Friday, May 31, 2024

What I'm Reading This Week #22

Welp, we've made it to the last day of May.  😮  Hi there folks and welcome to the end of the month edition of What I'm Reading This Week!  I hope your week has been fan-flippin'-tastic and you're ready for the weekend and a cocktail of tomfoolery and productivity.  I know we are!  You know how short weeks are, they somehow feel a day longer than a regular week.  Beh.

Not much going on this week so let's just jump right into:






Kombucha Could Trigger Similar Benefits to Fasting, Study Finds  (I usually can't stand anything fermented but gave some flavored tea a try and it didn't kill me so there's that.)

Large Review Finds CBD Products Don't Relieve Chronic Pain After All  (I don't know if you guys have noticed the drop off in having CBD products in your face 24/7 over the past few years and now I know why.  Well, that and just like Ozempic, it makes some hormonal birth control worthless.)


How Lifting Your Legs up Against the Wall Can Calm Your Mind and Reduce Stress  (I keep meaning to try this but I've also heard you don't need the wall and can just lay in bed!)


12 Window Treatment Ideas For Sliding Glass Doors  (We've only got our light filtering blind up and never rehung the curtain so I need some idears!)

The Best Ways to Keep Squirrels Out of Your Potted Plants  (Small chicken wire just under the mulch is the ONLY thing that has worked for us to keep those rat bastards for feasting on everything planted.)

10 Best Road Trips In The United States  (How many have you done?)

Why Being Near Water Really Does Make Us Happier  (We can vouch!  I so miss our daily walks of Oak Bluffs on the Vineyard.) 

It's been hotter than hell here already with record temps on tap all summer.  Maybe chuck a burger on the grill at 10am and smoke the neighbor and her hell dog back inside or something else that brings us happiness before retreating to the AC.

How about you?  What's on your agenda this weekend?




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Wednesday, May 29, 2024

My Review: Folding Floor Bike



When I was able to increase my steps as my leg therapy progressed, I always felt really good about the days I could reach my personal goal of 7000 steps.  As someone who works from home, it's shocking to see how little you can actually move throughout the day even including your workout if you're counting steps.  When I was finally able to combine cycling and walking to hit that "magic number" of 10,000 steps, I was quite happy though completely beat foot wise as the fascia is the slowest to heal.  (We know there's no magic behind that as studies have shown 7-8k steps are just as effective but coming from a woman who barely got in 1000 per day, 10,000 indeed seems magical.)  

Unfortunately, I couldn't always do that taking actual steps due to the foot pain I'm still dealing with.  I would try to squeeze that number in by using my floor bike that is stable and comfy.  The only problem was I couldn't lug that thing on vacation.  I wanted to try to get the majority of my steps on vacation by walking but knew I wasn't in control of that based on how my feet felt hourly (like crap) and thought I'd roll the dice on a folding bike.


I got this model as it was the highest rated and affordable.  It did scare me a bit that there was a stability strap included for strapping it to a table or chair leg and people did complain about it being unstable.  I tried it out before we left so I would know how bad it potentially was and if I needed to return it or not.  Honestly, once I got a rhythm going, it stayed stable for me as long as I was on a carpeted surface.  (I don't think this would work well at all on wood floors and honestly would put rubber feet on the bottom before I'd ever consider it.)  I folded it up and miraculously it fit in my carry on which basically serves as my traveling PT office now which my chiro tells me is a lot more common than I think.  

I was quite happy that it folded down pretty small.


It was able to comfortably fit into my carry on...


...with room for other necessities as well.





When we got to the first rental, they had wood floors everywhere so I grabbed one of the bathmats with a rubber backing and sat on the couch and used it there.  I didn't have an issue at all other than the nights I might still have 4k more steps to go.  How do I accurately track those?  A little searching confirmed wearing my watch around the ankle gives a more accurate step count than the previous method of resting my watch hand on my knee the entire time which got real old, real quick. 

My solution?  I would tuck the watch into the front of my sock and wait to make sure my heart rate was registering and then start pedaling!

(Yep...nerd)


I know, seems janky but it works especially given you're going to be sitting in the same spot so you won't lose the watch.  I have never had it come out of the sock ever.  It was much easier the nights I maybe had 1-2k more steps to reach because I could still be in my jeans and watching the tube to wind down the night.  




