Productive Sundays – Pasta, Plants & Preparations

Sunday morning workout:  gardening, 1 hr.

It’s not even 9:00am yet, and I’ve spent an hour weeding, pruning and mulching the front garden.

Don’t be impressed – I let it get completely overgrown.  It was very shabby.  The virginia creeper was taking over the front walkway.  The postie was in danger of getting swallowed up by creeping ivy when he delivered my mail.  They make horror moves about yards like mine.

OK, it’s not this bad, but it was pretty bad.

Now, I’m drinking coffee, roasting a spaghetti squash in the oven before it gets too hot, blogging (obviously) and watching a Sunday morning TV program called  It\’s Just Food.

It’s a groovy little Canadian program that shows how simple cooking really is.  This morning is fresh homemade pasta.  Who knew it was so easy??!  Makes my creative juices start flowing while I”m making my grocery list.  Bacon, spinach and cheese ravioli.  YUM!!

Also on the agenda for today are groceries, some meal  planning, and a trip to the Rideau Center for some shopping.  Best Friend is looking for a new watch and I’m always happy to window shop.  Except the fall clothes are out…..and it’s going to be 90 degrees here today.  Talk about a disconnect!  Who can look at cozy sweaters when it’s sweltering outside.

It’s going to be a busy week!  Monday, I’m having dinner with Younger Sis to celebrate our mutual birthdays.  We’re almost twins except that we’re 6 years apart.  That’s probably why we get along so well.

We’re checking out the new small plates menu at Allium.   Check it out…it looks awesome.

Tuesday is a free day – must get some serious exercise and maybe some yoga.

Wednesday is my 50TH BIRTHDAY!!!  That means I’m going out for lunch with my fun work peeps at Stoneface Dollys which is one of my favorite restaurants.  We’re not inviting Obnoxious Sales Guy.  Picture stolen from the website.

After work, Younger Sis and I are planning to go to a new yoga studio called Empower Me Yoga. 

I plan to get my Zen on and set my intention for the coming year and perhaps the coming decade too.

After that, we’re going for gelato at Truffle Treasures  which makes the most amazing chocolate-peanut butter creation you have ever tasted!

On to Thursday,  I’m having dinner with Cottage Girl and my real estate agent.  Who is also a friend.  Who I don’t see often enough. I love spending time with fabulous girlfriends – both of these women can teach me lots about rockin’ 50.

And then, early, early, early on Friday morning, Best Friend, Cottage Girl and I are going on a road trip – Niagara-On-The-Lake!  It’s a picturesque community not far from Niagara Falls that has lots of quaint towns, award-winning wineries and the Shaw Festival.  We’re going to see My Fair Lady!  We’ve rented a guest cottage on an estate so that we can relax and drink coffee…and wine, of course….on our very own patio.

Whew!  What a week it will be.

On a couple of other completely unrelated notes, I’m going to drop into Chapters today to look for this book:

I’m a terrible runner and I want to enjoy it more.  There has to be a way to train smarter, rather than harder.

I think I just experienced one of the benefits of being 50…..smarter, not harder.  Maturity.  Wisdom.  🙂

And way off topic, call me crazy but is anyone disturbed that Michelle Bachman just won the Ames Straw Poll?  Far be it from me to stick my nose into US politics when our Canadian version isn’t a whole lot better, but can’t anyone see that this woman is a wing-nut???  Good grief.  Don’t the folks in Iowa get any decent media coverage?

Soapbox moment over.

Happy Sunday.

Yoga for Increased Bone Health

Later that same day….

I found it!  The article in the New York Times that mentions that yoga is great for bone health in the spine and hips of…..slightly more mature folks, shall we say?  As well, a regular yoga practice can decrease the risk of falls which is always a big problem as people lose their strength and consequently, their balance.  I see this challenge with my Mom often.  She is very frightened of falling and occasionally limits her activities if she’s anxious about it.  There is a link to the actual study in the last couple of paragraphs of the story.

Isn’t this a groovy picture?  Thanks, Google Images!

I can’t even do that pose now!!  Perhaps I should say….YET!

Ahhhhhh….it’s Saturday

Workout:  nothing yet today.  Friday:  none.  Thursday:  30 walk at lunchtime.

Ahhhhh….it’s Saturday morning.  That means coffee on the deck.  That means a yummy breakfast (eggs over-easy, toast with butter and fresh berries).  That means peace and quiet.  That means increased mental energy and calm. All the better to plan the day.

