Scrummycat's Journal

Chicks!

2009-03-07T17:42:13Z

Here is a quick chick pic...
We got:
2 Auracanas/Easter Eggers
2 Black Australops
1 White Rock
1 Rhode Island Red

We are still due for 1 Buff Orpington and 1 barred rock. They should be hatched by Tuesday or Wednesday. That will bring our chick total to 8. Yay chicks!

We have pretty much decided on a 6X6 walk in coop. We have a lot of scrap lumber and such, we just need to get some plywood. I am still debating over whether or not we should let them free range all the time, or just when we are home on the weekends. We have about 5-6 weeks to figure something out for outdoor housing. Guess we'd better get serious about building something now that the peeps are actually here!

Happy Birthday Dr. Chucky Fuzz!

2009-02-09T19:14:05Z

As you may recall, it was only a few short weeks ago that my dear friend, charles_midair so sweetly wished me a happy birthday here.

Given that his birthday is tomorrow, and knowing what a huge "Little Mermaid" fan he is, I thought I'd return the favor with a little birthday surprise...

Have a great day!

For you NPR listeners out there...

2009-01-28T12:27:01Z

In honor of our anniversary, Tim and I are the day sponsors of Michigan Public Radio today. Our message will be played at 6:59am, 9:59am, 12:59pm, 2:59pm, 4:59pm, and 7:59pm. Stations are 91.7FM Ann Arbor/Detroit, 91.1FM in Flint, 104.1FM in Grand Rapids.

Bunny looking for a home.

2009-01-06T22:27:12Z

To make a long story short, my brother's girlfriend's sister rescued a rabbit from a crazy neighbor who no longer wanted it and just through it out in the snow. When confronted about it, the neighbor said it would be all right, and the bunny would just go and "live in the woods" with its wild bretheren. Never mind that this is a domestic rabbit that had lived until a few days prior in a pet store. They felt sorry for her, and figured she would die outside, so they took her in.

They tried to take her back to the pet store from which she came, but they are out of business now. Sigh. My brother took her and kept her at his apartment for a few months, but his landlord found out and told him he could not keep any pets, even caged ones. He checked with the Michigan rabbit rescue, but they are full now.

He begged us to take her, which we at first declined, but his situation grew desperate, so we agreed to take her temporarily until he could find some other place. Well, it has been over a month, and we still have her. Not much of a surprise there.

It is not that I don't like rabbits, but I felt like we were at our pet maximum before she came along (3 cats, 2 dogs, 2 mules ,and a horse). I know one more pet may not seem like a big deal, but having another mouth to feed and cage to clean, not to mention trying to convince the cats and dogs that she is not lunch, is taking up time and energy that I really didn't have in the first place.

So, just throwing this out there, on the offhand chance that somebody out there might be interested in a pet bunny. She is a large Californian (10-12 lbs) and would come with a two level 27 X 55 cage on wheels, food, toys, etc.

Overhead at the Henry Ford Museum...

2008-12-28T04:43:29Z

...near the Star Trek costume display.

Kid: Mom, who is William Shatner?

Mom: He's that guy that does the Price Line commercials.

Kid: *Blank Stare*

Mom: You know...*Sings* "Price-Line Neg-O-Ti-At-Tor..."

Tim and Nat: *Ugh*

Dipstick PTS

2008-12-09T20:57:08Z

Dipstick took a turn for the worse this past week, and to make things worse, Tim was out of town. I wanted to wait until he got home Sunday night, but by Saturday it was pretty obvious that it was time.

It was a wierd experience, taking her to the vet by myself. With all the pets that I ever PTS, there was always someone with me (my parents, brother, or Tim). The vet handled things very professionally. I got checked out and paid in advance, so that part was taken care of, and then they gave her the series of two shots and she went to sleep peacefully on my lap. They told me I could stay with her as long as I wanted, and just to knock on the door when I was ready to go.

Left alone with her, I realized that I could do whatever I wanted without facing the censure of anyone. This is important, because when I was growing up, my mom was very against showing any emotion at the death of a pet. I understand not wanting to stress the pet out just before the needle comes, because you don't want a wailing child to be the last thing they hear just before they pass, but afterwards it would have been nice if I had been allowed to cry.

