Youngest dd and I had pow wow today about food, training, and editing house

[Twoapenny]

This evening we ate a hamburger on salad dinner, made Cloud Bread (for the first time,) then learned the line dance to Foot Loose the movie. Lots of laughter, and.....
dancing's a short cut to happiness, for sure.


Tomorrow dd15 begins 3 days of Four hour driving lessons in a row.  She's a bit terrified, and not sure if she wants me in the back seat or not.  Will see.

Wish us luck.

Lighter

Aw Lighter, Footloose is one of my favourite films, I even liked the remake!  I find I usually prefer the originals but I thought the remake was great - different enough to be different but still retained all the stuff that made it Footloose   Life long obsession with Kevin Bacon started when I saw that film.  How did driving lesson go? xx

[lighter]

DD is doing swell.  Her instructor announced DD could "be a race driver."

 

I found that very disconcerting, and not at all comforting. 

DD said instructor commented on DD's riding up on other drivers too fast, and speeding a bit, so I'm guessing the comment wasn't supposed to be comforting, though it was delivered as though I should.  Odd, really.

This instructor seems to adore DD, and compliments her wit and humor... wants me to feeeeeel DD will drive without struggle.  DD was very anxious before beginning, but seems relaxed, and confident at this point.  They're driving downtown today, and this is a bustling tourist area right now....  dogs, and jay walking everywhere.  I think I'm more anxious than DD and instructor, who has a brake pedal on her side of the car only.  No steering wheel.    I think there should be two steering wheels.

I don't know how instructor does it.  She drives with students all the time... I mean she drives them 8 hours a day all week long... on the weekends.  Nerves of steel, that one.

So the line dancing.... it's a different kind of movement than anything, and the knee I had the ACL replacement is twinging a bit.  Right at the incision points, which I guess are the connection points.   

I think it's the hopping back and forth from right to left to right feet that's doing it. 

Maybe the hinging that knee back and forth, smacking the heel with left hand, then right hand behind the back. 

Whatever it is, I've put it down for a bit.  If I didn't say before, youngest dd's PE class was tasked with learning the line dance this year, and we've had so much fun laughing at the stories, and doing it ourselves.  Much fun.

In my day, it was square dancing; )


Lighter



 

[Hopalong]

Oh, dear. I'm glad you put it down, Lighter.
My recent injury (knee) really made me stop and accept: joints DO succumb to wear and tear, and the hell some of my old folks go through to walk, just to stay mobile, is a cautionary tale....

Oh, and I knocked down a line of folks like dominos in a private-lesson line dancing class. I mean, I'm right behind the cowbody-teacher who's on a stage in front of us, teaching beautifully with a head mike so we could hear his clear instructions and moving through each step very cleanly, back turned to us so we had the same exact perspective, perfect visibility, great music, all so well done...

But. It felt...ummm....like being a Contrary Native American Indian. Look 'em up.

 

Hops

[sKePTiKal]

Well, Lighter... DD is feeling the power in the freedom of a car under her control. She probably will enjoy the feeling of "go fast"... I still do, although my idea of go fast and Holly's are different speeds now. Driving downtown, is an obstacle course for new drivers... and a lesson in patience. So many things to pay attention to... but at a much lower speed.

You will get used to it; just ride with her driving a little. Holly & I both know driving is a control issue for both of us. She will let me do highway driving on a road trip when she's tired, but in big cities I always defer to her experience - and lack of being perturbed by catching things out of the corner of my eye that rattles me, or people taking dumb chances and creating a close call. Works out pretty well. She also drives a lot better at night than I do... especially in bad weather.

[lighter]

Amber:

DD speaks often about the driving habits she's learned from me, and her aunt. She enjoys pointing them out, and correcting them.  I calmly listen, and know teaching is the next step in learning, so it's all good.

My sister and I have a similar agreement as you and Hol regarding driving.  I need to do the highway, and she's fine on the town driving.  Esp in our own towns.... it works out. 

I punched and kicked the heavy bag a little today.  Got my heart rate up quickly three times, then wanted to throw up.  It was great!

Happy DD17 came home today.  She's sleeping in my bed under her new Alpaca blanket... she's clean, with little curls around her face from the humidity.  It rained cats and dogs earlier, but over now.

We're going to bed early... all of us.  In fact, I'm the last one standing at 7:30.  Youngest has challenged me to a 2 day fast.  She's stated the rules....
Water, green tea, and one cup of miso a day allowed.  We might go camping, to get away from all the temptations, but will see how the weather goes.   

I think being trapped in humid, rainy conditions out of doors might make food cravings SO much worse for me.

::shaking head::.

And worrying about bears, oh my.

Lighter

[Hopalong]

An injured bear (got hit by a car) is running through a neighborhood near me today, poor thing.

 

Hops

[lighter]

I'm sorry to hear about the bear suffering, Hops.  That's very sad.  How likely is it that they'll be able to find and capture that bear, dart it, then take it in for medical treatment? 

This is the second day of a 2 day fast.  DD15 did splendidly, though she'd pipe up with hunger pains as mine were receding, and so begin them again. 

I had approx 55 calories of organic chicken broth, one cup of that with slivered fresh mushrooms.  25 calories more than I was entitled to.  DD had zero, and was very disappointed in me.  She'd wrestled the mushrooms from me earlier in the day, and felt she'd nipped that in the bud. 
 
::shaking head::.

If 500 calories in a day is a type of fasting, then 55 is super duper turbo charged fasting.  I had too much sodium, but I found a way to get through it.  It sux.

