granddaughters – Seclusion 101 with AnneMarie

Daily Food Diary – Day 177 of 365

June 27, 2025June 27, 2025 by annemariedemyen, posted in 2025, Health and Fitness, Uncategorized

This is Day 177 of my Daily Food Diary! 💃

Yesterday was a pretty good day for me. Not food goal wise… But good as days go!

Molly and I took our morning walk alone as Dan was busy getting ready to head out for a round of golf. We did pretty good on our own, although it is always better when Dan is with us and I know he has our backs (water, back up collar, poop bags…. 👍). He was particularly missed when Molly and I were walking the grassy path between the railroad tracks and McKinley Street and Molly screeched to a sudden stop to pee. I didn’t catapult over her, but I was startled. We had another (long) moment when we were cutting through the ball diamonds to come home and Molly saw friends of hers at the dogpark (across the water channel). I thought I might be going for a swim, but I managed to hold onto her collar and drag her until she decided to continue our walk. 🤦

After we got home, I did my aerobic workout and had my lunch before Maddy & Prim called. They were at the Regent Pool (by the dogpark) and were looking to come for a visit. It was their first day of summer holidays so I was pretty excited that they chose to come and spend part of it with Grandma. 💞

We had a good visit and the girls had toasted bacon and tomato sandwiches. When the grandkids come over they often talk about visits and sleepovers that we had when they were younger. They each have their own favourite memories. The other day, Prim told me that she mostly remembers the food we shared.

Just as they were talking about heading home, our afternoon thunder storm hit. They don’t live far but I drove them home before the worst of it hit. Had they walked, they would have gotten drenched at the very least.

**Maddy & Prim – heading into grades 10 an 8 when school resumes in September.**

**Maddy & Prim – back in the day, when Maddy was trying to make beautiful memories and Prim was excited about having lunch. 😂**

Daily Food Diary – Day 177

Breakfast:

(1) c coffee (2)

(1/2) grapefruit (39) (1 SVG)

(1/2) tsp sugar (8)

Lunch:

(2) eggs (168)

(1) tsp olive oil (40)

(2) potato patties (240)

(2) slices back bacon (35)

(48) oz water

Supper:

(1) Mott’s caesar (168) (1 SVG)

(2) chicken drumsticks (152)

(1) tsp olive oil (40)

(2) servings asparagus (33) (2 SVG)

(2) tsp butter (69)

(1) c Sidekicks Butter & Herbs (280)

(5) large garlic stuffed olives (80) (1 SVG)

(1) serving butterscotch pudding cake (153)

(1) scoop ice cream (91)

(1) tbsp butterscotch sauce (65)

Total net calories: 1411

Net calories goal: 1238 – 1411 = 174 over

Fruits & vegetables: 5 servings

Fruits & vegetables goal: 7 servings

That’s it for today. Take care and have a great day! 🌞💞

**The plants in and around our yard are still struggling this year (despite the sun, rain, and lightening that we have been getting). While the plants are small, the blossoms are huge. 🤷**

Daily Food Diary – Day 150 of 365

May 31, 2025May 31, 2025 by annemariedemyen, posted in 2025, Health and Fitness

It is 150 Days since I started my Daily Food Diary. 🙌

It is decades since I was first diagnosed with asthma and five years since being diagnosed with COPD and bronchiectasis. A few weeks ago I was diagnosed with my most recent bout of bronchitis. I was given and completed a round of antibiotics and Prednisone – which I completed as usual.

Follow up x-rays showed that I still had a fair amount of infection in my lungs – particularly in my left lung. My respiratory specialist assured my husband and I that it would continue to clear up.

Then we had a round of visits from grandchildren – all from my daughter’s family. Her son Rory came to work up garden planters, her daughter Genie (Genevieve) likewise came to spend an afternoon helping me in the garden, and her daughter Prim came by for supper and a couple of hours of Cribbage. All in all… I did way too much visiting – specifically talking – and I developed laryngitis.

Yesterday, the smoke from northern forest fires rolled in. It wasn’t noticeable when Dan and I walked Molly first thing in the morning. By lunchtime, despite staying indoors and best efforts (and two air purifiers) I managed to inhale enough smoke for it to be bothersome. Not only is forest fire smoke particularly bad for compromised lungs, I am allergic to trees and any part thereof. The smaller the part, the worse it is.

The bottom line is, I am not dying – I don’t even feel that bad. But, I am pretty sure this isn’t helping to clear up my lung infection and it certainly isn’t helping my laryngitis. 🤦

Until this smoke clears, outside work and walking Molly is off the table. I am doing housework, relaxing, and eating ice cream – for the second day in a row. Ice cream is high in calories and saturated fats – but it feels good and is helping my laryngitis to ease off. So… It is not poor diet, it is good medicine. 😌

*** Thoughts and prayers for all those who are in the midst of these forest fires, those who are fleeing for their lives, those who are losing their homes, cottages, and livelihoods, those who are caught up in forest fire smoke MUCH worse than what we are experiencing. I truly cannot imagine. Also, thoughts and prayers for those who have been fighting these fires and those who are on their way to join them in their fight. 💞

https://cwfis.cfs.nrcan.gc.ca/home

Daily Food Diary – Day 150

Breakfast:

(1) c coffee (2)

Lunch:

(2) oz pork tenderloin (83) (.8 gram)

(1) sm. garden salad (100)

(1) tbsp Kraft French Dressing (60) (1 gram)

(2) tbsp dried fried onions (33) (1.1 grams)

(10) No Name BBQ chips (54) (.3 grams)

Snacks:

(48) oz water

(1) Smirnoff Berry Blast (90)

(1/4) c hickory almonds (186)

(1) c licorice tea with honey (21)

Supper:

(2) cabbage rolls (166) (4 grams)

(2/3) c French vanilla ice cream (183) (5.8 grams)

(2) tbsp caramel sauce (140) (.8 grams)

(9) pecan halves (59)

Total net calories: 1086

Net calorie goal: 1239 – 1086 = 153 under 👍

Total saturated fats: 20.9

Saturated fats goal: 13.75 👎

That’s it for today. Take care and have a great day! 💕 🌞

Heading Home

September 20, 2022September 20, 2022 by annemariedemyen, posted in September 2002

Genie and her sister Brook have begun making their way back home! They were both working for North American Midway this summer, but seldom had time to spend together as Genie worked in Guest Services and was usually in KiddieLand, while Brook was selling tickets on the adult Midway.

Having been sisters since Genie was three and Brook was five, it is nice that they are getting to spend this time together. Their trip began this morning with an Uber ride to the train depot in London, Ontario where they were taking the train to Toronto. They are spending the night at the airport hotel and will be on the plane at 8A.M. tomorrow for their flight home. Just one more adventure for our (not so little anymore) girls.

***Genie & Brook – sleepover at Grandma & Grandpa D’s.***

***Brook & Genie – another one of many sleepovers.***

***Genie & Brook – Saturday lunch. (A lot of those too!)***

Tomorrow morning, they are back in their real worlds. ☺️

That’s it for today. Take care and have a great day! 💞🌞

It’s SUNDAY!

July 31, 2022July 31, 2022 by annemariedemyen, posted in July 2022

It is another beautiful Sunday morning in southern Saskatchewan. 🌞

Molly and I went for our early morning walk. We crossed paths with Bike Lady and her two dogs. She stopped to have a short chat before going on her way. Following her, we met up with another woman walking Myles from Mexico. Molly and Myles checked each other out while Donna (?) And I chatted. In the overall scheme of things, Molly did fairly well until we came to the tail end of our walk. Obviously, she had been saving up all of her bad behaviour because she was pretty darned obnoxious on the homestretch. It didn’t help that we had to pass at least a dozen yard dogs and they were all having a go at setting her off.

Other news for the day? Dan and I are celebrating our twenty-third anniversary today. It seems incredible that it has already been twenty-three years and amazing that so much could have happened in only twenty-three years.

***With Dan’s Dad (d. 2003) and my Mom (d. 2013)***.

And… I had my Sunday morning chat with granddaughter Genie. TBH we had today’s chat yesterday. She was so excited about her boyfriend Alec going up to Edmonton today to drive home with her tomorrow, that she got her days mixed up. It is so funny… It seems like yesterday that she was a sweet little tot bursting with love, joy, and excitement. Yet here she is, all grown up (and despite all she has been through) – sweet as ever and still bursting with love, joy, and excitement. 💞🤗

She sent me an assortment of photos to share today. I hope you enjoy!

***Checking out special Midway visitors…***

***Spiderman on the double decker merry-go-round!***

***Genie’s animal friends for the week seemed to be the slippery, slithery, reptile sort.***

***She must have been reminded of Bubbles – the turtle she grew up with. 💞***

***And finally she shared a couple of her sister Maddy’s latest adorable creations.*** 💕🤗

That is it for today. Take care and have a great day!💞

Week 23 🤗

July 25, 2022July 25, 2022 by annemariedemyen, posted in July 2022

I can’t believe it has been a week since I last posted. I don’t know how retired people fill their time each day but we definitely do. Like I have heard so many others say, “I cannot imagine how I ever had time to work” !

Monday is usually my wellness/fitness update, but I am going to post that tomorrow to coincide with my sixty-seventh birthday. (Complete with before and after pictures. 😳) Hopefully, people will see how much healthier and happier I look. 🙂

In lieu of my regular Monday update, I have a few bits and pieces of my last week to share today.

**We had a short surprise visit from our granddaughter Maddy. She is SO grown up all of a sudden that it is hard to believe she is the same wiggly, giggly, pigtails flying tot of a few years ago.**

And, I had not one, but TWO chats with Maddy’s older sister Genie this week. In Calgary, she was excited to be given the opportunity to do some extra promo work at the Stampede. She was escorting dignitaries around the midway, as well as a film crew making some promo videos. She had a lot of fun and was even captured in a couple of the videos. 🤗 Now she is in Edmonton and counting down to being in REGINA next week. It will be great to have her back in town for a few days, even if she will be busy working. Any free time she has will be well spent sleeping in her own bed and visiting family and friends.

And then there was Molly! She grows bigger every day and her voice is coming in loud and proud. Her energy level is also growing exponentially.