I will say I couldn't tell you the first thing about the screen on the bike.  I've seen other people complain about it so I never relied on it.  The numbers always seem radically off so it feels worthless to me and if you have a fitness watch, you're probably not going to use it either.  

Overall, for the purposes I needed this for which was to be highly portable and stable enough to squeeze out "steps" on days I was falling short of my 10k goal, this was perfect.  I have gunboat feet (11 wide) and I was able to wear my barefoot shoes with them when adjusted to the largest setting on the pedal strap.  

When I did it actually barefoot, it did make my foot fascia tight and sore the next day so remember that if you have flat feet like me.  I would say on a 16 night vacation, I put it to use just over half of the time since the rest of the time I got actual steps.  I feel like I put it through it's paces and I'm so glad I can fold it in my carry on and still have room for my foam roller, lymphatic tool we use to dig out knots, various balls of the spiky and smooth variety, deep muscle tool and even fit our travel mugs in there!  I am the packing queen so that made me very happy! 

I would highly recommend this lil bugger if you're still wanting to get in some exercise and steps as you travel.  It's also a great way to cheaply see if that will work as a no impact option if you're babying a fussy body for one reason or another.  (With your doctor's okay, of course!)    It's also a cheap way to dip your toe into this method if you want to see if it's something you want to add to your chill time at night.  It folds up small enough to tuck under a couch, between furniture or pack up in a small bag to travel with.  It sure as heck eliminates any excuses.  🙄


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Monday, May 27, 2024

Wishing you all a...



Whether grillin' and chillin', paying your respects or just decompressing for an extra day, I hope you all have a great day!  

Wednesday it's back to our regularly scheduled programming.




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Friday, May 24, 2024

What I'm Reading This Week #21

Well hello there!  I hope you're ready for a long weekend (hopefully).  It's been a week here.  First week back from vacation and I've had two vein procedures to welcome me back.  The first one did not go swimmingly as the doctor was 45 minutes late to start things off and my appointment was at 11am.  The Mr had a follow up appointment before me at 7:45am and she was late to that as well.  I was scheduled to have two procedures done and she didn't and then acted like she never said that.  Uh, I have a printout showing it scheduled and now she's pushing my schedule back by a month.  I'm not happy and just want it over with so I don't have to deal with her.  She and her staff are nice enough but there are some parts that are just insane to deal with including the amount of spam you get by phone, text and email.  I know this will be good for my legs in the long run but I think because my legs are much thicker than the Mr's, it's more painful than he encountered.  Good times!

Anyhoo, it's time to get to:






10 Science-Backed Tips for Healthier, More Mindful Eating  (Good tips and something we seem to have trouble mastering.)

4 Trauma Responses That May Be Hurting Your Relationships  (Do I get a prize for doing all four?!)

15 Nutritious Blue Zone Recipes For Every Meal Of The Day  (Always looking for new stuff to throw into rotation!)




Why car insurance costs are skyrocketing and leading to higher inflation  (Hope you like up to 27% increases according to our insurance person. 🙄)



Miss a post here this week?  Catch up below!




I don't know that we have much planned for the weekend.  I suppose we should do some patio maintenance, clean the umbrella and check to see if the cushions survived the winter.  You know, fun stuff as long as my legs can take it.  

If anyone has any ideas on how to cover up a radon pipe, I'm all ears.  It's kind of all I can see out there.  Beh.

Any plans for the weekend?  Grillin' and chillin'?




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Wednesday, May 22, 2024

A Rash for the Ages





This is an embarrassing topic but because I'm me, you know I'm willing to toss that to the side if I can help someone.  It's important to note I am not a doctor, so if the symptoms sound familiar to you, you need to see yours before treating it on your own.  It may be a simple rash but there could be fungal or bacterial components that can worsen into a secondary staph infection which can be deadly.  I will have a list of what I used at the bottom so you can run them by your doc.

