Category: health

Pig aggression

by Karen, posted in fitness, local fun, Marriage, Midlife Crisis, no fear, Turning 50

I was walking my route other morning when I heard an animal noise from behind me. I was passing the pig sty (literal, not figurative) that is on the street adjacent to mine right at the side of the road, so of course I knew it was a pig. These pigs also routinely jump the fence so I shouldn’t have been surprised when I saw him in the road, staring at me, grunting.
Note: a pig’s grunt sounds ominously like a mountain lion. I don’t know why. It just does.

For several seconds I just stood there, unsure if I should try to pass it or go back the other way.  Should I call my husband to come and pick me up (which he would have done, after he finished laughing)?  What if it charged me? It looked like it was almost as big as I am, and may even have outweighed me. I decided to close my eyes and walk very fast past the pen while chanting to myself, “I am very safe; I am very safe.”

I told my husband about this when I got back and we had a good laugh.

The next day I went to the beach instead (in order to avoid another pig incident) to do my usual walk to the jetty. I was almost all the way back when I became aware of footsteps running up behind me, then retreating, then catching up again. I didn’t look at first, because there were so many unleashed dogs on the beach that I thought it must be that. The third time it approached, though, I did turn and look…and it was a male wearing a rubber pig face mask, which was about an inch from my face.

Need I say that I was scared to death?

This time, my husband was there. Within about a second he was running full tilt toward me to see if I was okay, then he went to, um, discuss the event with the perp. This time, I didn’t have to convince myself I was safe. This time, my husband made sure that I was safe.

One question remains: What the heck is the universe trying to tell me with these pigs?

Anyone?

Anyone?

Betrayed

by Karen, posted in fitness, health, Midlife Crisis, Turning 50, Work from Home

So, my 3 mile, 30 minute morning walking route? It’s really only 2.14 miles and takes me 34 minutes to walk it. How do I know this? I downloaded an app to my iPhone called RunKeeper (and NO, I NEVER run but it tracks lots of activities in the free version) and walked my usual route.

OMG.

I had originally tracked the route I walk on my car’s odometer, but there was an error in there somewhere, apparently.

Shoot.

So, I had to keep going past my usual ending point to get a 3 mile walk in. The thing is, I signed up for a walking challenge at work and have committed to walking 10 miles per week.  I thought it would be easy enough to manage, if i just resumed my now long abandoned morning routine of

  1. Putting child on school bus
  2. Walking

but hey, guess what?  My half hour morning walk morphed into a 51.47 minute walk.

May I just take a moment to say “UGH”.

Another first

by Karen, posted in fitness, health, local fun, Midlife Crisis, no fear, the beach, Turning 50

When I turned 50 this year, I decided to try to do things for the first time, since this is my first year in a new decade. Today, I went swimming at the beach all by myself.

This is no small undertaking, to which anyone who wears glasses and is severely myopic will attest. The problem is this: what to do with the glasses? Leave them on, and risk losing them to the ocean, or leave them in a bag with your stuff on your chair, and risk losing yourself?

If I go swimming at the beach with others (who, you know, can see), they can guide me back to our place in the sand, no problem. When faced with the prospect of trying to find my way back without guidance, I have always balked, then caved. In other words, I’ve never done it.

Until today. I brought my red canvas bag, hoping that I would be able to detect the bright color, if nothing else, when it was time to leave the water and find my stuff. I put my chair right at the bottom of the stairs leading up to the parking lot. I walked in a straight line to the ocean, which was at medium-low (not low-low) tide, so I didn’t have to go too far to get back to square one. I hoped for the best.

My Plan B was this: to depend on the kindness of strangers. “Excuse me, but I’m lost…” wouldn’t sound very convincing coming from the mouth of a 50-year-old, so I fervently hoped I wouldn’t have to go this route.

I am happy to report that I didn’t! I swam in the ocean for 20 minutes, came out (just to prove to myself that I could find my stuff–and to get away from the teenage boy who wouldn’t stop taunting his sister with talk about the sharks getting us), then went back in for another 20 minutes.

Life was good today.

Go ahead: make my day

by Karen, posted in Angels, health, relationships

It’s time for our family’s annual physicals. This morning I was there bright and early at 8am with my daughter for hers…so bright and early, in fact, that the office door was still locked (hey, here’s a tip: if you schedule appointments for 8am at your office and you tell people to arrive 10 minutes early to update paperwork, UNLOCK THE DOOR BY 7:50AM! Just a thought).