I remember after we put Lucky, our elderly horse, to sleep, I fell on the ground beside him and buried my head in his neck and started to cry. My mom grabbed my arm and hissed in my ear, "Get up now! You are embarrasing me!" And later I got a lecture about proper decorum and how what I did was disrespectful and how I should never show that kind emotion in front of anyone. Crying for any reason was a sign of weakness to be avoided, and if done in front of other people, it was doubly bad.

I know Tim does not feel that way, and we've cried together as Gus and Bear and other beloved pets were PTS, but there was still always that barrier present - The programming established long ago that crying was an ultimate display of weakness - and all I'd ever managed to accompish was a few tears.

Now, with no one around, I finally felt free to express my grief however I wanted. And I realized that is was probably okay to cradle her in my arms. And okay to bury my face in her fur and sob. And okay to kiss the top of her head. And okay to hold her little paw in my hand until the warmth was well and truly gone from her body. And that is what I did and it felt really, well...not exactly good, but very comforting and healing.

On the way home afterwards, I realized that loving her so much, and consequently feeling such deep pain at her passing did not make me less of a person, but rather more of one. That feeling the grief and allowing myself to fully experience it, instead of ignoring it or burying it; but to actually acknowledge it, and even welcome it and shake its hand, was in some ways the harder and braver path to take.

Disptick was with us for almost 12 years. I remember feeding her with a bottle dropper when she was barely big enough to fit in the palm of my hand (her mother had rejected her litter). She was our sweetest, gentlest cat, and the best mouser we've ever had.

While Tim and I mourn her passing, the mice in the barn will rest easier tonight.

I was voter #23

2008-11-04T18:50:05Z

(Please forgive the icon...it is the closest thing I have to a Pro-Democrat political theme.)

I voted at about 8am this morning. No line, and it took about 10 minutes total. Well, I should be more specific that there was no line for my precinct. The other precinct that votes at the same location had a HUGE line.

In talking to one of the inspectors, I found out that there are about 300 registered voters total in our precinct (12), and they had already received 40-60% of that in absentee/early ballots. I thought that was interesting. The clerk believes this is due to the large number of elderly/retired people in our precinct.

The other precinct (5) has 1600 people, so not surprisingly, they had a much longer line. In fact, all the volunteers assigned to precinct 12 had left their posts in order to help the precinct 5 volunteers who were swamped. Tim and I stood at the precinct 12 table for a while, and eventually resorted to loudly clearing our throats to attract someone's atention. It was pretty funny!

Regardless of the outcome, I feel proud and honored to be a part of this historic election. Now I will wait on pins and needles until the results start coming in tonight. It should be fun to watch the daily show coverage!

Writer's Block: A.A. Milne

2008-11-03T21:20:39Z

Some people find Eeyore’s gloomy outlook charming. Others prefer the bouncy enthusiasm of Tigger. Who would you rather be trapped in an elevator with: Eeyore or Tigger?

View 501 Answers

I'd probably pick Eeyore. Tiger would probably bounce around and make the elevator shake, wihch would freak me out. Eeyore might be depressing, but at least he would be calm about it.

Dipstick news

2008-10-22T14:09:13Z

Our poor princess kitty (Dipstick, who is named such because she is white with a black tail) suddenly developed a swollen area on her left jaw over the weekend.

She has been fighting with Stitch a lot lately because they are wanting to spend more time inside as the temperatures drop, which is resulting in some territorial squabbling indoors.

We were hoping it was just an abscess or something from a fight or maybe a tooth problem, but an x-ray revealed that she in fact has a bony cancerous tumor.

Apparently this type of cancer is very aggressive and spreads quickly. We discussed treatment options, which would include surgically removing half of her lower jaw, and chemo, meds, etc. This might buy her a few more months, but the prognosis is grim no matter what. Given her age, I can't see putting her through all that just to buy a little more time. She has always been a bit slow mentally, I am not at all confident she would be able to relearn how to eat and drink with part of her jaw missing, and all she would know is that we put her through a lot of pain. She would not understand that we were trying to help her.

The tumor has grown so large, so quickly that it has fractured her jaw, which has lead to an infection. The vet did not want to risk damaging the jaw further by trying to drain it, so she sent us home with antibiotics and pain meds for ten days.

We are taking it one day at a time at this point and trying to keep her as comfortable as possible. I suspected the tumor is making it hard for her to eat the dry food we usually feed them, so we gave her some wet cat food, which she scarfed down quite cheerfully. The abscess popped during the night and has drained considerably, so I think she is generally feeling a bit better now.