One day after two days of cleaning furiously in the basement and finishing up a strength sesh, I felt a sensation like I needed to scratch under my hang.  (Gut)  The Mr headed upstairs and when I went to rub the area, it was searing pain.  I freaked out and grabbed one of my body wipes I usually use after a workout and I swore I was going to see blood it felt so raw.  There wasn't and I looked as best I could and it looked like Satan had taken up residence in my crevice.  Because vows usually include for richer for poorer,  "my condolences but can you take a look at this" and health, I asked the Mr if he could look since I couldn't get the full picture.  He's color blind so when HE says something is red, it's red.  I had him look up 'skin fold rash' and it was my old friend intertrigo.  I had it once in a place I couldn't see so this was my first experience with being able to actually see it.  Let's see if a gif will sum up what I saw:



source



Yep, that's about right.  

Intertrigo is a friction rash that you can get anywhere skin rubs.  Under your boobs, armpits, thighs, butt cheeks, elbows, under your tummy, thigh cracks and basically any overlap in chub.  Like, chubby babies get this rash between those little chunky arms and legs everyone says they want to figuratively eat.  Mine was under the right side of my gut hang and a little on top of my right thigh where it rubbed.  I asked the Mr if he ever had anything like that before and he said no.  So knowing that our local dermatologist and doctors are always a minimum 4 days to get into, I started looking on medical websites and of course Reddit because I always like to pepper in real world experience to round things out.  The most important thing was getting it clean so I took a shower and not for TMI but too late, I uh, trimmed up the secret garden.  I didn't want to give any places to accumulate excess sweat and given my grief journey of the previous months, you can imagine bushwhacking wasn't high on my priority list.  I used some unscented mild soap to get everything initially clean down yonder.  We already had antifungal soap so I used that in case there was a fungal component and gently blotted dry and used a blow dryer on the cool setting to get things extra dry.  As I was laying down after sprinkling some remedy anti fungal powder I use under the ta ta's in the summer, I sent a freak out note to my friend asking if she ever had a rash like that and confirmed she had and the most important thing was keeping it dry.

I remembered that I bought some Domeboro rash soaks several years ago when the Mr got a rash after gardening.  Some people on Reddit swore by it for drying up about any rash out there so I mixed it up in 16 oz of filtered water and soaked a washcloth in it and wrung it out until it wasn't dry but not dripping either.  I put a towel on the bed, laid down and draped the washcloth over the area, set an alarm for 30 minutes and watched TV.  It was soothing in the moment which was nice and afterward, I used the cool blow dryer again to get it dry.  I put on some cortisone 10 and made sure I rubbed it in really well and did the blow dryer over it again so as not to create more moisture.  I had Triple Paste zinc oxide cream so I gently rubbed that in before bed and put two large gauze strips over it in case any moisture tried to accumulate overnight.  I was up late so I ordered these cotton strips to better absorb under there.

In the morning, I used witch hazel pads to gently remove the zinc cream so I could see what it looked like.  Not much improvement but slightly less hellfire red here and there but the rawness was still there.  I did another Domeboro rash soak which would be my morning and night routine for two more days to continue to dry things out.  Then cool blow dryer after, sprinkling of antifungal powder and gauze until the cotton strips arrived and a layer of triple paste before bed after cleaning and drying with gauze overnight.  I attempted to go back in the basement on day two for light cleaning but the second there was a rise in body temperature and the slightest bit of moisture down below despite copious amounts of cornstarch powder and gauze, it would get painful so I had to back off.  

When the cotton strips arrived I gave them a thorough washing in unscented detergent and exchanged those for the gauze and kept repeating all of my steps.  It took two days of soaks in the morning and night to get the rash to back off, and dry out but there was still tenderness there as the skin healed.  I got some antibacterial ointment to rub in after showers at night before drying it then applying the zinc to seal it in.  If there was any trace of rubbing or moisture... powder city sweetheart.  As the rash heals, it goes from red to a tan color and it may or may not be permanent.  Let me tell you that prevention is absolutely a must because being proactive is always preferable to reactive.  This didn't even happen during a warm spell so regardless of how much I hate trying to wash off zinc oxide from my fingers, it's going to have to be a necessary evil to keep that demon at bay.  It took about 2 1/2 days for it to see almost complete clearance visually but the little twinges of rawness let me know to continue with my cotton and Lady AMB powder to keep things dry and happy.  I was very happy it was not a prolonged suffering especially with a lot of cleaning on those days.  I honestly think the rash soak did the most to make it retreat the fastest but obviously in conjunction with everything else.  One thing I will say is that because of the link to ovarian cancer to talc powders, I would never use anything other than a cornstarch based powder if the rash is in the nether regions which is why I use Lady AMB powder.  That stuff is great under da boobs and pretty much anywhere with the addition of calamine in case itching occurs.  That's something to keep in stock all of the time in this house.

