Day by day - it has been a beat

It has been a beat since I managed to push a blog out to the world.  I have written a sentence or two at a time, but never enough to feel complete.  I am pulling this one together from those snippets.

The almost-full moon Tuesday night the 16th lured me out to take its photo.  It was still fairly mild, enough that stepping out on the deck felt cool but not frigid.  

That morning I had my trainer session.  With it being newly daylight savings time, it felt oh, so early!  But we survived.  

Wednesday the 17th I slept until I woke up, and it was nearly 7 a.m. by the clock.  My fitbit gave me a high score for sleep quality, too.  I rarely see 90's, but it gave me a 91.  And I did feel rested.  Retirement rocks!

Happy St. Patrick's Day on Thursday.  I went digging in my closet to find the lime green Lincoln Marathon shirt to wear to my workout.  Matching it with the Spring green Brooks running shoes made me feel particularly Spring-y!  It gave me an energy lift, as well.

Saturday the 19th was the official "fish party #1".  There isn't much "party" in these parties, in fact, most folks "regular Sunday dinner" would describe it better.  My nephew in law and his mother in law (my sister Ace) arrived as planned, and we scrounged about the kitchen finding the needed equipment to produce (no photos, sorry) Pesto Salmon.  Roasted brussels sprouts and Italian loaf with bruscetta completed the meal.  It was very satisfying... and actually having real people around a table conversing?  Awesome!  Since the pandemic hit, this was the first time hosting a meal in my own house.  I'd gone to my son's place three times during 2021 for our limited "all vaxxed" celebrations.  Who'd have thought that just "come over for dinner" would become such a big deal?  Yet, it has.  Won't it be great when it's no longer such a much?

Then I started bracing myself for a people-y week ahead.  Tuesday the 22nd was a normal workout day, but we got snowflakes and raindrops to go with cool Spring temperatures.  I snapped a photo of a Spring robin, perched on the deck rail, with the flakes streaking by.

Wednesday the 23rd, I had a meeting with my financial guy... for whom I had a bunch questions such as "now that I'm going to turn 70 later this year, what do I need to do throughout the year, and  when?"  

Then Thursday (yesterday) was the pre-arranged "Mom's taxi service" for my former daughter in law's outpatient surgery.  We knew some things about the timing (she was to check in at 5 a.m.) and some things we did not know (as in when they would release her because it would depend on results).  So naturally, I woke at 1:54 a.m. and had trouble falling back to sleep.  Some time around 2:30 I gave up and got up, took a shower, did my daily Wordle (badly), and dressed for the day.  

I got to her apartment complex by 4:30, and we drove to the hospital, where we had time to sit in the car and chat before she needed to go check in.  Then I came home and nodded off until she was in recovery.  She remembered a couple of things by that point that would help with her at-home recovery, so I went over to my neighborhood Walgreen's to pick them up.  And around 1 p.m. it was time to go pick her up and deliver her back to her place.

 She invited me up just to make sure she was doing OK on her own, and I got to see the two kitties.  I don't have current photos, but I have an old one of Kalimdor... such a striking kitty.  The other one, Odus, is a long-haired Russian Blue, and I don't have a photo of him, other than when he was playing with Carl, during the short time Odus lived in the same household as Carl.  My kitties are mutts compared to hers!  Love them just the same, but I have to admit to the beauty of these others.

After DIL (former, but still, if you know what I mean) wound down and was ready to sack out, we deemed that she did not need a watcher, so I came home and kind of nodded off myself again.  I think I took a total of 3 naps over the course of the day, and still fell asleep during the Duke - Texas Tech game, and got a full night's sleep, too.

All that said, hope you didn't miss my mundane little blogs too much.  I also hope that we're all doing our best to live one day at a time and take care of our health and well-being during those single days.  Life is good.  Spark on!

Happy Spring Forward weekend

 

Rubia has decided she's in charge.  This regardless of my human-ness and mad skills with canopeners and door handles.  

I am not a fan of Daylight Savings time.  I lived the first few years of my life without it, and never did figure out what was so great about it.  Changing what time the clock says does not change the actual sunlight.  It just shifts the workday.  So I guess that's some form of consistency, at least.

