the past couple of years, but we never went hard-core low. Some people swear to have amazing energy levels and get super-lean on such a diet, so we decided to give it a whirl for 30 days.

No grains. No nuts. No sugar at all, including any fruit. We mainly ate lots of meat, eggs and veggies, and also coconut oil "fat bombs". This was NOT a low calorie diet. I did not measure things precisely, but I estimate that we were eating between 3,000 and 5,000 calories daily, depending on how many fat bombs we ate.

Results: We both felt great during the first week, and we each dropped a few pounds. My husband continued to feel great for the rest of the month, but I was dragging for the last three weeks. We both dropped a couple more pounds during the second week, and then we stayed the same weight for the rest of the month. When the 30 days were up, I added moderate quantities of fruit and nuts back into our diets. I felt SO much better after eating a banana!

I'm guessing that we would have lost more weight if we had attempted to limit our calories, but that wasn't the main point of the experiment. I really wanted to see how I would feel, plus I wanted to kick some bad habits that had crept into my diet, like eating dessert after breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Bike-ride Goodies

Day 89 routine-breaker

Are you having Bike-to-Work-Day Events in your city? I'm so close to work that I walk there instead of bike, but I took a bike ride after I got done with my morning workout-at the Y so I could score some free shwag at the energizer station. Check out the goodies I got:

Ooh, I even got a big can of coconut water, which is just about my favorite thing these days! The bars will be perfect for me to take to the airport on Saturday, (Assuming the TSA doesn't confiscate them for looking like terrorist weapons.)

I hit up a 2nd energizer station for a free pancake breakfast! I don't usually eat pancakes, but how could I resist when they also had bowls of fresh berries and whipped cream to put on top? And coffee?

Banzai Gardening

I'm leaving for San Diego in a few days. I did some planting last week, but I still had three plants left-over (tomato, yellow squash and lemon cucumber) and no place to put them. I really wanted to get them planted before leaving; Rob is still here to water them.

So I was at Costco this morning, and they had these big corrugated boxes with holes in the bottom. I took them home and plopped them on top of our dying lawn and filled them with home-grown compost. Ta-da! Instant raised beds. I think they're sturdy enough to get through the season without falling apart; we shall see.

Reptiles, Creamers and Back-roads

Routine-breakers, Days 81 through 87

Day 81

NEW RULE. I've been really bad about note-taking, and I'm also woefully behind in my blog-posting. Which means that I'm sort of cheating a little bit: From now on, the order in which I post things isn't necessarily the order in which I did them, and I will no longer bother posting the date. There also may be a day or two here and there in which I neglect to do a routine-breaker, but I will still keep going until I hit 365 days.

Day 82

I was inspired to totally rearrange and clean-up our solarium/throw everything-we-don't-know-where-else-to-put-it room because I bought three matching shelving units at a thrift store.

The third unit is to the right of the camera. These were a great deal at 10-bucks each.

Day 83

My snake is even more neglected than my blog. Technically, it's not my snake, I'm just "watching" it for an indefinite period that will probably be forever. The cage has been getting a bit whiffy, so I cleaned it and brought the snake out for some quality time. I don't think he's been out for about 6 months now. Does he even care? Who knows? Snakes don't have a wide range of facial expressions nor do they wag their tails.

Day 84

I'm not big on ceremonies, but I decided to put in an appearance at the dedication ceremony of the YMCA's new solar paneled parking lot. Shade for the cars plus free electricity for the Y. The mayor was there and everything.

Day 85

I did my first closing shift at the Y. Since I'm usually asleep by 8pm, I was not thrilled to be kicking people out of the facility at that time. After a couple of warnings, I actually paced up and down in front of a woman while she was still getting dressed in the locker room. I hope I made her so uncomfortable that she gets out earlier in the future.

Day 86

I FINALLY broke my chemical-brew Coffeemate habit! My new creamer of choice is a pint of half-and-half, a tablespoon of vanilla extract, and some packets of Splenda. Yeah, I know the Splenda makes it not perfect, but it's certainly an improvement.