She is still eating, drinking, cleaning herself, etc., and is very affectionate. She is not happy when we touch her face, obviously, but does not appear to be suffering otherwise. We'll just keep petting her, loving on her, and giving her treats and see how things go. She may have a few days or a few weeks left.

She was our best mouser. :(

meme

2008-10-15T15:24:05Z

Grab the nearest book.
* Open the book to page 56.
* Find the fifth sentence.
* Post the text of the sentence in your journal along with these instructions.
* Don't dig for your favorite book, the cool book, or the intellectual one: pick the CLOSEST.

"Substantially as follows or substantially the same as, when used in the prescription and introductory text of a provision or clause, means that authorization is granted to prepare and utilize a variation of that provision or clause to accomodate requirements that are peculiar to an individual acquisition; provided that the variation includes the salient features of the FAR provision or clause, and is not inconsistent with the intent, principle, and substance of the FAR provision or clause or related coverage of the subject matter."

(Federal Acquisition Regulation, CCH Incorporated publication)

Edit: This basically says that if a clause starts with the words "substantially as follows" or "substantially the same as," then the Contracting Officer may, at his or her discretion, tailor the language to better suit the individual contract, so long as the gist remains the same.

No-Knead Bread = FAIL!

2008-10-14T14:12:54Z

As many of you know, I'm am a self-professed "culinarily challenged" person.

After reading a lot recently about the famous 18 hour No-Knead Bread recipe, I decided that this looked so easy, even I could not mess it up. How very wrong I was. I am now the proud owner of a slightly browned, largish hockey puck. My thoughtful husband still thinks it tastes good.

I asked renaude to do a post-mortem. We think the cold yeast straight from the fridge and cold water I used prevented the yeast from activating. also, I used a fancy spelt, buckwheat, and spring wheat blend flour, when I probably should have stuck with white or 50/50 flour. Also, I am not sure I used the right kind of yeast (Rapid Vs. Active- is there a difference? I got what the store had - in a little packet).

Given that Renaude's son just won an A&S tournament with his no-knead bread entry, I guess I can safely say that even the average 4 year old is a better cook than me. Powned!

Fictional Characters Meme

2008-10-08T19:56:35Z

1. Comment on this post.
2. I will give you a letter.
3. Think of 5 fictional characters and post their names and your comments on these characters in your LJ.

I was given the letter “B” by faheud, and will resist the temptation to choose something from the Tolkien universe.

1: Beatrice and Benedict: Well, this is technically two, but as they are from the same Shakespeare play (“Much Ado About Nothing”), I’ll count them as one. I always find their war with words to be amusing. Even though they pick on each other constantly, they really do have feelings for each other. I know some real life couples like this. At least they both have good senses of humor.

2: Beaker: My favorite Muppet character. Sure, he doesn’t say much, but I love the way his mouth flap opens up when he talks. He is the ever loyal sidekick to Dr. Honeydew; always cheerful lending a hand when needed and never complaining. Kind of like me.

3: Sirius Black: My secret Harry potter universe crush. So noble, and yet so flawed. Why did he have to die? It makes me sad just thinking about it.

4: Benjamin Linus: The uber-creepy bad guy from “Lost.” There is something about his eyes that is truly disturbing. You almost want to trust him, and yet always at the back of your mind is the thought that whatever is coming out of his mouth is a total and complete lie. Very well done bad guy.

5: Black Beauty: Well, I just had to have a horse in here somewhere! I loved this book as a kid. I thought it was cool that the story is told by the horse, from his point of view. It is a nice “feel good” story, except for the sad parts at the end when he is an old, broken down horse. At least it has a fairly happy ending.

Ice Cold Milk and an Oreo Cookie

2008-09-26T17:43:27Z

Why is the song from the Oreo commercial stuck in my head today?? I should not be eating those things! It does not help that there happen to be some in the nearby vending machine right now.

Courtly Love

2008-09-18T14:07:12Z

Some of you may remember the "Court of Love" that was directed/moderated by dukeeliahu several years ago, and starred several members of my f-list, such as unixmule, charles_midair, renaude's lovely wife, elaine_alina, arianna_pheadra; faheud, and me.

Well, I had completely forgotten that we had video taped both the Pennsic rehearsal and the Twelfth Night performance... until, that is, I came across them last week while setting up the video camera to tape our mule's training sessions.

unixmule has burned a DVD, and can make copies as needed. Let me know if you want one!