Regardless, I set the microwave clock ahead an hour before retiring for the night Saturday, and let myself sleep until I awoke on Sunday.  We shall see how the week ahead behaves, sleep to the sun versus trainer time (which has not changed, so is an hour earlier, right?)

Today the sun decided to warm us up good and proper and it was 67℉ when I went out to walk.  I was not alone out there... many families at the playground, kids riding scooters or bikes, dogs being walked, just overall a wonderful Spring day.

After the chilly weather of the past week, it felt like waking up again, indeed.  

Offering up continuous prayers for the world.  Reminder for my fellow Spark refugees:  failure to take care of ourselves, our bodies, and our health will not help those half way 'round the globe who are in such dire straights.  So take care of you, in order to be able to "do your bit" once you recognize just what form that bit will take!

• Eat to support your immune system.
• Stay active for your mental and physical well-being.
• Hydrate!
• Remember to breathe.
• And at the end of the day, as you prepare for rest, be grateful, and let it all go... and rest gently.  If you have done your best, that's all you can expect, you've earned it.  If you have slipped a bit, tomorrow is a fresh new day... so rest up for it!

Life is good.  Spark on!  Be kind to yourself and to others.

Personal signs of Spring

The personal sign of Spring:  new running shoes!  Don't they look Spring-y, with their fresh greens and yellows?  One pair of Brooks, which will be my indoor gym shoes, and one pair Nike Pegasus, which will be my outdoor walk/run shoes.  I'm so excited for this harbinger!  I usually purchase two pairs at a time, and the last two pair I bought go down the scale to "knocking around the house" shoes, then down a rung to "yard shoes"... until they either completely wear out, or if they haven't been ruined, get donated.

The weatherman did not come through with the larger amounts of snow predicted.  That lot went South of us.  I heard the phone chime with a text message about 6:30 a.m. and it was my trainer, proposing an earlier time than originally scheduled.  I went and peeked outside before responding that yes, I could come at the new proposed time.

I wanted to make sure I wasn't snowed in.  As you can see, it didn't even cover all the grass!

When I got home, I went upstairs to shower, and when I came down, I saw footprints in the snow on the driveway where I had not walked.  Opened the door, and there were my new kicks on the porch!  I honestly did not expect them until next week.  I only order them yesterday, but apparently they had them in stock in Kansas City, so BAM!  They are here, next day.

It's a week of deliveries... also today my monthly stock of Biocoffee arrived in the mail.  And yesterday my spare bluetooth mouse showed up on my doorstep.  Here we go again, supporting the economy, right?

On the "don't say the quiet part out loud" I have now actually tracked my food intake for a week... today will be the 8th day.  What normally happens is that if I mention it here, and I fall into a period of rebellion a short time later!  

Here's hoping for all of us that we'll carry on taking care of our health in all the important ways:  

• Food that strengthens our immune systems
• Water to help the body do its daily work!
• Activity to help both mind and body
• Connection to remind us of our shared humanity!

Life is good.  Spark on!  Be kind.

💖🔥✨

Waiting for the snow to fall

Here, far from where the "Breaking News" is being recorded and reported, we wait for a Winter storm.  The warning is scheduled to start at 6 p.m. Wednesday, and end Thursday afternoon.  Right now, you wouldn't know it, looking out the window.  Sunshine.  Cold, but sunny.

Monday morning, we woke to a bit of snow that had fallen overnight.  It didn't last.  It melted off before the day was done.  Tuesday we had a high of 52℉ (11℃).  So that bit is "all gone"!

The cats are a little on the crazy side today, out, in, out, in.  That lasted all day.  

The clouds rolled in by 10:30 a.m.

I dashed out to the grocery store, as they had bananas on sale for 19 cents a pound, today only.  It made me think about Lynda!  I had run out of apples and oranges, too.  So quick before the snow arrives, stock enough to get through the weekend.

A few tiny flakes danced solos first in the morning, and early afternoon.  I'll spot one, then ten minutes later, maybe another.  Alicia decided she did not want to walk in the frigid temps, but she did want sister time, so we shared a cuppa tea at my dining table and did our usual info dump.  Both being a little squirrel-distractible, we probably only each dumped about half what we might have before the flakes started to come more steadily, so she headed out before the streets could get slick, around 5 p.m.  