Day 87

After many urgings from my husband, I took the back-road/short-cut instead of my usual freeway route when I made a trip to Rohnert Park. Not bad. More scenic and less traffic, but it still takes a bit longer.

Spring is sprung

The weather has finally caught up with the calendar, and I've been enjoying walking places while stockpiling some vitamin D.

I'm woefully behind on blogging about my routine-breakers. Still doing 'em, but I don't feel like focusing on the writing.

Been reading a book about eating bugs. Purely from curiosity; not something I'm planning to do myself!

The new Time Master

Routine-breakers days 77 through 80 (March 4 through 7)

77: I do not shop at Whole Foods Market. I went there during the grand opening last year, and hoo-boy, it's not just a joke that people call it Whole Paycheck Market. But there are some specialty items I couldn't find elsewhere, so I bit the bullet and went. Didn't find everything, but I did get ghee (clarified butter) and coconut-aminos, which is a soy-free alternative to soy sauce.

I did NOT find lard or tallow, which I was looking for so Rob could season a cast-iron pan. I did not expect to be judged by employees working behind the meat counter, but I sensed disapproval for daring to request rendered animal fat. I'm guessing that the meat-handlers are the lepers of the Whole Foods Market community.

78: I rearranged my kitchen to reflect the gradual changes I've made in my cooking/eating habits over the past year. I put away the toaster that hasn't been used for a year, and I now have easy access to my Magic Bullet and Pancake Griddle, which I now use every few days to make a flourless "bread". I also disposed of some items which I don't expect to ever use again, such as flour and any kind of condiment containing corn syrup.

79: The winding of the clock is another one of those chores that's always done by Rob; I did it this time. I needed Rob to show me the routine to make sure I didn't wind the side that activates the hourly bongs. (I like the bongs, but Rob doesn't.)

80: Ever since I got hired by the Y and am allowed to enter before opening time, I've been going in early to set up boot-camp for Lorenzo. (Class starts when we open at 5:30am.) This generally involves carrying 20-30 plates (from 25 to 45 pounds each) downstairs from the weight-room to the gym. It's been sort of wearing me out so that I'm tired by the time class begins, so I told him I would no longer be doing this when I'm attending class. (I still set up on Thursdays when I don't attend.)

ZAP, Chopsticks, Sound of Silence

Routine-breakers days 73 through 76

73: There's a store down-town that sells ZAP electric motor vehicles; cars, scooters, mini trucks, etc. It's been there a few years but I've never been inside. Today I went in and looked at them. Very cool; if I had an extra few thousand bucks sitting around I would totally buy an electric vehicle with a foot-pedal option.

74: I won a gift-certificate from a radio-station before Christmas (for identifying a song played backwards) and I still hadn't used it. When I got home from my morning work-out, Rob and I used it to have breakfast at the Crepevine. I had a really yummy steak, mushroom and caramelized onion sandwich with fries.

75: I haven't used chopsticks for years. I guess it's like bike-riding; once you learn, you never forget. Stir-fry is easy; slaw soup is a bit trickier.

76: I didn't say a word to Rob all day. (I warned him the day before so he wouldn't think I was mad at him.) I think he liked it. I had a really hard time keeping my mouth zipped; there were all sorts of things I was bursting to say.

Naked Ears and Doodling

Routine-breakers days 69 through 72 (Feb 25 through 28)

69: I walked directly from work to the grocery store to do some shopping. Had to plan ahead and bring my tote bags with me.

70: When I was a bored student in school and college, I doodled all the time, but that was years ago. After 30 some years, my style hasn't really changed.

71: My husband is the list-maker in the house, not me. I prefer to carry crucial info around in my head. I forgot to take a picture and I can't find it now, but I made a to-do list of such important tasks as grinding coffee, making flax-seed pancakes, and washing the sheets.

