June 4 - After dark

I love my new tablet, to which I've added both the Kindle and Nook
reading apps. Now if only I would read more and play Mahjong less ...

As of this minute …

I have about six and a half hours before I need to be at work. We switched things up today, and I'm taking the afternoon shift. One of my co-workers was badly burned over the weekend and is still hospitalized, which means we're all pitching in a little more in different ways. I'll find out the extent of his injuries today.

Yesterday went well, until mid-afternoon, when my energy just completely ran out. I walked a little more than four miles with my husband early in the morning, then came back and tackled the garden from 9:30 until 2 p.m.

Of course not everything got done. My husband hauled mulch from the big pile on the other side of the yard, while I laid down cardboard around the rows and plants. I then piled the mulch on the cardboard in a (probably) futile attempt to keep the weeds at bay.

But by 2 o'clock I was, literally, spent. I collapsed in the grass next to the garden and ordered him to get me some WATER. Hungry, tired, dehydrated: I thought I was going to pass out. I made it back to the house, thinking I still had time to at least mow the front yard, but I ended up resting for a couple of hours.

Which was probably what I needed. My ambition exceeds my energy, and I need to remind myself that I am 62, after all, and I must learn to pace myself.

Next year's garden is going to be much smaller. Significantly smaller. Like, less than half what it is now. We're reclaiming the rest of it for lawn and I'm just going to have to be satisfied with less homegrown food.

And less work.

I think the latter will make up for the former.

P.S. I've updated yesterday's curry recipe to include servings. I usually eat a third of this for a serving, and my husband will eat the rest. If it were a published-in-a-magazine-or-on-the-web recipe, it would serve four.

Fortunately …

it will be a while before I need to pack food for a road trip. Thanks for the suggestions, though! My next trip (this weekend) is just a four-hour drive, and the following weekend it's only a two-hour drive. I will be at the mercy of Other People's Cooking and I will deal with it the best way I can.

Losing weight is important to me, of course, but looking like a fanatic is something I want to avoid. I didn't have to avoid it at my daughter's, because no one was watching. My grandson wanted to make crepes for breakfast, but I just told him milk and flour kind of upset my stomach. He didn't question me at all and, in fact, jumped right into making almond milk and almond butter, which we later used for smoothies.

I would have done much better driving home on Sunday to stop at a restaurant and order something appropriate, as I did a couple of times in May. I didn't want to take the time. Lesson learned and problem solved. If this weekend's trip finds me at a not-so-perfect restaurant (and I suspect it might), well … I haven't tested any of the eliminated foods yet. I'll just look at it as an opportunity!

It felt great sitting down last night to a real meal full of vegetables and protein. I posted a photo and recipe for the simple and flavorful curry we had here. The chopping part is time-consuming, but once it's all thrown together and simmering you can go knit. Heh.

I walked four miles yesterday morning, then got cleaned up and headed to town for a mammogram smashogram. Unfortunately the machine was being cranky and we ended up rescheduling it for next Monday. I had other errands to take care of so it wasn't a completely wasted trip.

I think today's intentional activity will be limited to tilling the garden. It's a big garden and there's lots o'tilling to be done. The weather will be perfect for the job. I may have time to mow part of the yard when I'm done in the garden. Sometimes you have to do what you have to do, not what you want to do. The mileage goal is certainly still within reach if I skip a day of walking.

The garden, however, won't prepare itself without a little help from me.

June 3 - On my table

A most delicious (and very easy) curry.

Ingredients
1 Tbsp. bacon grease or coconut oil
6 boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into bite-sized pieces
2 to 4 Tbsp. curry powder (I mix sweet and hot and use 4 Tbsp.)
1 large onion, cut in large chunks
4 carrots, peeled and sliced
1 head cauliflower, broken into florets
6 small or 1 large sweet pepper
1 can mushroom stems and pieces
1 can lite coconut milk

Directions
Melt the bacon grease or coconut oil in a Dutch oven. Brown chicken thigh pieces over medium-high heat in fat until no longer pink. Add the curry powder and let cook until fragrant, a minute or two. Add the vegetables, allowing each to cook for a minute or two before adding the next one. Dump a can of coconut milk over the mixture and stir well to combine ingredients.

Reduce heat to low, cover the pan and allow the mixture to simmer for an hour. Remove the lid, increase the heat to medium and cook so the juices thicken and reduce slightly.

Serves 4. Or two, generously.

Yum. Tastes just as good with pork instead of chicken and sweet potatoes instead of carrots.

It was bound to happen

After a long weekend away from my kitchen, and one in which I relied on too many Larabars and ate too few vegetables, I have – after eight weeks – gone backwards in the weight-loss mission.

Up half a pound. Half a pound! That's like nothing for someone like me, whose weight fluctuates wildly from morning to night and day to day. I'm not upset or discouraged or dismayed or worried or wondering if I'll ever lose another pound again ever, ever, ever.

I am, in fact, dancing with the one who brought me. The paleo plan has been working remarkably well, and I'm certainly not planning to change partners. Love the one you're with, and all that.

We were super-busy this weekend. Both grandchildren were performing Friday and Saturday nights, and Thursday was dress rehearsal. The performances went off without a hitch and I'm glad I was there to be a part of the excitement.

Meals, however, were catch as catch can, and finding decent paleo fast food is impossible. I'm sure the grilled chicken sandwich I had yesterday (sans bun) was loaded with salt, as was the bag of cashews I picked up at a convenient store when I got gas. I'd hoped to buy a banana there, but there were none to be had.

So much for good intentions. (And poor planning on my part.)

My activity level was a bit on the light side, as well. Three miles Thursday and Friday, a little less Saturday and none yesterday, which is the opposite end of the spectrum from my usual weekend activity.

All in all, though, I'm fine with the uptick. Onward. And downward!

June 2 - A moment

One of many identical grey-and-rainy moments spent in the car today,
traveling from TN back home to WV. At least the sun wasn't shining in my eyes!

June 1 - B is for …

bottle. A very cool milk bottle, looks old but is actually new from Target.