So, I was already annoyed when we finally gained admittance at 7:58AM. When we sat down in the cubicle to check in, the woman serving us made no eye contact and not even a glimmer of a smile graced her lips. I noticed then that all of the staff behind the bulletproof shield were tense, not smiling, and not looking directly at each other, never mind at us lowly patients.

I had another thought as I sat there: the necklace that the receptionist was wearing was really pretty. Recalling advice a mentor had shared with me over 25 years ago for job interviewing (pick out something about the person to compliment), I decided to tell  her.

“Your necklace is really pretty,” I said.

“Oh, thank you,” she said, touching it. She turned back to her computer, still not looking at us…and then she did.

Her entire demeanor changed. She was smiling at us both, joking with my daughter, making small talk (“It’s August already?”).

I’m not sure if I made her day or she made mine!

Just sayin’.

Book review: The Sound of Hope

by Karen, posted in books, education, family, health, no fear, teens, tweens

The Sound of HopeThe Sound of Hope by Lois Kam Heymann
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book is geared toward children from birth through about age 8 with APD. It’s still worth reading if your child is older, but there aren’t many interventions that will work with your tween or teenager. Also, I thought it was very naive of the author to lead parents to believe that their school district will be ready, willing, and/or able to work with them to make sure that their child with APD receives a fair and appropriate education and is successful in school. The odds are that the school personnel will not even have HEARD of APD. The burden will be on the parents to advocate for their child.

View all my reviews

Girls of a feather

by Karen, posted in health, local fun, Midlife Crisis, no fear, teens, Turning 50

My daughter and I got matching feathers a few months ago. Why? I don’t know. We were at a business expo and there was someone offering to feather people for $5. She said it usually costs $8 but it was a special price Today Only (certainly we’ve all heard that before).

Anyway, she wanted one so I figured it was harmless enough so we got in line. Izzy got to choose her feather from a box of multicolored styles of varying lengths. Once it was in, it looked…FABULOUS! As we walked around the expo, I was liking her new feather so much, then I had a sudden thought:

“I want one!”

So, since this is My Year of Turning 50, and I made the decision previously to follow any and all whims as they arise, I got one.

After a few weeks of living with the feathers, Izzy and I liked them so much, that we returned to Melissa at her regular place of business and got a second one.

Was that wrong?
So far, they are holding up pretty well, except that my pink feather is now completely white, which is not a problem.
🙂

 

Back on the Weight Watchers Wagon

by Karen, posted in (it's all about the) food, health, Midlife Crisis, Turning 50

I decided to go back on Weight Watchers a few weeks ago. My goals were:

  1. Lose 10 pounds.
  2. Learn the new PointsPlus Program.

That’s it. Not lofty goals by any means. I lost weight with WW several years ago and wanted to nip the current weight-trending-upward thing I’d noticed over the past year in the bud. I had my few favorite low points value”go-to” foods when I did WW the first time, but hel-lo? They are MUCH DIFFERENT now–PointsPlus values are just that: plus. So the daily allotment is higher too, yada yada, but it means that I had to find all new PointsPlus (hereafter referred to as PP’s)  “go-to’s” in addition to the zero points fruits and veggies we all know and love.

So, always up for a challenge, I did. Here they are:

DISCLAIMER: I am a layperson, not a Weight Watchers Rep. I am figuring this out for myself online as I go along.

  1. Pistachio nuts, shelled: 16 are 1 PP. Want to live dangerously? 5 are ZERO PP’s.  Space them out over your day–say, 3 occasions of eating 5 pistachio’s each (maybe breakfast, lunch, and dinner?) and you don’t have to count 15 at all. You’re welcome.
  2. Special K Crackers. I like the multigrain ones (have not tried the other kind). 24 are 3 PP‘s; but 18 are only 2 PP‘s.
  3. A zucchini, diced up and microwaved for 2-3 minutes, then salt and pepper it. ZERO PP‘s. It’s quick and it fills you up.
  4. Sriracha Sauce. 4 T are ZERO PP‘s. Great on anything that needs a little pizzazz (eggs, cold cuts).
  5. Salad. A ZERO PP salad can consist of lettuce, shredded cole slaw mix (plain), diced tomato, bell pepper, 3/4 T of Craisins, 3 olives, sliced mushrooms. Maple Groves Cranberry Balsamic Salad Dressing, 1 T. Okay, so it’s not a lot of dressing. If you have points to spare, use 2T for 1 PP, otherwise, it’s a good compromise if you’re hungry but ate up all your points already.
  6. Lipton’s Cup O’Soup, 1 PP…and a truckload of sodium, but hey, sometimes it’s worth the tradeoff.
  7. Three slices of deli turkey are 1 PP. Roll them up in a lettuce leaf and douse them with Sriracha Sauce.
So, there’s some to start.  Hope you find it helpful.