Again, rashes in folds can easily get infected which is why you should always go to a doctor.  Mine occurred going into a weekend so I didn't have a choice but to treat mine on my own initially.

What I used to treat my intertrigo rash:


I would honestly keep these things on hand anyway.  The soaks are wonderful for poison ivy and contact dermatitis rashes which I wish I knew 4 years ago when I got a horrible rash after cutting down a morning glory plant.  The zinc paste for anti friction under boobs and thigh cracks for exercise and same with those cotton pads.  Just keep a lingerie bag at your laundry basket and throw them in that so on laundry day they get chucked in with everything else.

Be proactive before you have to be reactive.  





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Tuesday, May 21, 2024

Spring Vacation Recap

If historical accuracy has taught me anything, it's when I fail to plan any sort of an itinerary for a vacation it is pure crap and this one was no exception.  The Mr wanted to go back to Martha's Vineyard and we also thought maybe Rhode Island might be interesting since we've only ever driven through there.  Trying to find a place in RI was ridiculous.  We couldn't find anything that didn't scream noisy misery so we opted to stay in Fairhaven MA at a place that was near nothing but on the water and an island in shoulder season so yes please.  We knew we'd go to Mystic CT and Ogunquit ME as side trips too.  We thought we'd go to the original Conjuring House as well.  When I say we didn't plan anything other than the days we knew we wanted to road trip, that was it.  I didn't have the capacity to and I wasn't going to ask him to in addition to work

When we arrived at our rental, we immediately noticed the bridge over to the island was being torn up.  Did I mention the bridge was two houses away?  Those trees that guarded us from the neighbors at the fire pit?  Gone.  Not that the wind would've ever died down enough for us to use it anyway.  The neighbors on either side of us were doing construction as well as the one behind us and the other one behind us was doing open houses.  So imagine the constant sound of trucks beeping from 6:45am to 4:30pm, drills and multi tools, landscaping chainsaws and being awakened every morning by blazing New England sun at 5:30am.  In the first five days of vacation, I slept just under 12 hours total.  I can't count how many times I cried from the stress of all of the noise around me.  It was literally why we were getting away and it was like God doubled down.  So road trips for peace, it was.

Mystic CT was probably our favorite.




Another day we went to Ogunquit/Wells ME and one of the stops is our favorite donuts in the world which we always have by the beach.


We just love walking Ogunquit Beach, watching the piping plovers and hanging out in the off season, which somehow seems to get earlier every year.

Let's not forget about the grief waves that showed up on our anniversary and the following day that brought the mood to zero.  The Conjuring House sold out before I could book it.  Traffic in Providence is so ungodly that it adds an hour onto anywhere you want to go so our excursion to purposely go there was nixed.  We didn't even get to RI until our last full day to go to Newport to attempt the Cliff Walk, the whole reason for choosing that area, and it was a clusterf*ck of mass proportions.  In addition to two sections of it being closed, the only place we saw parking already had over 500 cars and suddenly you're on a college campus and there's just nowhere to stop to collect yourself.  I knew Thames St was supposed to be where shopping was so we headed that way and the most polite way I can describe it is NOT my vibe.  We lucked out and found a non pay parking spot and walked around a bit.  I could not wait to get out of there but let the Mr lead since I would've been just as happy to leave upon arrival.  We found one cache so we could call it worth it, got some crappy ice cream, a horrible mini frozen ice lemonade from a "famous must get" place and finally a bland chili cheese dog before getting the hell out of there.  We drove Ocean Ave since it was clear the Cliff Walk was not happening, spied a park across from the ocean,  pulled in and rolled down the windows to enjoy the ocean's lullaby.  Ahh, the sounds of nature... and the food truck compressor that pulled beside us 2 minutes later.  *Twitch*  The two good days we had the first week is when we were in Maine and Connecticut so that sums that portion up.