72: I've constantly worn earrings my entire adult life. One time when I was visiting my mom I lost one, so I switched the remaining earring from ear to ear for the rest of the week. So I took my earrings out for more than 24 hours. I kept rubbing at my earlobes all day just because I could.

more stuff

Routine-breakers days 65 through 68

65: Ever try to make bread without flour? 'Tisn't easy, but I found a recipe I'm happy with-
1/4 C flax meal
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 egg
1 T coconut oil (or butter)
seasonings of choice (I've been using Penzey's pizza spice blend)

Mix together, pour into shallow dish, and microwave approx 1-1/2 minutes.

It actually tastes like bread! I cooked this one in the same dish that I'm serving the sandwich and sweet potatoes in.  When in a hurry, I can quadruple the recipe and cook on a pancake griddle, but then it looks like pancakes instead of bread.

66: I consider putting a new bumper-sticker on a car to be a huge commitment. (Ever need to take off a bumper-sticker?) They gave me this one (on the right)at Penzey's Spices, and I knew I was ready to commit.

67: Got another Red Cross certificate, this time for CPR and AED (automated external defibrillator.)

68: You know how you hear something on the radio or you have a random thought and you think "I'm going to Google that." but then you totally forget about it next time you get on the computer? No? Happens to me all the time. Today I wrote them all down and Googled them.

Playing Games & Playing With Knives

61: We haven't played any new games for a long time, but I found Castle Keep at the thrift store and it looked interesting. It said "ages 8 and up", so I figured I could handle it.

Talked hubby and son into playing a few rounds. Eh. OK but not great. The playing pieces are pretty cool looking; maybe I can use them in some future creative endeavor.

62: Got a first-aid certificate from Red Cross. Haven't had one for about 30 years.

63: I generally hate computer games and anything classified as a brain game. So I Googled "brain games" and came up with this. I checked out every game on the website and this is the only one I actually liked.

64: Rob is the official knife-sharpener in the house. He's always telling me how easy it is, but I've always resisted learning. Today I had him show me how. He's right; it is easy!

Don't you think it's a good idea that I took the first-aid class before I started playing with knives?

Routine-Breakers: Month Two Review

Doing things in a different manner: 9 Days
Doing something new: 19 days
Days of deprivation: 2

The further I get into the challenge, the more skewed it's going to be towards doing something new and creative. It's really getting difficult to think of ways to do things differently, particularly since I'm not a very routine-oriented person to begin with.

   

                      Random photo: Karni, who died last month. RIP.

Hearts, Dreams, Beads and Shoes

Routine-breakers, days 57 through 60

57: I'm usually a Valentine's Day grinch (Hallmark holiday! Bah, humbug!) but I figured I'd go with the flow and make cutesy Valentine goodies for Rob. These are the same as the regular granola bars that I make, but I made these in heart-shaped, silicone baking cups and wrapped them in gold foil to look all fancy:

58: I programmed myself at bed-time to remember my dream. I know I dream, but I usually forget what it was by morning. This was not the most exciting dream to remember: I dreamt that I had a janitorial job at the Y, and spent hour after hour collecting and washing the towels.

59: I was fixing a seam on a shirt I got from a thrift store, and I spontaneously fancied it up with some beads I had on hand.

60: Did you know that there are all sorts of ways to relace your shoes? Many of them require two sets of shoe-laces, but I followed this tutorial to bar-lace my Converse. Here is the before and after:

Taking Suggestions for Routine-Breakers

Days 52 through 56

52: It was bed-time and I still hadn't broken a routine, so I slept nekkid. (I don't usually.) I don't like it, and didn't sleep well. Every time I changed position, some part of my body hit a cold section of sheet or brought in a fresh, chilly gust of air.

53: I am not a singer. Pretty much the only time I feel compelled to sing is when a birthday cake is brought out or during the chorus of Bohemian Rhapsody. Today I sang in the shower. I got through all the lyrics of Cat Steven's "Moonshadow" twice.

54: I haven't used nail polish since I was about 12 years old. Today I painted my toe-nails:

55: On my walk to the thrift stores, I stopped at Starbucks and bought coffee. This probably wouldn't be a routine-breaker for most people, but I don't think I've been out for coffee for over a year. Got a tall soy latte, and it was yummy.