Gotta love Saturday mornings.

Let’s see, what happened this week?

I went to see Friends with Benefits with Younger Sis.  Loved it!  It was a completely fun, giggly rom-com and perfect for a girls’ summer night out.  I’m now a big fan of Mila Kunis.  She has crazy-fabulous energy, gorgeous eyes and a Lauren Bacall voice.

Loved her in Black Swan too.

Justin Timberlake, I do love too, but mostly I like his music and the crazier characters he plays in movies (read:  Sean Parker).  Don’t love him as a romantic comedy lead.   However, if you don’t love his version of Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah, then you don’t love music.  It’s absolutely brilliant.

Plans for the day include getting some exercise, bagging up some clothes for donation, and grocery shopping.  For HEALTHY FOOD!  It’s been a bad week for convenience food.  PM S.  What can I say?  It seems to get me every month.

I’m also thinking about what kind of fitness plan I want to put into place for autumn.  Workouts this summer have been a bit hit-and-miss although I try to move every day.

I think I miss the gym.  There!  I said it.  I really wanted to change things up this year – do something different!  I’ve had some kind of gym membership for the last 25 years and I’m one of those people who actually used it (mostly).  I did lots of yoga this year but lost interest after a while.  However, I’m going do more after reading an article on how yoga increased the bone density in the spines and hips of middle aged women.  That’s me.  If I can find the article again, I’ll post it, but I may have read it at work.  I’ve also done lots of walking, a little running and regular stretching.

But it’s not enough.  I need to have a more regimented plan.  Since I’m almost 50, you know.

I have no idea where this gym is, but isn’t this a great weight room?

Oh, and someone flirted with me this week.  The Boss’ step-son.  While fixing my computer.  He’s our IT guy at work.  He’s newly single (actually in the throes of a messy co-hab split).  Nothing to take seriously, but definitely good for this 49 15/16ths girl’s ego.

Sunny days

Workout:  Monday – 30 min walk lunchtime, 60 min walk after work.  Tuesday – 30 min walk lunchtime, 45 min walk after work.

Such is working out on lovely sunny days – all I want to do is be outside.  Coworker A and I have decided to fit in a quick walk at lunch to enjoy the sunshine.  Best Friend and I will resume our after-work walking program from last autumn which means we’ll be walking 5 times a week, weather permitting.  It finally feels like summer.  It’s good…..

Today is the end of Day 3 of the Dukan Diet Protein Extravaganza!  It’s quite interesting – I’ve never done an only-protein diet before.  I’m not hungry.  Shocking.  Just for kicks, I’ve been keeping track of calories.  Yes, that’s my idea of kicks because I’m a nerdy numbers girl.  I’m eating about 1000 cals/day which is quite low.  However, I’m not hungry.  If I were eating noodles and fruit salad, I’d be starving.

That said, I’m also a girl who gets her kicks from good nutrition and I will be glad to add back all the veggies I can eat.  Baby spinach is da bomb!!

And because all things health-related fascinate me (my favorite web healthy news site) , I thought this picture was pretty interesting as well.

These are slices of medical imaging shots of two women.  I’m not the least bit surprised about the fat on the thighs and arms – that’s the stuff we all weep and wail about.  What really surprises me are two things:  the fat in the belly cavity around the organs, and the state of the heavy woman’s ankles.

We all focus on how we look – what we see in the mirror.  It’s what we don’t see that’s scary and deadly.

Another reason to keep moving and stay healthy.  And because I’m grateful for my good health, there may be a little yoga in the sunshine puddle from my front window.

Nameste.

Rain, rain, go away

Workout:  3.7km, stretching

It’s a rainy, rainy week.  All day long, every day this week.  My grass is growing like crazy and I’m going to be baling hay in the backyard if I can’t cut it soon!

And so the yardwork season begins.  I completed about 1/4 of the work needed to get the flower beds cleaned up and the shrubs pruned.  I’ll have to keep working on that…..IF IT EVER STOPS RAINING!Good thing I have my new gym membership.  Love the funky TV’s attached to the treadmills.  Crappy picture, sorry.  I worked out this morning before work which was really good except I totally suck.  I was gasping for air, which I completely deserve for spending my winter sitting on my butt.  You can’t stay fit doing half-a$$ed downward dogs.  No way, no how.