Then time to move on to Martha's Vineyard.  We took the ferry over and went back on the rutty one lane road to our rental.  There was some kind of moth ball-ish odor to greet us so I flung open three windows.  I was instantly relaxed by the birds singing and thought "okay, HERE I can relax."  Apparently Joe Bob next door also likes to relax by chatting with his roommate, brother, employee or whomever and speaks louder than I care to hear.  Now this was an issue at the other house too which leads me to believe unless I have 10 acres somewhere which is bordering on illegal if you own more than 1/4 acre, that this world is just too loud for me.  So after 45 minutes, I had enough and shut all of the windows.  Any time we wanted to leave the house it was going to be bouncing around for 3/4 mile on a one way road praying you didn't come head to head with any of the other hill people who all had the same idea for privacy but weren't going to get it.  

Adventure.

It is nice seeing all of the different main towns and how different they all are.




When I awoke our first full day on the vineyard at 5am due to complete lack of window coverings on three windows and aimlessly scrolled for a while, and at 7am I was greeted by a familiar sound in the middle of the forest almost a mile from anything...beep beep beep.  No, that's not a cartoon roadrunner but some frigging construction vehicle.  I give up.  Do I have to rent a damn sound deprivation tank for any kind of peace ever???  We drove the whole island that day and probably shouldn't have because then it felt like "now what?"  For the most part, it was quiet off the rut laden road but I'm pretty sure it shook something loose on the new ride.  You know how a belt makes that horrible screeching sound?  Well, ours was about half the output of that but made that screech every time we accelerated from a full stop.  Even in a new car, I can't get peace now.  *hiss*  We were amazed at some of the trucks that made it back there on that road.  It was a real bummer that places we were drooling over going back to turned out to be real poopers on the quality front.  It is SO EXPENSIVE there that eating crappy food seems like you should be eligible for a refund.  I can still recommend Scottish Bakehouse, Fat Ronnie's Burgers and a new to us place called Biscuits but man some really popular places are coasting on old reputations.  Despite it being windy a few days, we would head to Oak Bluffs daily and walk around the pier and town to get about 2 miles in.  We knew even with the chaos of the weather some days, it was going to be the closest to tranquility we were going to find.  We were talking about how there is nowhere to park in any of the tourist towns so I have zero clue how that place functions during the summer.  It would be our version of hell on Earth for sure!  I made sure to soak it all in because I'm pretty sure we're never coming back at least not soon.  It's sad when in 7 years the quality and charm is stripped from a place.  There are pictures I took of hand painted signs and stuff from the last time that are gone.  I had them made into prints then and am so glad I did because I didn't expect them to all look so historical so quickly.

It's also where I spent my first Mother's Day without her.  We rarely saw her on the day because of vacations so it didn't hit emotionally like you might expect because I got a lot of that out earlier on the trip.  But when I was unhooking Mom from my neck as I did every day, glanced down and saw it was midnight, I said "Happy Mother's Day Mom... how is this my life now."   When we started the day, my childhood bestie who lost her mom 4 years ago emailed me to check in.  We emailed a few responses and after breakfast the Mr asked if we should go to Oak Bluffs earlier so we did.  He didn't mention anything about mother's day so I didn't know if he forgot or was afraid to mention it so I told myself to just keep it together and not ruin the day.  As we drove, I could see a cruise ship in the distance and knew it was probably full of people celebrating the day and got a pit in my stomach.  As we approached the pier and I saw families together, I knew I was about to lose it so I texted my friend and asked if she was available for a quick call.  She said yes and I had perfect timing.  She answered and said hi and I squeaked out a cracking "hi".  We chatted for about 20 minutes, talking and crying over how shitty it was our mom's weren't here and had each other laughing by the end which was just what I needed.  Despite there being a constant invasion of pods going to and fro on the ship crowding the town, we still walked.  Thank goodness we did.  We ran into these two local ladies while we were sitting in the park and they struck up a conversation with us.  The one in the walker was this feisty hippie and her friend went on about how she was a local legend and wrote a book.  It's called Casting into the Light if you need a summer read about a sassy feminist who showed the begrudging fisherman how it's done in the 70's and beyond.  They've been friends for 50 years and talked about their adventures when they were "young and cute" and their energy was contagious.  The one yoga teacher lady spied her cousins family from Scotland and that would've been our cue to leave but we didn't.  We chatted with them and just absorbed all of the joy.  Mom sent us a family.  It turned out to be one of the best days of vacation.