56: I went all OCD and avoided stepping on lines all day. Talk about a way to suck all the joy out of a walk. When you have to pay attention to the ground, you can't really notice anything else.
*****

I'm finding it more difficult to come up with routine-breakers. I've already used up all the easy ones, like switching hands, sitting in a different spot, etc. Anybody have any great ideas?

Hula-hoops, Hobbits and Eskimo Kisses

Routine-breakers Days 43-51

Day 43: I got out the hula-hoop that's been sitting around for a dozen years (I bought it for my kids) and played around with it. Not only can I still keep it twirling around my waist, but I did some twirling around my legs and arms that I never even did when I was a kid. It was so much fun, I've been doing it every day since.

Day 44: The break-room at work has a serious coffee mug and spoon shortage. Instead of being perpetually annoyed about it, I went to a couple of thrift stores and bought some to take in. (20-cents per mug, 15-cents per spoon. What a deal!)

Day 45: My husband always mixes the oil into the new jar of almond butter. I did it today.

Day 46: I reversed all my dresser drawers; left to right, and right to left. Took a few days to stop opening the wrong drawers.

Day 47: I hate having the remote control, my husband likes it. For our evening movie (A Fistful of Dollars) I DEMANDED possession of the remote. (Wow, I even figured out how to use it!)

Day 48: Remember eskimo kisses? A combo of rubbing noses and sort of a side-nose nuzzle. Robbie and I both liked this one; we're still doing it.

Day 49: Haven't listened to an audio book in years, but it seemed like a good idea. So I dug out the CD set of The Hobbit and spent a couple of enjoyable hours listening to it while doing some domestic chores. I'll be continuing with it today.

Day 50: Even when I'm at work, I usually have a meal ready for Rob to microwave. At the very least, I have the food in the fridge and tell him what to do with it. Not today:

Charlotte's book just happened to be sitting there, so I figured I'd include a gratuitous book plug.

Day 51: NO COMPUTER! AT ALL! Oh, the agony...I felt so disconnected from civilization!

Getting More Creative

Day 31: Because I'm short, I frequently need to hem-up new t-shirts several inches. Usually it takes me forever because I use a ruler to measure and mark it. This time I got the bright idea to hang an old t-shirt over it, and then I eye-balled it and cut it without measuring.

Day 32: Rob is always trying to get me outside to look at little light specks in the sky that he claims are satellites of some sort, and I always pass. Today, at 6:59am, I went out with him to see communications satellite Iridium 97 pass by for several seconds. I did it the next day, too.

Day 33: I haven't had my own checking account since I got married 25 years ago. Now that I'm rolling in dough (hah!) with my new part-time job, I opened one up at a local bank.

Day 34: My towel shelf is always a mess, and I thought I'd try out rolling them up the way we do at the Y. Will it stay neater this way? So far, so good.

Day 35: I watched an interesting video about a guy who hunts fish on the sea bed without any equipment; he holds his breath for over five minutes! I wanted to see how long I could hold my breath. My first try was a pitiful 36 seconds. I did it a couple times a day for a week, and was able to improve my time to 80 seconds. I don't think I'll be diving down to the sea bed anytime soon.

Day 36: I walked to work backwards, about 1/4 mile. Didn't look backwards, either. I couldn't have done this one without Rob as an escort or I would have killed myself. I got some weird looks from people driving by!

Day 37: I don't usually eat at work, but I'm working extra hours this week, so I made myself lunch.

Curried tuna, cashews and raisins to put on a bed of mixed greens, along with a few of Averie's almond meal/flaxseed balls.

Day 38: A work haiku:
Working the front desk
Quick bursts of frenzied madness
followed by dead calm.

Day 39: I usually scribble out quick, messy notes to my son, but today I wrote out a very flowery message in cursive, with lots of swirls and little hearts to dot the "i"s.