Bi-annual update

2008-09-15T13:11:59Z

Update on Mules, Hay, Garden, Classes, & Cedar Point after the cut...

The big exciting news is that we hired a trainer named Tom Davis to work with our two mules (Tristan and Robin). He is going to train them to be ridden. We are looking forward to being able to ride down the road and make use of some of the riding trails in the Brighton recreation area, which is less than a mile down the road. Hopefully we’ll be riding them this Fall yet. He comes out three nights a week for two hours each time. The mules love all the attention. We are video taping their training sessions so we can keep it up ourselves after he is finished.

The recent “haying” went well. We got 350 bales (we use about 500 per year). My dad and step mom came out, plus renaude and <charles_midair and their families. It went pretty quickly with 6 people helping. The kids had a good time riding Lea and playing with the dogs.

In other news, my classes are keeping me super busy. I started in April, and only have a couple more weeks to go. This most recent class (Advanced Contract Management) has a lot of homework, so I have been spending more like 10 hours a week on it than the 6 they told me it would be. That does not sound like a lot of time, but it is hard to squeeze it in with a full time job and an already full schedule. Once I am done with that, I get to study for my Certified Federal Contracts Manager exam. That is a two part exam (Federal knowledge and business knowledge). I am hoping to get it done by the end of the year.

Our garden was not terribly bountiful this year. We got lots of peppers and cucumbers, and there are three fat pumpkins on the vine right now, but the tomatoes were a huge disappointment. I don’t know if it was the weather, or what the problem was, but out of eight plants I got less than a dozen tomatoes. My co-workers and neighbors all had the same problem, so I don’t think it was me and my “brown thumb”. I did not get to do the major tomato canning I was planning, but I did at least get to make lots of low-sugar strawberry jam. Yum!

unixmule and I went to Cedar Point (An amusement Park in Sandusky, Ohio) on August 19th with elaine_alina, who is just as “coaster crazy” as me! We rode on nothing but roller coasters that day, with two exceptions. unixmule wanted to ride to carousel, so we hit that on the way out. We also enjoyed “Skyhawk” (essentially a giant swing). The rest of the day was spent either on the coasters, or waiting in line! We went on ten rides in all. That doesn’t sound like much, but the lines were pretty long in some cases. We got our picture taken on two of the coasters. They have stop-motion cameras mounted on the track so they can catch you ‘mid-scream”. We had a nice steak dinner at Outback in Toledo on the way home. All in all, a very fun day!

Hey Hay Hey!

2008-08-14T16:06:34Z

This weekend we will be the lucky recipients of a truck load of hay (400 bales). Sunday, between 9 to 9:30am to be specific.

If anyone out there in our area is available/willing to help, we'd be very grateful! It will only take 1 to 2 hours to unload it. The truck backs into the barn and the delivery guy throws the bales off, and then it just gets stacked to the side, so it is not much schlepping, mostly just stacking.

We will be providing food, dust masks, horse rides for those interested, and gas money to get here.

Come on out and add this novel form of exercise to your fitness regimen!

Happy Birthday!

2008-05-10T16:43:22Z

...to the talented and wonderful magda_vogelsang!!! Enjoy your day! It is perfect gardening weather too!

YaY Birthday!!

2008-05-05T17:30:17Z

A Very Happy Birthday to elaine_alina!!!

Gotta Have Heart

2008-04-12T01:45:16Z

I, along with elaine242 and luveday, am walking in the American Heart Association Heart Walk on May 3rd!

If you are interested in donating so I can reach my walker goal (no pressure), you can do so
here. If I get at least $100, I get a T-shirt. Who Hoo!

Paul Mckenna, Week 3

2008-04-11T17:07:44Z

(I’m still catching up on my reviews of the past weeks’ shows. Technically the Sunday’s show is week 5, and the last program).

Week 3 focused on a “craving buster technique” to help you with those out of control cravings.

The idea is that many people over eat because they are trying to improve their mood (due to anxiety, depression, etc.). Eating comfort foods gives us a sense of well being and happiness (i.e. chocolate, etc.). Even if in a good mood, some people still over eat to heighten the enjoyment they are feeling at the moment.

The obvious parallels were drawn between alcoholism, smoking, and drug abuse and over eating (i.e. over eating is jut another form of substance abuse, in that you are using food to change your mood and make you feel better).