Would Kate or Pippa Middleton spend her time on the couch, letting her butt get bigger by the day?

Funny story:

My boss is 62 and a total computer nerd.  Think Star Trek caliber.  His wife is British.  So, of course he took Friday off to watch the Royal wedding with her.  He now has a creepy-crush on Pippa Middleton.

What does his wife say?  Pippa has thin lips.

No kidding.  Why are we women so hard on each other????  Seriously!

Before leaving work tonight, I offered Boss some of the chocolate which seems to grow on the chocolate tree at the reception desk.  It’s magic.  It just shows up day after day.

I was about to throw it out (no, I didn’t eat any), and Boss congratulated me on my willpower.  I told him:  “That’s what Pippa Middleton would do!”

It’s all about rocking the skinny white jeans, really, isn’t it?

It’s a good night to sleep with the window open and the sound of the rain on the roof.  ‘Night all.

Sugar, sugar!

So, tonight is my last night at Blue Bamboo.  I’ve decided that working at BB is taking away the zen for me.  I need to come here to do yoga, not think about the workings of the place.  So from now on I’ll be a yogini, not a volunteer/staff member.

Good decision, I think.

This post is about sugar.  Because it’s Easter weekend. 

I have a creaky 49 2/3 years old molar.  In fact, it’s cracked.  And infected.  Brought on by work stress, I’m convinced.  And I need a root canal.  But I have the best dentist ever, and I’m not ‘ascared.  I’m not a ‘fraidy cat.  No, not me.   Dr. Junior is 12 years old.  Well, he looks that way anyway. 

I have good drugs – antibiotics and pain meds.  Dr. Junior asked me if I was OK for the weekend.  I said I was fine.  Chocolate melts in your mouth, after all.  No need to chew.

Last night, I couldn’t sleep from dentist-anxiety and I was definitely nursing a sore jaw.  Big tooth ache.  I had been eating really well all week in spite of my dental dilemma.   But I needed big comfort.  So I reached for the can of frosting I purchased for the cupcakes I’m bringing to a family dinner Sunday.  No judging please.  I have an infected molar. 

After 2 or 3 tablespoons of frosting, the pain subsided.  No kidding.  Or at least my brain stopped reacting to the pain signals travelling from my tooth to my brain because it was in a sugar coma.  Interesting phenomena.  I was delighted and very curious.

What was doubly interesting is that while I was eating the frosting, I was reading this article in the New York Times Magazine, Is Sugar Toxic?  Yes, I know that seems crazy.  Once again, no judging please.  The link is below because WordPress wouldn’t put it where I wanted it.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/17/magazine/mag-17Sugar-t.html?_r=1&ref=magazine

The author has the personal opinion, based on years of journalistic research, that sugar is not only making us fat, but that it also has properties that cause cancer.  Scary stuff.

On one hand, sugar made me feel much, much better for a little while.  On the other hand, it might be the most toxic substance that we voluntarily consume.

Life is often a paradox, isn’t it?

Much like my yoga dilemma.  I signed up to volunteer/work  at Blue Bamboo to get free unlimited access to yoga, only to find that the arrangement stole my zen and I lost my love of yoga.

Deep thoughts.  They may be pharmaceutically induced.

Have an evening filled with ease and blessed reflections on this Holy Thursday.

The Joys of Physiotherapy

Let me just say that my shoulder is great!  Yes, the crappy shoulder that has been bothering me for months.  The shoulder that has limited my yoga.  The shoulder that has interrupted my sleep.  The shoulder that keeps me from reaching anything or putting on my coat with ease.

Three weeks of physiotherapy by the greatest PT in the world has increased my mobility almost 100%.  And I can downward dog again.  Oh, the joy!!  The excitement!!  The relief!!

Is physiotherapy a great job or what?!

In other news, it sorta looks like spring in Ottawa.   The sunshine is poking through the clouds.  The temperature is desperately trying to climb above freezing.  After 4 months of snow, the possiblitity of spring is starting to become real.

Canadians always think that spring is a miracle, because sometimes it feels like it might just not happen.

In other news…..

I went on my first job interview in many, many, many years!  A financial headhunting firm contacted me to set it up.  And they LOVED me!  They didn’t even blink when I told them how much money I wanted. 