Had a dream about organizing customers, and contractors. Very jumpy dream, and full of stress.  The dream ended with me trying to clean windows in a center kitchen island, that looked more like a boat, and the wood around the windows broke away, like paper, as I cleaned the underside.  Someone had carefully done their best to set up the island to appear stable, but it wasn't at all, in any small way, stable.

Hmmm.... I wonder what that dream was about.

Lighte

[sKePTiKal]

Hops, keep that pooch close until the all-clear is announced. A dog will bark and while black bears are generally pretty docile (and majestic) animals, injury or cubs to protect brings out their fierce side. Then, they attack. I'm constantly told there are bears here. But have yet to see one.

My solitary doe cleared up the mystery why she wasn't in a group: she brought her spotted fawn up in the yard to show her off. And the turkey hen who visited the porch (downstairs, until I stood up) had two babies in tow that same night. I always thought it was Mike that was the pied piper for animals... oh yeah, and my fox pair brought their kit up the driveway too. Veritable "wild kingdom" around here.

As long as you're not back-country camping off the beaten trail and have no food close to you... (hmmm, helpful?)... I don't think the bears will bother you Lighter. But the idea of the possibility IS scary. I haven't been primitive camping in a long long time. And I tend to be the kind who picks out a good spot semi-close to the privy (and water) and spends her time making "base camp". LOL.

[lighter]

We had a mama bear and 2 cubs come through our neighborhood... maybe last year, or the year before.  The mama startled a neighbor lady, who sprayed the bear in the face with a hose, which sent the bear crashing through the hedge into another neighbor's yard. 

That neighbor was sitting peacefully smoking a cigar, with his large black dog beside him. The dog attacked the bear, who tried to attack the neighbor. The neighbor punched the bear, and the entire neighborhood went nuts about bear and human rights for a while with reports of animal cruelty, a visit from the police, and message board foolishness back and forth. 

I like the leaders of both factions, and it was very tense for a while, bc they all walk through my yard to get to the forest, and they all told their own version of events with very high expectations of being believed. 

The moral of the story,
for me,
 is....
don't startle the bears. 

It's raining again, and very overcast.... looks like nightfall. 

Another day in the house.     

Amber, you don't have chickens so the idea of baby foxes sounds as nice as the baby doe, and turkey chicks. 

You might see bear cubs yets; )

[lighter]

We have a big male bear in the area, and it pleased me to no end when DD15 pinned a little bell to the back of her pants before going for her run. 

She'll start a cleanse tomorrow... not sure what it's about, but she put sweet potatoes, and apples on the shopping list.  Protein powders figure large in the plan, I'm told.

I'm waiting on a fluffy happy batch of Cloud bread to finish in the oven.  Definitely vinegar is the way to go.  Decided to try garlic salt this time.  Will see.

It should rain tomorrow, and I'm feeling like neatening up overgrown hemlocks, and pans of yet to be planted moss.... there are several if I look.  I'm so ready for this rain to end.   

Lighter

[sKePTiKal]

Careful what you wish for Lighter! The rain stopped here, and our heat index (and humidity) have been busting thermometers. And once again, I'm literally sick from trying to do ANYTHING physical in this sun.

Yesterday was all-day pool party for Logan's birthday. 10 yr old boys are such FUN! (The little girls were cute & adorable too... but both Holly & I picked up on the typical jealousy reactions when there are 3, instead of 2. No meltdowns... but I could see the one left out, starting to wind up.)

Hops, except for the protein involved which would be a problem for you... the keto form of eating seems to work for a lot of people. It also limits carbs... but what people are doing, is making that carb restriction more flexible - and then using intermittent fasting - to stimulate weight loss. We all have to figure out what works best for each of our body types and metabolisms.

I found I absolutely have to have more carbs than the std numbers -- or I don't have the physical energy or motivation to get my body moving. So that's a trade-off until I change my eating habits enough to go further. (The body adapts.)

Holly's list of food she wants is mostly fruit - and a couple favorite junkfood items - LOL. She hasn't been into chocolate or cheese lately... but those are two things I know she likes.

[Hopalong]

ALERT THE MEDIA!
I made Lighter's lentils!!!!!

And they are yummmmmmmmmmmmmmy.

So proud
So proud
Happydancingpattingselfonfluff....

Hops

[lighter]

Really, Hops?  I'm so glad you like them.   Did you put in garlic, tomatoes, and onion with plenty of olive oil?  So many ways to make them.  Make sure you try a beautiful lemony red wine vinegar chopped salad with cucumber, tomatoes, maybe radish, and parsley... maybe with Nature's Seasons.  I love eating them together.

I did a tray of Cloud bread tonight.... they're cooling now.  Some have a light lemony goat cheese over the top, and some have hard sausage slices tucked in.  Some have a bit of cheese grated on top with a sprinkle of garlic salt.  I like the texture of chia seeds sprinkled about. 

I keep meaning to make some straight up plain, so I can do anything with them in a mood, but I get all excited, and forget. 

Enjoy those lentils, Hops.

Lighter

[Hopalong]

I will enjoy them for DAYS. Thanks for that simple, doable, achievable, possible recipe for me!

I didn't quite get to the oily paste point you recommended in your first description (I searched Lighter and lentils and ta da), but I sauteed an onion in a good bit of olive oil, added a clove of garlic for a bit, then a can of diced tomatoes and water and let the green lentils simmer for
quite a while.

I also made half-red, half-white quinoa in Better Than Bouillon veggie stock (you add the paste to the hot water) and they turned out great.

Took them to a potluck and have loads left over.

Kitchen. In the morning.

hugs
Hops

[lighter]

Add a head of garlic if you like garlic, Hops.  More onions.  Some chopped carrots.  Anything you like.... lentils rock.