Metamorphosis

Part of this weight loss project is to increase my walking to 10,000 steps a day. Yikes! This is a major jump for me and it will take a while to build up to this. So, my new routine is to wake at 5:00am and take George for a walk around my neighborhood then drop him off with his breakfast and I continue to walk the perimeter of our resort. This gets me just shy of 5,000 steps. Eventually I will add a second walk in the evening if I can't get some water volleyball games going. It's fun to see all the cactus blooming along the way since many don't bloom until after everyone has left for their summer homes.  I'd normally miss these, but since I'm hanging around for my one month checkup I get to enjoy them. When I get back I water my plants and scheme about what to move and what to add next season. It will be easier getting in the steps once I return to Minnesota as I'll start playing pickleball and there's lots of gardening to be done. There's also some lov...

  Since I can't eat all the yummy things on this puzzle, it was fun just to put it together.  Recovering from surgery is a bit reminiscent of those days of Covid. Time to break out the puzzles so I can distract myself while drinking a protein shake that I don't find very tasty. I'm learning to eat to live...not live to eat.

  I had my two week checkup and things are proceeding nicely. My bandages were removed, the incisions are healing well and I can go back into the pool now. I'm meeting my protein goals and almost there with the water, but he said nobody meets that goal at two weeks. I no longer have to empty my pill capsules into a spoon of jam and can just swallow them. Never thought I'd be grateful to swallow pills, but there you are. My next goal is to get 10,000 steps in each day and have a couple of days with some intense workout. This is going to take some dedication as I'm nowhere near that amount. By my one month checkup I should be able to do some weight lifting. The only bummer was to continue the puree diet for two more weeks. Yuck!  I shouldn't complain (but I will) the taste isn't horrible it's just so awful to look at.  But it's only two weeks...I'm halfway there already. I can do this.

  No,this is not a shot of me before and after. I just wanted to show you how lovely pureed food looks. The picture on the left is the Pizza Bowl from Marco's Pizza and looks very yummy.  It's basically just the pizza toppings of a supreme pizza without the crust. The picture on the right is after pureeing a small amount of it for supper. It looks as appealing as canned  dog/cat food. The flavor is there if you don't make the mistake of looking at it first. These are things I never thought myself capable of doing.

Little deviation from the norm today and yet part of my journey.  You'll see. I am a Norwegian Worrier. Not warrior...worrier.  My daughter has done personality tests on me and I forget the name of the test, but I was a solid six, signifying that I tend to be hyper cautious in my life. When I'm in a restaurant I need to sit facing the door. It probably stems back to my first marriage but anyway...it's the way I am.  Let me give you some examples of how bizarre my thought process can be. I often joke about the size of a trunk and whether or not a body would fit in there, to the point my therapist daughter questioned me on this. My fear was that if I was ever abducted and they covered my mouth with duct tape (as I know many have wanted to do) I would certainly become carsick being bounced around in the trunk and then aspirate on my own vomit. Horrible way to die. Then when one of the kids donated their hair to Locks of Love I explained why I've never done that. My logic w...

  George and I have developed the habit of waking at 5:30 and heading out the door for out walk. Well, actually it's HIS habit, I'd be happy lingering in bed. In Arizona you need to get out there bright and early while it's safe to do so. It's nice at 68 degrees but it hits 97 really quickly. It is nice to hear the birds and see all the pretty cactus blooms. The one above is at Ken & Barb's house.  This is the first bloom on my little Argentine Giant. The bloom is the size of my hand and the plant is only about 9" high. I did a bit too much the other day out in the heat-watering plants, hooking up the new hose reel and cleaning the front of our property.  Got to feeling almost ill, weak and dizzy. So I went back inside and cooked up an egg with cheese for an early lunch and sat down to rest. After taking the trash to the dumpster I checked the mail and found two things for me- a package with some really cute napkins from my friend Carole and a card from my...

  I wouldn't put it past George to do this! My energy is back and I find myself finding little things to do around the house.   My cute turquoise suitcase arrived today and I'm starting to assemble things for Minnesota. Left Brain has the same suitcase except in a dark color and orange highlights. He said how nice it worked for him and I decided I'd get one also. Now that we are "known travelers" through TSA we don't have to remove our shoes. Well, he doesn't anyway because he's older but I'm so much younger .  It will be nice not to have to deal with that, although now that I wear sketchers it's not really a bother.   Oh well. The other perk is that you don't have to take everything out and put it in a bin.  I will be able to pack my cpap, all my electronics and whatever oddball things I need to haul along in one small carry-on case. Since I'll be hauling  George's fat fluffy butt, this really simplifies things.