His craving buster technique is two-fold. Phase 1 is a revulsion exercise, in which you pinch the thumb and middle finger together on one hand and imagine the food you are craving and then imagine mixing it with a food you hate (sardines, lamb, etc.), plus dirt, worms, hair, etc. until you are feeling a bit nauseous and no longer have any craving for the food.

Then, to replace the good feelings you would have gotten from eating the food you are craving, you pinch the thumb and middle finger together on the other hand and imagine a time when you felt intense pleasure and accomplishment, and relive those moments as vividly as you can using your imagination to fill in the sounds, colors, etc. That description is a bit oversimplified, but you get the idea.

According to the show, studies have shown that your brain does not distinguish between actually doing those activities in real life and just remembering/imagining them again, so it still releases happy chemicals and endorphins even if you just vividly imagine doing them, so it makes you feel better/happier. Weird.

I haven’t yet felt a need to do this one so I have not done it again since I tried it while watching the show. I have a pretty active imagination, so it did not take me long to go from wanting chocolate to nearly puking at the thought.

The revulsion aspects are not supposed to last very long(I just ate a piece of chocolate, in fact), just long enough so that you can gain control of your craving. It is perfectly okay to have that food, but only when yo are in control (legitimately hungry, can eat it consiously, and stop yourself, etc.).

A good technique to keep in my back pocket.

Paul Mckenna – Week 2

2008-04-10T14:46:19Z

This week’s show focused on emotional eating. One of the ways you can tell the difference between emotional eating and genuine hunger is that real hunger builds slowly over time (1-2 hrs), and emotional hunger is instantaneous. So if you are suddenly hungry, you are probably eating for emotional reasons (stress, boredom, sadness, etc.).

Paul taught a technique on how to deal with those emotional issues that is based on “Thought Field Therapy” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thought_field_therapy) that he calls “the tapping technique.” The basic idea is that if you go through a sequence of tapping on various acupuncture points on your body (Under eye, collar bone, etc.) and opening/shutting/moving your eyes in a certain pattern, humming, etc., then you can simulate the effects of acupuncture and reduce the anxiety you are feeling which is causing you to eat.

I would like to spend some more time researching this technique on my own. It looks interesting, though arguably it kind of falls into the realm of “pseudoscience”. I have tried it a few times, and it does take my mind off whatever is stressing me.

I am not sure if it is really “helping the energy flow through my body by removing energy blockages” as some TFT websites claim, or if it is just distracting me long enough that I forget what I was fixating on. I think the way it works is that the tapping and eye movement combination kind of resets your brain. Basically, you start obsessing or feeling anxious over something (looming deadline, desire for chocolate, etc.), and your brain gets into a vicious loop that it can’t get out of, increasing your feelings of stress, or desire for the chocolate, etc. By tapping, moving your eyes, and humming, etc., it makes you stop thinking about whatever it is you are fixating on long enough to get your mind out of that loop. That is what I think is happening anyway.

Now if only I didn't look so silly doing it at work. :)

I have been following the “golden rules” from the first show over the past three weeks, and have lost 7lbs so far. This brings my total weight loss since Feb 2007 to 36 lbs.

With Sincere Apologies to his Excellency, Gregoire

2008-03-28T17:27:17Z

So, I was planning out my clothes for Terpsichore tomorrow, and I realized that with the amount of time I am going to be on my feet, the fact that my ankle was a bit sore last weekend from sewing, and the possiblity of maybe even dancing some, I had better plan to wear the proper footwear.

Unfortunately this does not mean my nice period footwear.

Oh dear, I fear I am going to do something awful. Namely, I'll be wearing my hideous orthopedic sneakers at the event tomorrow. Otherwise I won't be able to walk for a week. Sigh. At least it will be under a long dress.

Misc. Thoughts on TLC’s “I Can Make you Thin” show with Paul Mckenna

2008-03-19T15:00:42Z

I saw a teaser ad a few weeks back on TLC and thought, “Whoa, that show looks interesting.” I did a little research on the host (Paul Mckenna - www.mckenna.com). He is apparently a very successful hypnotist in the UK whose techniques include NLP (Neuro-Language Programming). He also has several different books and audio programs for any other issues or bad habits you may want to address (“I Can Make you Quit Smoking,”, “I Can Make You More Confident”, etc.), as well as a TV show in the UK where he helped people get over their fears and other issues.

