Today is a day that I have been waiting six months for. Today is the day, I post my Daily Food Diary for my sister Lorraine!
You were right, Lorraine. It was the socks!
I lost the socks this morning and I weighed in at 119.8 pounds ! I have not broken 120 pounds in the past two decades. But I have done it now. The last 4.8 pounds to my goal will be easy peasy!
Speaking of socks…
One size does NOT fit all!
Should you be in the market for a good pair of winter socks, these are not built to fit anyone our size – unless paired with a solid pair of suspenders or pinned to shoulder pads – either way, they are still awkward.
Speaking of siblings, yesterday was my brother Pete’s 80th birthday. Jen and I saw him and his wife at my sister Jeanne’s 80th birthday get together last May. They are all (Pete, his wife Janice, and Jeanne) looking great and doing really well.
As the youngest in my family, I have always looked up to, admired, and tried to catch up to my older siblings. I never imagined that I would still be trying at this point! But here we are!
Breakfast:
(1) c coffee (2)
(3) crumpets (240)
(2) tsp butter (68)
(1) tablespoon jam (50)
Snacks:
(36) oz water
(1/3) c hickory smoked almonds (186)
Supper:
(4) small battered fish fillets (520)
(2) tbsp tartar sauce (80)
(1) c air fried potatoes (250)
(1) c home made coleslaw (208)
(12) oz carbonated water
Total consumed calories:1604
Total used calories: 492
(30) min walking (68)
(30) min aerobics (174)
(1 1/2) hrs cooking/cleaning (177)
(30) min light weights (73)
Total net calories:1112
Net calories goal: 1223 – 1112 = 111 under 👎
That’s it for today. Take care and have a great day! 💕🌞
Butterfly House at the University of Alberta Botanic Gardens
Today is Day 265 of my Daily Food Diary. Only 70Days or 10 Weeks to go! I thought that by being mindful of what I ate each and every day, 2025 would pass by at an overall slower pace. But here we are, the year is almost over, and the days and weeks are flying by.
I am four nights into using our living room air purifier in our bedroom. This has proven itself helpful enough for keeping my sinuses and lungs clear at night that I ordered another air purifier last night – one that will live in our bedroom but that can be easily moved into the kitchen occasionally – if need be.
Every little thing helps or hurts when it comes to living with chronic health issues. With my lung issues diet, air quality, stress, sleep, and level of activity can mean the difference between a really good day or a struggle. Some things I can control, others I just have to deal with.
The worst thing these days is excess humidity. We can control that to a point with our dehumidifier but there’s not a lot I can do outdoors. If I avoid the outdoors, it means less fresh air and less activity. 🤷
The best thing these days is taking collagen supplements. They have been a gamechanger for me – strengthening and stabilizing my respiratory system and improving my health and wellbeing in general. 🤗
Daily Food Diary – Day 295
Breakfast:
(1) c coffee (2)
(3) Eggo waffles (330)
(2) tsp butter (68)
(2) tbsp Maple syrup (104)
(2) slices bacon (87)
Snacks:
(12) Doritos (153)
Supper:
(1) serving pepper steak (300)
(1 1/2) c white rice (363)
Total consumed calories: 1407
Total used calories: 315
(30) minutes walking (68)
(30) minutes aerobics (174)
(30) minutes light weights (73)
Total net calories: 1092
Net calories goal: 1229 – 1092 = 137 under 👍
That’s it for today. Take care and have a good day! 💖😊
Today is my 273rd consecutive day of posting my Daily Food Diary! 🎀
For some reason it is getting harder to post in the morning these days, but I am getting it done. 🙂
I get up early enough to see the sun rise…and to see weird alien clouds across the street.
Today is shaping up to be another relatively quiet day. I have my aerobics and light weights to do, a bit of touching up around the house, and I will hopefully get the Jeep cleaned today.
My big excitement will be venturing over to granddaughter Maddy’s school tonight to pick her up after her band retreat. It’s only a few blocks from here so the only real challenge will be dealing with the other parents and grandparents who will be doing likewise. I cannot imagine how this school has such huge band events. It is nuts just dropping her off at a regular early morning band practice.
Maddy and I went to see a friend of hers who was involved in a band/choir event at his school a few months ago. There were about fifty people there including the performers. And there are way more students attending his school. 😧
Anyway, I have things to do so I should get on with it.