We got in walking on two beaches our second to last full day and that was a mistake from a foot standpoint.  The pain kept me up most of the night and I was a hobbling mess our last full day.  I knew when we were doing it I was going to pay but I don't regret doing it.  I was in stabbing pain every single day so what was turning it to 11 to send us off?  I only hate how much I slowed us down the whole time.  😔  It was by no means the vacation we needed but as that nails on a chalkboard saying goes "it is what it is."  The weight gain is shameful but I guess I can at least hang my hat on the fact that 85% of the time I got in over 10,000 steps per day when on vacations past, we might've gotten 2-3000k at most many days due to driving and not making a point to walk, not that it helped with weight gain but still.  I sent 4 strength workouts to us to do and neither mentioned them to the other so they didn't get done so we continued the vacation tradition of ignoring them.  These weren't long ones either, just 30 minutes and we had plenty of time to do them but chose to screw ourselves on the strength front.  

I think I ground my teeth to nubbins most nights which feels good.  The looming vein procedure, poon check for the VIN that got switched to my mom's birthday, an impending wedding Mom was heavily involved in, home projects waiting on us as well as an unpleasant consultation in our near future decided to travel with me in my brain.  For those of you who actually are able to relax, please pass on your secret because I clearly can't no matter where we are.  I hope the Mr at least got the mental break he needed while we were gone because we sure didn't get it when we got back.  

Hello whatever the hell fell off of the bikes from the guy in front of us that shattered on our hood and chipped the paint of our 3 month old first 'grown up' car!

Hello ant infestation!  

Hello computer monitor that died while we were gone that the Mr needs to telework!

*twitch*


Do you have a vacation in your future?

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Monday, May 20, 2024

I Did Shockwave Therapy for My Plantar Fasciitis- Here's How It Went





My legs and feet have always been a mess.  I've dealt with Tarsal Tunnel Syndrome, muscle imbalances, compartment syndrome after being stuffed in a coach class seat for 8 hours and your usual foot pain from being fat but active for workouts.  About two years ago, I started having issues with the ball of my feet from walking in Grandma's cemetery.  Something about the asphalt there just killed my feet but nowhere else.  Early last year, we started walking at a new to us park and I got the same pain but it also coincided with new to me insoles.  I started a cycle of trying new ones to see what would help.  When I finally did, is when Mom got sick, passed and the aftermath of all of that.  We spent two months completely abandoning our exercise routine.  We'd occasionally walk for mental health but we'd never taken a break in strength that long.  My balance had never been good but now it was to catastrophic levels.  In December after resuming walking again, my feet flared into a lovely case of Plantar Fasciitis.  I've dealt with it before and knew the steps I needed to take to rectify it.  All it did was get worse to the point I couldn't even flex my foot laying in bed.  I took a fall day one of vacation the previous year and cracked both shins but good.  It coincided with a less active time and when the bone laid over the damage, I'm positive by the two huge lumps on my shins, it pulled some other stuff in with it and created even more imbalances.  Hurray.

Friday, May 17, 2024

What I'm Reading This Week #20

Heidi ho, you sassy beasts!  It's Friday, in case ya didn't know and that means (hopefully) your work week can kiss your butt for a few days and you can work on getting the yard ready for planting.  (Or are you one of the ones who planted before your last frost and are now lamenting the loss of flowers?)  I made that mistake once and my Grandma chided me "I told you to wait until after Mother's Day!"  I know, I know!  Pffft!  You never know what mama nature has up her sleeve!   I still have to think on what I want to put out there but one thing at a time as my brain isn't powered that direction just yet because I know throngs of the masses will be descending upon every nursery.

source



Now let's descend upon:





‘I started resistance training at 65 and significantly reversed my severe osteoporosis’  (Now THAT'S what I'm talking about!  Get started pumpin' iron at any age!)