We lifted our tea mugs to our grandmother, who was born 125 years ago today, and I wished Ace a happy birthday tomorrow!  

Here's hoping that the snow will be "moderate".  They are saying so, 2 to 4 inches by 1 p.m. tomorrow.  To be continued...

Kevin time

 

This has become a family thing.  You see, on the day my brother Kevin (known to Sparkers as MOBYCARP) died, he was wearing bib #404 in the Shoreline Half Marathon.  They retired the bib, in his honor, from that race.

Those of you who know the story (from 2019), know it, but ever since that time, whenever Ace or I see 404 in any context, we pause and remember our brother.

For those of you who do internet searches, you are probably familiar with it in this form, "Page not found":

As my sister said, spotting the error last week:  "What used to bring frustration now brings warm feelings of love". We choose to see that, we choose to feel that.

From 2015... three sibling "runners". He drove 1100 miles to run this race with me. Our tag-along sister was not to be left out and trained up to also run / walk that half marathon.

Three years later, I returned the favor. I drove in the other direction to run/walk a half to his full marathon in September 2018, in his back yard, in New York state.

Cling to love. Love never dies.

LIFE is good. Savor it. Cherish it. Work to preserve it, but never forget that quality trumps quantity.

Be kind. Do what you can, when you can, and live with the goal to have no regrets.

In the pursuit of life, Spark on!

It smells like Spring

 Local weather

It looks gray and dry, but we had rain overnight, and it smells that ozone smell that comes with new-fallen rain!  The temperature is in the 50's, even in the morning.  If "the kids" take Carl out to a park, he might just come home muddy and in need of a bath, but he'll have a good time.  There is such joy in watching a pet having a good time!

I've been invited to Carl's third birthday, likely sometime next weekend, weather permitting.  From this you may assume that yes, I got a phone call from my son.  Yesterday afternoon.  This is the first call from him since the beginning of the invasion of Ukraine.  So it was good to assess how he's doing with it.  He lapsed into his analysis from what he's been exposed to in terms of video and fellow veteran's conversation... and essentially has come to the same conclusions as some others:  Russia was not prepared, and sent in ill maintained equipment and barely wet behind the ears soldiers, and the people of Ukraine will act much like the people of Iraq and Afghanistan:  they will fight for their homes, long term and with passion, and eventually, Russian armed forces will have to leave, because they cannot win.  The only question is "at what cost"?

This morning (Saturday), The Prisoner is being a lap kitty.  He has been that more and more in his "middle age".  He's over ten years old now, and a fluffy cuddler.  No, I have not been tempted to make tiktoks of him, content to let him purr and warm my lap.

When he tires of the instability of my lap, he migrates to "his" chair, from which he reigns.  This photo (from this morning) shows how he kind of "hugs" his hu-mom.

For the Trekkers in the crowd

The second season of Star Trek: Picard is now streaming (new episodes on Thursdays) on Paramount Plus.  To me, this one is worth the monthly subscription, but I happily accept the additional streaming of other series that also air on the regular network as a benefit.  I can watch Bull, or NCIS, or Young Sheldon at my own convenience because of this.  The two networks to which I have offered up my subscription money have re-discovered something they should have realized some time ago... if you want the money to roll in... dribble out the episodes, one a week!

But Picard... oh, yes, Picard!  I don't know how much knitting together of the disparate threads of the various series of Star Trek might happen, but no one should be surprised that time travel gets introduced.  Whoopie fans... she's ba-ack.  And in the first episode, no less.  

Of course, I am still following the Gilded Age on HBO plus.  That one my son pays for.  And on Amazon Prime TV, Mrs. Maisel has returned for her 4th season... so between Wheel of Time, The Expanse, and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, they pretty much have me hooked.  The extra channel of Showtime gets added during seasons of Billions, which is also currently playing.

So that's my set of fictional distractions from the news.  And I am grateful to HAVE distractions and not to be the old lady in the Ukraine footage, climbing from my bombed out suburb to walk, dazed, into city center of Kyiv, which continues to be under seige, but is perceived by these internal refugees to be safer that what they are leaving behind.  My heart hurts, but one cannot look at it non-stop!