I had absolutely no idea.  When you’re in the same job for many years, you forget how valuable you are and how much you’re worth.  Never mind the market, the Boss forgets how valuable you are and takes you for granted.

Let’s see if they can come up with the perfect job.

I went to a yoga class last night with University Girl.  Don’t you love spending time with friends who always make you smile, and enjoy your time together? 

We didn’t love the yoga instructor because she wanted to chant a whole song – but it was fun to laugh about it afterwards.  An ohmmmmmmmm is plenty of chanting for me.

Off to do some Blue Bamboo work.  Nameste, friends.

Stupid Shoulder

Workout today:  3.7m (5.95km), and heated yin yoga (1 hr).

The miles were good, on this bright, sunny, and chilly afternoon.  I might have even bumped up the Vitamin D in my hour outside. It was only 2C degrees.  And windy.

Stupid shoulder!  I know I’m doing everything possible to heal, including all the exercise the physiotherapist gave me.  But it just doesn’t seem to be happening fast enough.  I guess I should be grateful that I’ve had so few injuries that I lose patience with the process.  Who does upper body work in a yin yoga class anyway?!!  😦

We had a replacement instructor today, and I don’t think I enjoyed her class as much.  I desperately need the long, slow hip-opening postures in yin yoga.  I have joints of concrete, especially hips and glutes.  (Probably lack of use…wink, wink!)  I don’t need to work on my poor shoulders – so I just sat those postures out.

Oh well, hopefully, my fav yogi will return next week.

And so the weekend is over.  I’m cooking tilapia for dinner (foil, oven), along with some roasted potatoes and a spinach salad.  I won’t bore anyone with bad photos.

Another interesting week ahead.

Dreams

Had the strangest dream last night.  I dreamt that I was having an affair with Buddy from The Cake Boss!  Strangest dream EVER!

Ha!  Not my usual type, for sure.  But I do love the show because, really, who can resist a show about cake?

I’m obsessed with everything surrounding the Royal Wedding.  I’ve told the Boss that I’m taking April 29th off so that I can watch the festivities all day long.  No kidding.

I may have a little solo 5:00am champagne breakfast party so that I can feel like I’m participating.   My parents had such a party on the morning of Prince Charles’ and Princess Diana’s wedding.  It was during summer holidays and everyone was off work and celebrating.  Sadly, I was just a young teenager with an early morning part-time job and  had to miss all the fun.  I never got over it, so I’m going to enjoy as much of this romantic event as I can.

And it’s a good excuse to take a Friday off for a long weekend.

And I want Kate’s wardrobe.  Great boots.

Since I indulged in a little chocolate and peanut butter party yesterday, this is what I had for dinner last night.

Yogurt, blueberries and flaxseed.  No kidding.

I’m trying to get some flax every day because some of the literature I’ve been reading indicates that flax is great for normalizing estrogen and other hormones when one (namely me) is 49 1/2.   And it’s just plain good for you.

On the agenda today is another date with my sneakers, and a yin yoga class at 4:15.  The shoulder feels pretty good this morning and it’s a lovely sunny day.  It may even warm up to 40F degrees today (4C)!!!  Whooooo-hooooooo!!

Positivity

Is there such a word?  I think there is.

I thought this video was cool enough that I needed to post the link from Caitlin’s blog at the Healthy Tipping Point.  Take a watch – it’s pretty groovy.

In Caitlin’s words: “Check out this awesome #operationbeautiful Lady Gaga cover by @PeterHollens: http://tinyurl.com/6eq3qpg”.

Don’t forget to check out http://www.operationbeautiful.com as well.  All that positivity wraps  you in a big warm hug. With all the media nonsense that surrounds us, it’s nice to see some uplifting messages,  isn’t it?

Another very positive note in my world…..had a visit with the best physiotherapist on the planet after work tonight.  I love physiotherapy – and God knows I’ve spent enough time doing it!!!  10 screws and a plate in the ankle = 5 months of physio.

You go into physiotherapy all overwrought because you think your achy thingymabob will never work well again, and you come out a whole new stronger person.  How great is that?!

Myra promises me she’s going to have my shoulder ship-shape in no time.  It’s impingement something-or-other syndrome.  Not uncommon in 49 1/2 year olds.  🙂  A little work and I’ll be a downward dogging queen again.This pooch can’t get his heels down either.  Must be a few screws in his ankles too!

Lookin’ on the bright side of everything today.  Have a positive one.