Now, at first glance he certainly seems somewhat Quackish, and of course there is the old “if it sees to good to be true…”adage to keep in mind. But I figured it wouldn’t cost anything but a few hours to watch the five part series, and maybe he might have some interesting ideas. So I decided to TiVo it and give it a try.

To be honest, the way the show is edited really makes it come off like some kind of infomercial (to wit, the constant cheering from the overly enthusiastic audience) – except there isn’t anything actually for sale. If you can get past that though, there is a lot of substance here. I was kind of expecting some kind of visualization exercise, or hypnosis through the TV (I was half afraid there might be swirling patterns on the TV and chanting or something). In fact, the first episode was a basic primer that was surprisingly sensible (for the most part).

Week 1: This week he discussed his “Four Golden Rules”, AKA ‘the secrets of naturally thin people”, which are:
1: When you are hungry, eat.
2: Eat what you want, not what you think you should.
3: Eat consciously.
4: When you are full, stop.

The homework for this week was to follow the above rules, remove all the food from your fridge and pantry that did not “inspire you”, practice leaving food on your plate, and eat at least one meal blindfolded. More on that later.

Now, as a general comment, everything in his “golden rules” is stuff I’ve heard before. There is nothing thoroughly new or earth shattering here, folks.

Rule #1: I totally agree that you should eat when you are hungry. If you don’t and are constantly hungry, your body will go into starvation mode and cling to every calorie you take in. Also, you are more likely to overeat if you get to the point of ravenousness. I’m totally on-board with this one.

Rule #2: I mostly get his point here. I agree that you should not force yourself to eat yucky low fat stuff that is full of artificial ingredients, or vegetables you hate just because you think it is “the right thing to do”. Also, if you think a food is "forbidden" you are more likely to obsess over it. However; it is a bit irresponsible to suggest (as he does), that you can eat WHATEVER YOU WANT (be it chocolate, pizza, etc.) as long as you follow the rest of his rules. This may be okay for the average person, but not for someone with issues such as diabetes or severe food allergies. Someone on his website forum actually said “I am type 1 and am taking insulin and I love bread. Does this mean I can eat only bread on this plan?” Use some common sense here, folks…Hmmm, does that really seem like a smart idea to you? At least he has moderators that pipe in with the “please check with your doctor” mantra.

Yes, I’ve been there and thought “I really hate these green beans, but I HAVE to eat them because they are GOOD for me.” This results in: 1) I become increasingly disgusted with said food, and further dread eating it the next time around, and 2) When I do manage to eat them, I am more likely to reward myself with a treat (I deserve dessert since I ate these crappy veggies). So, I get the principle here.

I think the missing key here is to find ways to turn the foods that are good for you, and that you might not necessarily enjoy, into foods that you like. Maybe add more butter to the green beans, and garlic or interesting spices or other healthy treatments. A little cheese on some broccoli makes it go down way easier. Also, I found that by steaming veggies on a stove top instead of throwing them in the microwave, the texture is a lot more pleasant to me. Another way I turn those foods into things I WANT to eat is by reminding myself of the benefits of good food choices: “Gee, this has a lot of fiber in it, which my body really needs, therefore I WANT to eat it.”

Maybe future shows will focus more on making good food choices, we’ll see.

Rule #3: This seems so obvious, and I thought I was doing it, but not to the extremes he takes it. His instructions were to eat with NO distractions. No watching TV, no reading the paper, no surfing the net, etc. You take a bite, put your knife and fork DOWN, sit on your hands if you have to, and then chew at least 20 times, focusing on NOTHING but the food in your mouth. Then you resume your knife and fork and repeat.

This is a lot harder than it seems. I often, okay, always, do other things while I’m eating, even if it is just mentally planning and scheming. I found myself fidgeting uncontrollably in my seat and wringing my hands after a few bites. I really did need to sit on my hands. I know that seems pretty pathetic. It was also really hard to keep my mind from wandering and really focus on what I was eating. Oddly enough, I did get full after eating only about 2/3 of the food on my plate. And the food on my plate was well within my diabetic nutritionist’s recommended meal plan. Then I ate the rest for breakfast the next day. I am not sure if I am really full, or just bored to sit there so long, to be honest, but I am definitely eating less at each sitting using this technique.

