Month: October 2022

Do You Work a Shift other than Traditional 8-5?

Do you work a non-traditional shift?

Do you work a shift other than a traditional 8-5 day shift? I do, I work nights 2000 to 0800. My first job out of college was midnight to 0800 five nights a week in a lab. Not only did I work nights but I also was a hostess during the lunch rush at a local Mexican restaurant. In my twenties that was not a bad job to have, I had endless energy and I slept by the pool. I could eat whatever I wanted and never gained weight. Today I could walk past a plate of potato chips and gain ten pounds just like that.

When I was part- time at my job I have now I was able to manage a workout schedule and lost 20 lbs. I was so excited and so happy and felt pretty good too. My diet was much better and I ate on a schedule, it was not sporadic like it is now. When I went full-time everything went to pot, I did not feel like I had enough time to workout and do food prep.

Making a concerted effort to do better for myself. . .

Earlier this month I decided to make a concerted effort to do better for myself with regard to my diet and my workouts. I love Mediterranean spices and food and I have followed a Mediterranean diet very liberally for several years. My husband is very quick to respond with regard to the Mediterranean diet about how the Mediterranean people travel either by foot or bicycle. In other words, he is saying that it is not the food they eat that keeps them healthy it is all their daily exercise. I am trying to eat better/healthier and also exercise daily in some form or fashion.

You are what you eat. . .

You are what you eat, how many times have you heard this one? It is true though, you eat nothing but junk and you are going to feel like junk. I am not an extremist and do not endorse any extreme measures to lose weight. Realist, I am a realist. Smoothies are my addiction, I love my fruit smoothie I fix in the mornings for breakfast. Number one smoothie: pineapple, cherry, spinach, beet, ginger, coconut water and some protein powder and blend. This one is designed for reducing inflammation, increasing circulation, and it is very yummy. This one gets me my fruits and some of my vegetables for the day.

The hubbs and I joke all the time that we could live out of our garden except for the occasional animal protein. We both love veggies the hubbs likes his animal protein more than I. A typical dinner for us looks like this: avocado sliced with fresh lime juice sprinkled, a couple boiled eggs sliced, peppers and onions sauted with a little olive oil and balsamic vinegar. I love asparagus and my dear hubby planted some for me, below is the first harvest with some sauted spinach.

When my schedule gets hectic, that is when my eating goes awry. I will be planning more for my meals on days I know I am going to be working. Planning my exercise may pose a more interesting problem. I prefer to walk in the mornings but my regular place to walk is doing some construction so my “flow” is messed up. Have been riding my exercise bike and lifting weights but it does not give me the same satisfaction as my walks. My walks are not only for my physical health but for my mental health too.

Conclusion. . .

This is an on going journey to a better me. Stay tuned for recipes, tips, tricks and updates on results. I would love to hear from my readers, any recipes or personal stories.

Did You Fail Your Kids? I Have. . .

I failed my kids. . .

I love my boys more than anything, some days I love them so much it hurts. You want your kids to be successful in life and to be good humans. Recently I read a post about teachers humiliating students and it struck a cord with me. I posted about my son and his being humiliated by a high school football coach, someone that was supposed to be a leader and a role model. My son is in college now and upon graduation plans to teach history, he also wants to coach lacrosse. He will be a good coach, goodness knows he has had plenty of bad coaches to learn how not to coach. I am thankful for the few encouraging coaches he has experienced and no shock that they were all lacrosse coaches.

Saddened daily by the state of our education system. . .

Both of my boys were bullied and humiliated by coaches, teachers, and students they thought were their friends. It saddens me more that my kids did not share this with me until after the fact. They were good at putting on a good face. I prided myself on being open and approachable. Some things they did talk to me about but for things they knew I would go to the mat over they kept to themselves. I found out too late to do anything about the turmoil they went through so, I am sharing my humiliation as a parent that did not stand up for my kids.

The high school and middle school teachers, coaches and administrative staff have a responsibility to educate our children and not beat them up. Their responsibility is to act like adults and be mature in dealing with students. Teachers should not be demeaning students or shaming them for anything, they should be trying to bolster the students’ self esteem. Some children only get negative reinforcement at home and need that positive influence elsewhere. Some students are looking for someone to say; “good job,” or “I knew you could do that problem” or ” way to go on that test.” They do not need someone else saying ugly things to them and embarrassing them.

I had my fair share of humiliation. . .

I had my fair share of humiliation in high school from teachers. My best friend and I were taking an advanced math class and our teacher would put these very difficult problems on the board and then say that his daughter could do this one and she was only nine years old. How helpful is that to students? I remember distinctly one day going by after school to try and get extra help on an assignment and his response to us was: ” you two are dumb and I do not know how you will ever graduate college.” This is why I majored in biology and my friend majored in history. My friend and I walked away and we never said anything about him acting like that to the administration, I cannot remember if I told my mom and dad or not. Probably not. My friend and I still talk about that day and how bad we felt after being told we were dumb.

Conclusion. . .

My friend graduated college and so did I. She has just retired from teaching and I know she was an awesome history teacher. The students that she had always reach out to her to tell her how glad they were that they had her as a teacher and they share their successes with her. I pray daily for our teachers because I know it is no easy job. It scares me terribly to think of Sprat teaching but, I know God is moving him where he needs to be. It is never our plan but God’s plan for our lives and God does not make mistakes.

What does True Love Look Like?

Have you ever thought you were in love?

