willowraven's Friends

Art of the Season - American Primative - Queena Stovall

Triple Oaks ~ Queena Stovall, 1887-1980 (click for large zoom image)

Bill and I have got to be the most boring couple that ever lived.  We were having a really nice visit and I fell asleep while he was telling me something.  I must have dozed off for about 10 minutes and when I did I found that he'd fallen asleep.  Belive me that's not how our relationship began back in 1983.  We did have a good laugh though. 

I didn't set foot out of my apartment yesterday, but I did make a pot of New England clam chowder.  I tried to keep it as low sodium as possible, but canned clams have some salt and even milk has some in it naturally, so I think I might have overdone it. That was mainly because I ate more than just a serving.

Plan for today:  There's nothing on my calendar for today.  I'd like to go out a little, just to the produce market for fruit, but my car is still snow covered.  Maybe Tuesday would be better for that.  Maybe I'll bake something.

Menu for today:  breakfast - hot oatmeal again.  Lunch - large salad with everything and chicken.  Supper - pork chop with apples and onions, green beans, brown rice.  Snacks - grapes, almonds, glass of milk.

Yesterday the morning view from my window was wonderful.  I watched the sun come up and as it touched the treetops they turned pink.  Every single twig was coated with snow and sparkled in the sun.  That didn't last very long since there was a breeze and it was sunny all day.  It's still pretty out there with all be brown and gray covered.  I'm glad I didn't have to go out though.

Today:  Enjoy what's there and don't wish for more. 

Over the course of the next week or so I'll be purging my friends list.  I'll delete anyone who hasn't logged in for more than 6 months unless I know the reason.  There are a lot of people on my list who haven't logged in since 2006.

If I should accidentally delete any of you, please PM me and I'll add you back in.  I wouldn't want to lose somebody as a friend just because I didn't click on the right thing.

Thanks for understanding!

after a few miserable hours of being sick, I collapsed in the res hallway. Sarah, a girl in res, woke me up and brought me to a hospital (in my boxers, old tshirt, and a housecoat), where I got put on IV for a few hours. Last night was an awful night. I didn't know it was possible to be that sick. feeling a lot better today, but still unable to walk very well, and still can't keep down food. Following the doctors advice of sipping gatorade, even though it is immediately thrown up, for the small amount of electrolytes that are absorbed.

This is probably the worst weekend to get sick. I had fully intended to write 10 page (single space) of NC, and do the final editing. And I need to have a presentation and final edit of a paper for another course by tomorrow morning.

And my aunt died yesterday too, as the cherry on the ill-fortune cake.

Anyway. hope everone is doing better than me.

The snow finally stopped falling during the night and we got about an inch (or 2.5 centimeters.  Every twig is coated and the world will look beautiful at sunrise.  It's not so beautiful on the ground though.  Looks very slippery since the temperature dropped below freezing.  It's chilly in here and I just turned up the heat a bit.

I got to the store around 9 am yesterday and picked up enough things to cook something nice today.  I bought my yearly pound of reduced sodium bacon and plan to use 2 slices in some chowder today - That's about 1/2 a slice per serving. The rest will be separated and frozen as individual slices to be doled out over months.

I also stopped at the Dollar store and got some big foam snowflakes for my door.  We did serve hot chocolate in the Community Room yesterday afternoon.  We chatted and watched the snow for an hour.   I slept well, without oxygen for the first time in a month. 

Plan for Today:  Nothing much really.  Bill is planning to come out but will call late in the morning for a road check.  They never get as much snow in the city as we do, and of course the roads there are cleared more quickly. 

Menu for today:  Breakfast - Hot oatmeal with currants and milk, nice change from raisins.  Lunch - New England clam chowder, cabbage salad.  Supper - Cheesey chicken over noodles since I didn't make the tuna casserole yesterday (had a bowl of oatmeal instead) with spinach and carrots.  Snacks - grapes, rice cake with peanut butter.

Yesterday afternoon I had some surprise visitors.  You remember me telling you about the old friend of my daughter who fixed my car window while I was in the hospital?  He called and asked to come and see me with his little girl.  They brought me a beautiful white begonia and we had a really nice visit.  His mother is retired now and will be in touch.  I've known him since he was in high school with my daughter and have always thought the world of him.  The two of them never had a romantic relationship and both of them got married to other people and stayed friends. They live near my daughter and son in law and get together frequently.  I hadn't seen his little girl since she was 5.  She's 8 1/2 now, don't forget the 1/2, and adorable. 

Update: 6:45 am - it's getting light out and the snow coated trees look like big fluffy clouds.  The evergreens look like a Christmas card.  Can't wait for the sun to come up!

Today:  Enjoy the view and the company. 

Missed the whole frackin' game.

We got whooped and I don't know how it happened.

Damn.

Had some wine and several grasshoppers last night (creme de menthe, creme de cacao, vodka and milk) and certainly feeling it today.  I can't focus at all on work.

Had subway for supper and soup for lunch, and a large non-fat mocha with extra espresso at some point too.

I feel awful.

and I imagine that each grasshopper was probably 400 cals+, and I had 5-6 of them. +wine. My dehydrated weight today was 134 lbs, but I've drank a ton of water today, which means I was super dehydrated.

Art of the season - American Impressionist, George Gardner Symons.  Symons was one of the California Impressionists but a lot of his paintings look like Pennsylvania.

The First Snowfall ~ George Gardner Symons, 1920

All's quiet at Trinity House.  Yesterday was a do nothing day.  The visiting nurse was here and I'm almost back to where I was before going in the hospital.  Nearly all the water weight is off and my waistline has shrunk an inch.  Being bloated is no fun. 

Plan for the day:  Make a very early run to the store for milk, hot chocolate mix and marshmallows.  We'll be serving hot chocolate in the community room - a little Trinity House tradition on snowy days.

Menu for today:  breakfast - a low fat blueberry scone, juice.  Lunch - some kind of soup (I'll just throw something together), salad.  Supper - Tuna noodle casserole made my low fat low salt way, with peas and a salad.  Snacks - another scone!  apples.

Of course, everyone is watching the weather report.  The snow is supposed to start this afternoon and continue all day.  We should get at least an inch (2.54 cm).  The weather pattern is what we call a Nor'easter because the wind is coming off the Atlantic and pulling moisture up from the south.  Sometimes these storms can be really bad.  This time it looks like a high will blow in and keep it in check.  Let's hope so.  The grocery store will be crowded with people who act as if they are preparing for a blizzard. 

Today:  Watch the pretty snow from the window. 

Added new pics from 16 weeks out from competition. Gallery is open, check em out. I'm feeling so good and I am so proud of myself.

Christmas Parade tonight and dear daughter is in it.  The weather is cold and crisp but we can dress for it.

Celebrating daughter's 10 th Birthday on Saturday (her birthday is actually the 6th)

Celebrating son's 17th Birthday on Sunday (his birthday is actually the 8th)

So needless to say - I don't think eating will be very good this weekend. 

Have a great weekend and stay warm!!

1420/236.1

Made the worst blueberry/bananna muffins last night.

It was an odd yee haw moment. I knew when I started I shouldn't do it. The whole time I was working on them I was cussing myself out for being a wuss. Substituted ingredients, hosed the process and then decided to add bananas and, of all things, mace, at the last minute. I actually laughed out loud when I tasted one.

Fortunately all the ingredients were things I had in the house - and those bananas had to go anyway. So it was actually liberating to throw the entire dozen into the trash.

Yee haw.