Pep talk reminders

Whenever I'm impacted by the news, I have to remind myself that the failure to take care of myself and my health will NOT help the situation.  This can be used as motivation, my friends!

When my son was in uniform, I internally admitted it was a sort of "bargain with God" which we all know is wrong, but we do it anyway.  "You take care of him, please, and I'll do my best to take care of me..."  We should be doing our best to take care of ourselves anyway, right?  But somehow when the rest of life is smooth sailing, we might tend to take things for granted.

That said:

• Drink your water.
• Get some activity, even if it's housework.  Don't just sit all day!
• Remember to breathe.
• Eat to support your immune system.  Our "friend" Covid is not gone.  We may be changing our philosophy of how to deal with it, but having a strong immune system is good for combating both it and other ills!
• And at the end of the day... let it go, and let yourself get your rest.  You won't be good for anybody else if you don't get your own rest.  Especially as you get old-er!

Life is good.  Spark on!

💖🔥  

Continuing the emergence toward "normal"

 

The next daily life step as the risk dial keeps dropping

Inside the grocery store this morning!  I picked my own produce.  That is such an every day joy.  As I loaded them into the car, and replaced the cart into the corral, I noticed how as shoppers, returning carts, we mostly organize them... little carts on one side, the bigger ones on the other.  But there's always that ONE shopper, who didn't get with the program.  😆

I felt perfectly OK still wearing my mask, as while I wasn't in the majority, there were other "seniors" like me, and everybody was polite and friendly.  

But of course, the world is not currently normal

It is not new, this spinning of "facts" to suit the narrative desired.  It's been going on since the days of Yellow Journalism, as they called it in the history books I learned from as a school girl.  The publishers had an agenda.  Watch the old Spencer Tracy / Katherine Hepburn movie "State of the Union" from 1948.

But nowadays, with the speed of the internet and the ability to reuse old footage and claim it to be images of something current?  It's downright tiring to track down "truth".  I was talking with my fellow gym client yesterday.  She has twin boys, in their teens.  

Mothers of teenagers, around the world, can have solidarity with one another:  we want a world at peace.  Our conversation reminded me of a VHS tape that the granddaughter of a family friend sent to my parents... in it she had juxtaposed photos from the era and did voice over of her reading letters that were exchanged between her grandparents and mine.  My paternal grandmother received a letter from a friend concerned that my dad might get "called up" for Korea.  This was in the years between WWII and Korea... my dad managed to miss both, but it did not stop his mother or her friends from being concerned, from praying.

Or maybe wars of some sort is normal for the world?  There always seems to be armed conflict somewhere!  Even if it is "normal" it is not right.  I feel for and pray for all the mothers of the world, because no matter where you are, the "accident of birth" (where you were born), it is their children that are sent into danger when there is such a conflict.  

Back to the daily, coming out of Covid restrictions

Our risk dial got bumped down two more notches, to mid-yellow, the mask order had already been dropped.  I still wore my mask to the grocery store, and to the trainer.  After all, it's that time of year when my nose is drippy, and "just in case" I am protecting others from either the panic of seeing the drippy nose or the off chance omicron is there, undetected.  "Just in case" I also took another at home test on Tuesday morning, before going to the trainer.  Yes, negative.

Real progress... planning fish dinners.  Seems my niece's new hubby bought a large bit of salmon, too much for one meal, enough for at least three at Costco, before finding out that niece would not let him cook it in their apartment.  Her dad won't let fish be cooked in their home either.  I got dragged in as a household (of one, with two cats) that will allow fish to be cooked here.  With the Covid restrictions lifting... shock, shock, I shall be entertaining once a month until the fish gets used up!  I haven't hosted a dinner at my house in over two years now... do I still know how?  It's going to be awesome, and we're having fun with the "getting to know you" planning as there are only three of us in on this fish conspiracy.

Personal pep talk

One day at a time, right?  No promises about tomorrow.  But I got through ONE day tracking it all, yesterday.  So here's to putting another day and starting to build a streak?  Like we used to on SparkPeople?  

You are worth taking care of.  Treating yourself and your health poorly is NOT going to help others either nearby or far away.  So, let's get back to what we know is right... nutritious food, moderate activity, hydration, and rest!  And of course, prayers for the state of the world.

Life is good.  Living in peace is better.  Spark on!