Do any of you have any Weight Watchers low PointsPlus food suggestions?

Souvenirs

by Karen, posted in family, friends, health, Midlife Crisis

I want to go to Italy, but so far have not managed to pull this off (I’ll be a walking cliche and say it’s on my bucket list). Instead, I surround myself with some Italian inspired things.

Souvenirs so far:

  1. The Amore Dish, affectionately referred to by the gifter as “The Poison Plate” because once purchased and brought home, he (my son) realized that one may not eat food off it. (Note: I am a person who is quite partial to food). I solved this problem by keeping some of my heart rock collection (and other mementoes) on it.
  2. Coaster, pictured above (also from my son), which I love and have used every day I am at my desk since I received it.
  3. Gorgeous multicolored Italian pasta, Farfalle, almost too pretty to cook and eat. I love to look at them every time I open up my pantry door.
  4. A map of Italy, which my husband laminated for me. I hung it on the wall in my kitchen where I look at it every day. I wonder if any of the others in the family even see it?
  5. An Italian Santa Christmas ornament, which is on my book case in my office. I bought my grandmother one years ago and although this isn’t the same one, it reminds me of her, so I keep it there year round.
  6. Italian language books and CD’s. I used to listen to them when I was between audio books when I commuted to work. Now I just think about listening to them.
  7. Many Italian cookbooks. Many. Italian. Cookbooks.

Here’s the thing: I’m getting ready to turn 50 this year, and I suddenly realized that this was the year my friend Karyn and I were going to take a trip to Italy together (if I remember right; see here).

It also dawned on me that the time to complete any bucket listed items is getting short(er). Time to get crackin’.

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Get out of your rut

by Karen, posted in Date night, fitness, local fun, Marriage, Midlife Crisis, no fear, relationships, Turning 50

In the interest of getting out of my rut, my husband and I went away…to the other side of town.

One of the perks was that the facility had a pool. No big whoop for me, because I don’t much like chlorinated pools. My husband does though, so even though it was late (9:30pm is late when you are usually in bed by then), and even though it was freezing out, and even though it was snowing out, and even though we had to walk outside (the equivalent of about 3 blocks, maybe, but still) to get to said pool, and even though I had to put on a bathing suit in February…I went with him.

I took swimming lessons when I was 12, but it never clicked for me. I was always awkward in the water, so do not consider myself a swimmer.

My husband is a great swimmer.

I had planned to sit on the side of the pool and watch him, but he convinced me to swim a little…and guess what?  

I swam the length of the pool 3 times! I enjoyed it! I wanted to stay longer! I didn’t even mind the walk back to the room!

Go figure. Maybe there are things that you can do but haven’t you haven’t tried because you keep telling yourself that you can’t.

What if you can?

First pair of glasses, part 2

by Karen, posted in family, health, tweens

In the previous post, I described how I found out that I needed  glasses when I was twelve-year-old. Fast forward to 2012, when my daughter is twelve, and just got her first pair of glasses.

We found out she needed glasses because she had routine eye screenings at school, as well as periodic full eye exams from an eye doctor. We knew a year ago that she would probably need them within a year or so…so we kept a close eye (ahem!) on her vision in the interim.

We took her to the eye doctor, Dr. Poulin in Sanford, who did an eye exam and rendered the glasses verdict almost matter of factly. My daughter’s response? “Yay!”. Thank you, Dr. Poulin. 🙂

She had many frames from which to choose, many of which looked so cute on her that it was hard to choose just one!

I’m thankful that my daughter didn’ t have to lose half of one of her front teeth to find out that her vision wasn’t optimal.