10 Fruits High in Vitamin C—and How They Benefit Your Body  (Skeevies no longer have a "season" anymore so eat up!)


Stevia and Other Non-Sugar Sweeteners May Not Increase Appetite Levels, Study Finds  (I could've told you that.  The claim was always they make you end up eating more but I use them every day and my calorie intake doesn't change unless I change it on purpose.)



The one movie John Cusack hated with a passion: “I will never trust you as a director ever again”  (I guess the paper boy isn't the only one who wanted his two dollars back.)


Miss a post here this week?  Catch up below!



It's been a busy few weeks and we're back to reality which is always waiting to greet you.  I suppose we should consider when/if we want to start on the patio boards.  I really wish we would've done those in April because now all of the nosy's are out.  So tempted to tarp the patio to keep prying eyes out.  (Looks for a portable pop up tent.)

What's poppin' for you this weekend?




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Wednesday, May 15, 2024

Hump Day Poll: Which One Are You?



I bet you can't take a wild guess which one I am!  😆  

Now that doesn't mean I run around like a chicken with their head cut off...quite the opposite.  I push it to the last minute because procrastination is in my blood but I clock watch and count down how much longer I have.  

Which one are you?





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Monday, May 13, 2024

Thai Shrimp Salad

While this salad isn't Hawaiian, it reminds me of the Hawaiian restaurant motto "eat until you're tired."  This is a true volume eating salad that'll have you nice and full while getting in all kinds of great protein, healthy fats and veggies.  (If anyone has a peanut allergy, sorry...this one isn't for you.)  This is quickly becoming a favorite of ours.  Technically, you could meal prep the whole thing by making the sauce ahead as well as cooking up the shrimp and putting them in the fridge so you just have to assemble if you need a quick meal.

Let's get to it!

Friday, May 10, 2024

What I'm Reading This Week #19

Howdy do!  We've reached the pinnacle...Friday!  You've put in your time with nitwits at work so you can put in time with nitwits of the world as you get your errands done.  Yay?   How on Earth is a 5 day (sometimes plus for some people) work week still a thing?  Shouldn't we be three days of work and four of living?  I mean think about your job, couldn't the majority of your stuff be done in three days if you actually worked and didn't chit chat, find ways to be away from your desk, etc.  I say we get this changed asap!  Who's with me?

source

Lord...there is nothing that puts a smile on my face more than Grover.

Now let's get with:




30+ Foods That Are High in Vitamin E  (Gotta get more of this in!)



What Does a Blood Clot Feel Like? 8 Signs You Should Never Ignore  (Mom always had a predisposition to them so I worry about them too.)

Drinking Coffee Dramatically Lowers The Risk of Bowel Cancer Coming Back  (Wow, awesome news for anyone who may need to check with their docs.  Drink up!) 


The Pros and Cons of Refinancing an Auto Loan  (So irritating that when we finally bit the bullet with our VW, less than a month later they dropped the interest rate for their 75th anniversary by 3%!!  We hadn't even made our first payment yet and the Mr called to see if he could get the new rate since he hadn't paid yet...NOPE.  Sorry chump.  Infuriating.  So I adjusted our payment amount up by the 3% we would've saved.  Pffft!)

Suffering Shouldn’t Be a Normal Part of Womanhood  (Yet somehow it is.  I think the biggest thing is educating men on how to support us because many of them don't even know how a friggin' period works in the younger generations!)

14 Best Plants To Add Privacy To Your Yard  (If I could I would make a plant bubble to filter out all sun and neighbors and just live like a hobbit.)

Before and After: Scrapping the Wire Shelves Made This Pantry Way More Functional  (WOW!  What I wouldn't give for a pantry this size given our 1 1/2 butt kitchen!)

Miss a post this week?  Catch up below!

Quick Hawaiian Spinach Salad (For all y'all who said you missed recipes!)


I think we've got a low key weekend on tap.  Maybe get out in nature a bit (with a hefty dose of OFF! spray since the mild winter has made all of the bugs super happy) and see what we can get into.

What are YOU getting into this weekend?




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