Day 40: There are some jobs that always fall to Rob. Changing batteries and fixing things is one of them. Today, I actually opened up a kitchen timer and changed the batteries by myself. (Rob says this one is pretty lame, but, hey, it's definitely a routine-breaker for me!)

Day 41: OK, I'm really proud of this one. The front door of the Y is a pain in the butt to open because the automatic door-lock above the door needs to be deactivated by pushing two buttons that are in these big recessed holes way up high. The tool they use is a long allen wrench, and you need to fish around with it to find and hit the buttons. I figured out that this would be much easier with a thicker tool, so I brought a chop-stick to work, and it worked like a charm. One woman I work with has struggled with this for years, and she is very happy.

This incident led me to realize that I now have a fourth type of routine-breaker: Breaking OTHER people's routines!

Day 42:  Last week Rob and I took a bike ride to a cafe, and I had a delicious pastrami-melt on rye. I got the idea to recreate all the crucial flavors without the bread, so here's what I did.


In a shallow baking dish, I layered pastrami, swiss cheese, thin-sliced red onion, yellow mustard, mayonaisse and a sprinkle of caraway seeds. (Rye flour really has no special flavor; it's the caraway seeds that give it the distinctive taste.) I repeated this in three layers. While this was all melting together in the microwave, I shredded up a bunch of spinach. Then I slid the pastrami layers out of the dish on top of the spinach. (No photo; couldn't find the camera!)

Three Ways to Break a Routine

I've completed the first 30 days of my 365 Day Routine-breaker Challenge, and I've discovered that there are three ways to break a routine:

1. Do something you always do, but in a different way.

2. Do something new.

3. Deprive yourself of something you usually do or have.

I've had 13 days of switching things around; where I sit or sleep, what hands I use to perform various tasks, etc.

I added or did something new on 10 days. These were the most rewarding days, because they usually involved some creative endeavor. Some of these additions will be on-going, such as my new job and adding olive oil to my diet. I'm also on a redecorating and painting binge since getting my dining-room chair repainted.

I had seven days of deprivation, and these are definitely my least favorite days. Two items are tied for the worst routine-breakers so far: giving up my computer chair for a day, and not listening to music for a day.

Rob tells me I seem to have more energy and creativity since I started this project. Cool!

(The photo up above has absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with this post, but it looked naked without a photo. That's me on the Golden Gate Bridge next to a very important sign.)

Hello Sweet-hearts

Days 24-30 of routine-breakers

24: Rob and I called each other honey, dear, darling, sweet-heart, etc. for the entire day. It felt like we were in an Ozzie and Harriet episode.

25: No jaywalking. It took all my will-power to use the crosswalks.

26: I decided to take an entire week's break from the gym. I usually work-out 6 days a week, but my body's been needing a rest. I'm enjoying the extra time at home.

27: Brushing my teeth with the opposite hand.

28: I've been wanting an adult tricycle to carry groceries for a long time, but never even saw one at the bike stores. A friend of my son got one for Christmas and she let me try it out.

Talk about lack of maneuverability! I never realized how much movement comes from leaning to the side, which you can't do with a trike. Plus, you keep whacking your heels on the back wheels if you try to walk it. I no longer want an adult tricycle.

29: I've had three wishbones (2 turkey, 1 chicken) sitting on the counter for a few months, because I keep forgetting to get Rob to make a wish with me. I figured what the heck, who says I can't make a wish and pull both halves by myself? I can't possibly lose! That's what you call a Win-Win situation. So I made three wishes and broke all three by myself.

30: Usually when Rob is home from work, I cut loose and eat whatever I want. (Cookies, candy, popcorn, etc.) But I've been feeling a bit too well-fed lately, so I stuck to real food today.
****

Because of my workout break, I've had extra time and energy to spend around the house. I got another dining room chair painted

and I've been doing a little bit of embroidery on the dull dining room curtains to make them match my colorful tablecloth.

Yesterday I fixed stuffed bell-peppers.

I still have two more days left of my break; I'll probably spend most of it in the kitchen.