Daily Food Diary – Day 273
Breakfast:
(1) c coffee (2)
(3) crumpets (240)
(2) tsp butter 68)
(1) tbsp jam (50)
Lunch:
(1/2) c beef broth (15)
(10) low salt ripple chips (75)
(1/2) PC Chocolate Coconut Brownies (60)
Snacks:
(1/3) c mixed nuts (216)
(48) oz water
Supper:
(1) lg dinner salad – lettuce, spinach, radishes, cauliflower, green onions, dried fried onions, sesame seeds, salad dressing (256)
(2) chicken drumsticks (401)
(1) PC Chocolate Amaretto cheesecake (257)
Total consumed calories: 1641
Total used calories: 489
(30) min walking (53)
(30) min aerobics (176)
(30) min treadmill (59)
(1) hour housework (202
Total net calories: 1152
Net calories goal: 1229 – 1152 = 78 under 👍
That’s it for today. Take care and have a great day! 😊❤️
Today I am delving into the ‘piece of my mind’ that has been pondering success.
According to dictionary.com there are multiple definitions for success.
‘the favourable or prosperous termination of attempts or endeavors ; the accomplishment of one’s goals’
‘the attainment of wealth, position, honors, or the like’
‘a performance or achievements that is marked by success, as the attainment of honors:‘
‘A person or thing that has success, as measured by attainment of goals, wealth, etc.‘
I have issues with these definitions – or issues with success as it is defined. I think there should be a word dedicated to worthy POSITIVE success.
There is nothing admirable in achieving one’s goals, if one’s goal is to be miserable and cause as much misery and grief as one can in a lifetime. Wealth, position, and honors mean nothing if they are ill-gained or used to abuse others. A performance or achievement is meaningless if it destroys peace and harmony. And finally, a person or thing that has success as measured by the attainment of goals or wealth at the detriment of others is no success in my mind.
This morning I browsed through our local paper, as I typically do. There were articles and editorials regarding the latest mis-information and deflection by our miserable Premier. There were the articles and editorials regarding those who refuse and refute any and all health measures to control Covid. And of course… There are the mobs (miserable old bastards) who have to add their miserable comments to each and every article or editorial. None of which defines success as I believe it should be – Not our hapless Premier. Not our ongoing spread of what should be an easily controllable disease in a province where we could easily drive a tractor (sideways) between our residents. Not our miserable bullies who relentlessly push their miserable agenda in every comment section running.
But our paper did have a couple of amazing articles highlighting the admirable achievements of two amazing people. These articles, were in fact death notices, in today’s obituary section.
The first obituary of note was a woman who passed away at the age of 86. (I dealt with her son and daughter during my years in the construction industry – they are good people). She was a devoted wife and dedicated mother. She worked at the local tuberculosis sanitarium and was a strong advocate for her community. She served two terms as a counsellor and two terms as town mayor. She was a founder of the local dance association, President of the Rotary Club, and was an avid bridge player. She loved owls, Canadian thistles, and Liberals. She will be missed by her family and her many friends.
The second obituary of note was a man who passed after a brief and unexpected illness at the age of 97. Over the course of his lifetime he worked for and with his father, served in the RCAF in WWII, operated a successful automobile dealership in Regina and then one in Victoria B.C. He was active with the Shriners. He became a private pilot and a competitive trap shooter. After the passing of his first wife, he remarried and moved to Scottsdale, Arizona where he lived joyfully with his second wife until his passing. He is remembered by his family and by all who knew him as an astute businessman, a long-time Harley rider who rode until he was 93, and an old school gentleman who had a kind word for everyone he met.
Thesepeople – they epitomize success for me. They lived good lives serving others. They spread love and goodwill. They celebrated life. They paid the price of hard work and dedication and they reaped the rewards of lives well lived. This is what success should be – or we should have a word for what this is!
That is my ‘piece of mind’ for the day. As always, thank you for listening and feel free to comment in the section below.
I have experienced so many magical moments in the past few days! Being Sunday, I decided it would be a good day to share some random moments of the week with you.