Have you ever thought you were in love before? Maybe you thought the funny feeling in your belly meant you were in love. Did someone send you flowers or chocolate on a special occasion? That is very nice and my hubby did that for me when we were first dating and in our early married years. As the years go by that seems wasteful and cliche. Do not get me wrong, I am not bashing those wonderful tokens of love. I enjoyed every one I ever got.

This is what true love looks like. . .

This is what true love looks like after thirty years and two kids together. True love is when your spouse lets you sleep in on a morning that they have to get up early and you do not. True love is when your hubby does your grocery shopping so that you do not have to go out during a pandemic. My hubby has gone out to get me chocolate when I have had a particularly terrible day, he has gone out to get me the “good” ice for my soda when I have been working from home. Bless my husband, because he is the best. He has, on more than one occasion, made me an egg sandwich for lunch when I have been working and could not take a break to fix myself something to eat.

True love is not always showy, it is not always glamorous and flashy sometimes it is very quiet and simple. It is a man that plants brussels sprouts and beets for you and he does not even like them. It is the man that will put a ginger ale in the fridge so that you will have a cold one when you get up after working night shift. So ladies do not discount the man that does not like the showy holidays like Valentines. It does not mean he does not have love in his heart or that he is incapable of love it just means he has a more unique way of showing that love.

If your hubby or significant other has showered you with love in a unique way leave me a comment. Let’s hear it

Ever had a Gut Feeling About Something???

Have you ever had a gut feeling?

Have you ever had a gut feeling about something? Maybe it was to go a different route to work and there was no clear reason why you went that different way but once you arrive at work you find out that there was a terrible wreck on your normal route. Whew! catastrophe averted. That is what I mean by a gut feeling. I think mothers get those feelings more often than most.

My gut is never wrong. . .

One day we had a really big snow, the boys were little and the hubbs and I decided to take them sledding one night. I love those snowy nights when the air is crisp but not too cold and you can hear every little sound. When it is cold the hubbs hands shrink and so his wedding band becomes very lose in the winter. That ring flew around our house for several weeks every time he would make a gesture with his hands you could hear ping, ting, and then a gasp from both of us.

I asked the hubbs to take off his ring and leave it at home while we were going sledding. He insisted that he would not lose it, he was wearing gloves after all. You guessed it he lost his ring at an old Church near our house in the snow that night. There was no hope of finding that little gold band in all of that snow. In thirteen years of marriage that ring had not been off of his finger and now here he was with a naked ring finger on that left hand.

He went to work the next day and every female he came in contact with asked where his ring was and if we were separated. I guess nobody could imagine him just losing it or misplacing it, it had to be some catastrophic end to our marriage. My hubby is quite handsome and he is quite the catch if I do say so myself. Luckily we have relatives in the jewelry business and I set out to get him a new band ASAP!

We celebrated twenty-nine wonderful years together this year and the one thing that keeps us together is a good sense of humor. The hubbs went almost two weeks without a wedding band and I decided this band needed an inscription. I had his cousin put “I told you so” on the inside of his band. This is because I told him to leave his ring at home so he would not lose it in the snow.

Another shinning example of that gut feeling. . .

The gut really bothers me when it is in regard to my boys. It will sure enough get all tied up when there is something not right with them. One day when Sprat was about eight years old he had ridden his bike down the street to the neighbors to play. I was out working in the yard or playing with Big T in the yard when my gut got a little twangy. I looked down toward the neighbors where Sprat was playing and there were all the boys in the neighborhood lining up to do some dare devil stuff on their bikes. Off I went down the street right before Sprat was going to jump the driveway on his bike with a make shift ramp and everything.

Do not distress I did not embarrass him I told him I was going to take he and Big T for milkshakes or ice cream or something to that effect. He never knew the real reason I came to get him. Right after we left the neighborhood the next kid went to do the jump and crashed and broke his collar bone. Thank goodness for my gut.

I know boys will be boys but, if I have a gut feeling mine will not be doing those sorts of things. Not to say mine have not had their injuries over silly stuff they should not have been doing but when the gut rears it’s ugly head I react very quickly.

Updates and New Recipes. . .

Updates on the Boys. . .

The boys are back in Massachusetts in school. Sprat starts his student teaching this semester so look out Yanks you are about to get educated in History with a Southern accent. I hope his teachers and students will not be too hard on him about his Southern drawl. Big T has changed his major and seems to be enjoying his classes so far.

Sprat was going to have his birthday after we took them to school so we decided to celebrate before they went back. We had a nice dinner and we went to a baseball game.

Big T hates having his picture taken by me so he intentionally frowns and makes ugly faces. His Daddy used to do that too when he was younger and still does sometimes. Sprat of course was thrilled to be out having a nice steak.
Uncle C was nice enough to take us out to the ballgame and some hotdogs and hamburgers.

Updates on the Home Front. . .

We had a bumper crop of Figs this year and I could not eat them fast enough. Decided to try my hand and caning, it was not too daunting, and they turned out fabulous. Canned them in three different batches and I did small batches only three pint jars at a time but it worked out great. I used equal part figs and sugar and added one lemon sliced and cooked for two hours before putting them in jars. This recipe did not call for any pectin and I liked that. We also had a great crop of cantaloupe and they were delish.

These are my figs cooking for my preserves

Stay Tuned, Work is a Little Crazy. . ..

Stay tuned, I know it has been awhile since I last posted but work is a little crazy and sleep is about all I do. Trying to get back on track with my eating plan and my exercise plan. I am trying some new recipes that I will be sharing and some new exercises too. Funny thing happens when all you do is eat, sleep, and work; you gain weight. Yuck! Not only do you gain weight but you feel bad too.

If you have these problems stay tuned I am going to try and get a handle on it, maybe you would like to share your story.