Rule #4: Stop when you are full. Again, this seems obvious. He says to stop as soon as you THINK you are full, and if you are still hungry 10 minutes later, eat again. Basically, he wants you to live in the middle of the extremes, neither getting too hungry, nor too full. Eat when you are hungry, stop when you are full. Don’t wait until you are ravenous o faint with hunger, and don’t eat until you feel overfull or bloated. Sounds like a plan.

Oh, the blindfold…He did an experiment where people were taken to a diner and had a typical American breakfast (eggs, bacon, etc.). Everyone cleaned their plates. The next day, they all came back and had the same meal, but ate it blindfolded. They all ate until they were full and stopped, and they actually left a lot on their plates. The idea is your eyes take in how much food in on the plate, and that visual stimulus influences your brain on when it responds to the full signal from your stomach.

So that is it for week one. I’ll report on next week’s episode and let you know how it is going.

Thoughts on Winter…

2008-03-11T20:56:17Z

Every year, sometime near the end of Summer, I look back on all the projects I got done (gardening, home improvements, things I did with the horses), and I wonder to myself why it is that I don’t get that much accomplished during the winter months. I them make a promise to myself that the next winter will be different, and that I’ll keep that momentum going and do XYZ before Spring (organize the library, put all our pictures in photo albums, etc.) and not succumb to the cold and winter blahs that come post Christmas.

Well, I’ve been thinking about that a lot this winter, and have come to the realization that sometimes just the act of surviving the winter takes a lot more time, energy, and resources than I remember by the end of Summer. So this entry is a reminder for me next Fall that I did not spend the entire winter watching TV or playing Xbox…

I’m writing all this down, not to complain or whine “poor me”, but rather to remind myself of how I spent the winter months.

This winter there were many, many days where it took 1.5 to 2 hours to get to/from work. I spent 3-4 hours a day commuting on the bad days. And on the not as bad days, where there was just a little ice and snow on the roads, I spent an average of 2-2.5 hours driving each day (Vs. the 1.3-1.5 hours I usually spend in ideal road conditions).

We had over 76” of snow in Livingston County this year, and that number still has lots of time to increase before spring really comes. That amounts to one heck of a lot of shoveling that Tim and I did.

It was really cold this winter, so we burned through most of last year’s firewood. Chopping that up and carting it to the house and building/maintaining the fires in the wood burning stove took up a lot of time.

The heater in the 100 gallon stock tank gave out not once, but twice, and had to be replaced each time. That means twice we had to figure out how to thaw 100 gallons of freezing water so we could dump the tank and replace the heater at the bottom. That was a fun little project times two.

The faucet on the outside of the house, which is our only water supply for the horses, froze several times and had to be thawed with a blow-dryer. Don’t forget the fun of having to carry bucket after bucket of freezing water to the barn for the horses.

The horse barn is an ice rink, thanks to the thawing and refreezing we have been experiencing for the past several weeks. That makes bringing the horses in extra fun. At least they have learned a relatively safe path to traverse to their stalls, and I get treated to equine ice-capades only rarely now.

Tim spent a good couple of weeks traveling for work, so I had all the work of taking care of two mules, a horse, two dogs, and four cats by myself for a noticeable chunk of this winter. I got up at 5:30 most days and did not get to bed much before 11pm when Tim was out of town, and the TV never got turned on the whole time that he was gone because I didn’t have even a minute to spend sitting on the sofa.

We had plenty of hay this winter, for which I am very grateful, given the statewide shortages. Hay is going for $6-$9 per bale now, and we go through about 1.5 bales a day.

Walking the dogs this winter has been fun because a lot of the time we got enough snowfall that it was over their heads, so I got to do my "Good King Wenceslas" impersonation regularly and the dogs would literally walk in my footsteps. Of course their feet would get cold and balled with snow, causing them to stop in their tracks and whimper piteously until I picked them up and carried them the rest of the way (too bad they won't wear the snow boots I got for our last cairn - tho he didn't like them much either).

I started my Masters Certificate Program in Government Contract Management. I have been spending 5-6 hours a week on that. It is pretty much the equivalent of a college course. Well, it really IS a college course, through Villanova University.

Oh yeah, I almost forgot. I autocrated Kingdom 12th night in January too. That was a fair bit of work.

So, as you can see, future me that will be reading this 7 months from now, I was really quite busy this winter, even though I may not have a lot to show for it now.

Baa...

2008-02-24T23:54:13Z