This little squirrel is a regular visitor to our peanut basket. The magic this morning was that Kat just laid on the back landing and watched him make his way across our neighbours roof, onto our fence, over to our tree, and up the tree to his favourite branch. And she never barked once! Yay Kat!Cleaning up a back corner of our yard. How magical is it, that weeds produce such pretty flowers?Sightseeing bus that we saw in Moose Jaw on our way through. (I have a number of magical photos of Moose Jaw to share with you in another post.)I love this magical little plaque that was mounted in the courtyard of the Cafe Paris in Gravelbourg. So cute and so true!This is the new highschool in Gravelbourg. It is one of the last projects I worked on before I retired. I helped the architect design and write the specs for several operable partitions. I worked on the tender for the project. I handled the administration for the project when we got the job. AND – my son was one of the installers when the partitions were installed! That is the most magical part of the construction industry, being a part of a project from start to finish and ultimately seeing an amazing building that will standfor generations!Heading home from Gravelbourg. This highway is such a narrow, winding nightmare. I cannot imagine how happy and relieved people were when it was transformed from a dirt or gravel road into a real paved highway. That must have been pure magic for them!A magical, monster, metal lilygrowing beside theGravelbourg courthouse. (Probably not growing but I don’t remember it being that big.) 🙄
That is it for today. I hope you enjoyed my magical moments and that you had many of your own to cherish this week.
Today is the fifteenth day of my June ‘Accentuate the Positive’ challenge! To hit the halfway mark, what could be more appropriate than sharing a few smiles among friends?
Maddy mornings💞Gabby & Lucas💞Casey Dog💞Rory💞Mark & Dom💞Happy Kat💞Genie💞“I’m so excited” Prim Rose 💞“Hi Grandpa!” Cason💞
That is it folks! Fifteen down fifteen to go. 🥳
Wherever you are, whatever you do, I hope you have something to smile about today. 🙂 See you tomorrow!
I have kept things pretty free and easy since I retired last spring. What can I say? I have gotten a bit slack and have possibly (probably) developed commitment issues. 🤔
Anyway, the time has come for me to step up and challenge myself. Sooo…. for the month of June (2021) I have decided that I will post a blog EVERY day! Not just any blog. I will post a blog that ‘Accentuates the Positive“. 😊
If you need a smile, a virtual hug, or an occasional snicker, drop by (any day in June) and hopefully I will not disappoint you. If you have the urge to challenge yourself likewise, feel free to join me on my mission! Tag me or send me a link to your blog in the comment section and I will keep an eye on how you are doing throughout the month. 👀
It is too funny that I am nervous about embarking on this challenge. For decades, my life revolved around countless projects, responsibilities, and implausible deadlines. Now, committing myself to a few minutes each day for a month has me in a tizzy. 🤣
To kick off this big undertaking, I turn things over to the great Willie Nelson and this particularly positive little tune!
When Dan was running errands a few mornings ago, he found this metal plaque to put in one of our flower beds.
We are getting to an age where life is becoming more precious and fleeting. Regardless of what is happening, how we are feeling, or who is or is not physically with us, we try to make the most of each and every day. This little sign will be a reminder to help us do just that.
We have other such reminders around our house. They may be a bit corny but they work for us. 🙂 They help us to appreciate each other and our life together.
A little bowl of stones from my mother.Dan bought these to dress up the kid’s playhouseI picked this one up at a garden centre.
Not every day is the best, but try to make the best of every day💞
I typically begin my day with a cup of coffee and a few minutes online with our local newspaper. This is not generally the best way to begin my day, but I persist. Yesterday my persistence paid off!
Yesterday, tucked in amongst the tedious, depressing news of the day, there was a brilliant article on an amazing woman.
Fran Forsberg has spent decades providing a kind and loving home for over 160 foster children. Her dedication to these children did not stop with a healthy diet, clean clothing, and a warm bed. Fran Forster cared about the children she took in and cared about doing all she could to ensure that they fulfilled their potential and had the tools they needed to succeed in life.
In the nineties, Fran found herself mother to two children who were gender diverse. Wanting to be as informed and as supportive as possible, she attended a symposium on gender diversity. She was one mother in a room full of endocrinologists and psychologists. She returned home with a mission to do what needed to be done to ensure respect, pride, equality and success for children who were struggling in a society that did not typically understand nor accept them.
At sixty six, Fran Forsberg is still dedicated to the youth she continues to actively work with and for. Although she is no longer a foster parent, she has taken in three infants to care for during the pandemic.
Fran Forsberg is a heroine to many and having read this article about her, I am definitely one of them. It is not about her gender, her age, or even her personal mission. Fran Forsberg is an inspiration. She is a beautiful, positive, powerful person who despite a pandemic, financial struggles, political woes, and all of the turmoil that rocks our lives these days, she is still a beautiful, positive, powerful person – living her best life to do her part to make life better for others. 💞
Seclusion 101 with AnneMarie 