Today was a big day for learnin'. I was feeling ancy and couldn't concentrate on any fictional books in my Audible stash, so I delved into some of health books in my archives. After a few hours, I was so excited about the information that had permeated my brain matter (I'm feeling like a smartypants....just humor me) that I decided that I had to share it with you right away.
In my excitement, I got a little tongue-tied a few times, but hopefully I get my points across. I was all worked up about my new "Pasta Intel". Take a peek and I'll clarify my point afterward:
I know that I stumbled through the bean info, so just to be a little more clear, let me write it out. A serving of black beans is usually one cup. In that cup, you'll get 12 yummy grams of protein and 9 filling grams of fiber. Whoo hooo! As a bonus, you get some fancy folate which (stokes) muscle growth, as well as some tasty copper to help strengthen your tendons. Yowza! Beans are sounding like a fabulous choice, aren't they?
And I wasn't foolin' when I mentioned that eating four servings of beans or legumes each week will accelerate weight loss. I feel a big ole batch of extra beany chili in my near future.
So, after the whole pasta and bean excitement died down, I listened to a new book that I found after searching on line for information about will power. Here's more about that..... and bear with me..... just when you start to worry about whether I had been drinking excessively while recording the following video, I bring it all together and make it simple. Enjoy! 😉
I think that fall has officially arrived in New York State today. They claim that it arrived a while ago, but in my head, it's not officially autumn until you are no longer able to wear shorts in public and look like a normal person.
The color change of the leaves and overcast skies are also an indication of fall....but if I see you in shorts, I'm judging you. Shorts should no longer be part of your wardrobe selection in New York, unless you're exercising.
Which brings me to today's babble. The 80/20 rule is one of my favorites.....not to be confused with Van Halen's OU812, although it is also consumption related.
(I know, I know....they all can't be witty little winners. Sorry 😐 )
Anyway.....I did not inherit the Gym Joy Gene. I feel no rush of happiness when thinking about any exercise facility.
None. Nada. Zippo. Zero. Zilch!
Clearly, there must be a Gym Joy Gene in my family, because I frequently see pictures on Instagram of my older brother working out, or my little sister in the gym locker room, all jazzed up and ready to go and lift heavy shit.I look at those photos and feel a mixture of pride and envy; I'm very proud of them for taking such good care of themselves, but damn if I'm not envious of their drive to work out! (Or even to put on workout clothes.) The only drive I've ever had was the one that put my ass in a car to score myself some donuts!
Fortunately there's that lovely 80/20 Rule that fits right into my own physical activity and exercise regimen.
Scientific findings after my own heart!
Here's more about that:
(Seriously, where do they get these thumbnails for videos? It must be a conspiracy of some sort 🤔)
(Note: if you are reading this via email, you won't see a video. Click on the Blog title toward the top of the email to go directly to the page)
I'm on day six of Operation Healthypants and I can't wait until this day is over! As always, there are ups and downs, because as someone very annoying once said, you wouldn't be able to appreciate the sad times if it weren't for the happy times. That person may have a very valid point, but today it's just a bunch of obnoxious words strung together to amplify how disgruntled I am at the moment.
So here's what happened:
(Note: if you're reading this blog via email, you may not see the video. Please click on the following link Day 6 Video
This whole Vlog thing is definitely much more convenient, but just as equally strange. I'm far more comfortable sitting at a keyboard, typing the words as they come flying into my head. And at a home office, you can sit there in your jammies, sporting a bed head coiffure, with a charcoal mask on your face and no one has any idea that you look like a disaster. You just have to SOUND like you've got your shit together.
Most of my day is spent alone, so I do a lot of thinking. (I also do a lot of very bad singing along with the radio, but I promise to spare you from that hellacious experience).
Sometimes I'm mulling over the direction I can take the characters in my book (Yup... I'm STILL writing.). On a good day, ideas are flying in and out of my head... and they are literally flying, because it never fails that by the time I pull over to write them down, they're long gone.
In the midst of all of that, I think about things going on in my life or in the world around me. If I had a dollar for every time that I said, " this would make an excellent subject for a blog post!", you and I would be sitting somewhere having a fabulous lunch at an expensive restaurant.
Alas, you are over there, reading these ramblings, and I am over here, trying to get this out of my head and in writing. Next time, less writing and more convenient video.
So, without further ado, I present to you today's babble about my arch nemesis .... sugar.
Ps. Proof that my child doesn't just eat crap in case you decided that I'm a bad mother after hearing about what's in my garage:
I started this blog a bunch of years ago when my daughter was a wee toddler and I was trying to find a way to cope with being a working mom with a handicapped husband.
The main issue at that time was that I felt as though my daughter had bonded with my husband far more than she had bonded with me. Of course this is to be expected, considering that he spent every day with her, as he was unable to leave our home due to his medical condition. In turn, that meant that I was working every day and wasn't at home as much as we ALL would've liked.
I'm pleased to say that things have changed since then. With lots of work, communication, debating, arguing, hurt feelings, guilt, rejection, and forgiveness we have managed to find a situation where we all are happy together and everybody feels loved and supported (most of the time....no one is perfect!) I'd sum up that time period as "a pretty rough start to what has potential to finish as a success story". Yay for us!
Recent milestones outside of my little wolf pack have triggered some new issues that I need to deal with. It seems like the issues never end, doesn't it? I think that's the whole thing about life. We just keep plugging along looking for answers, and try to be grateful that we have questions that keep popping up. I think once you stop having issues, there's not a whole lot of breathing or bodily functions going on at that point (a/k/a you're dead).
Moving on, now I need to start taking care of my heath and this is the new general-issue that I'm tackling. I keep thinking that I wish I have appreciated youth and good health more. I took all of those easy years for granted!
Some of you may know that 2017 started off with a big old rough patch for me. From January through early May, I had all sorts of crazy symptoms, saw almost every kind of doctor (Im still avoiding the proctologist! 45 years and counting.....Score!), and ended up with absolutely no answers. It was a pretty scary time for me.
Worse yet, I'd become so desperate for ANY diagnosis, that every single doctor who told me they didn't know what was wrong with me got to witness 'Vicki In Tears'. And I'm not a pretty crier, just in case you were wondering. One physician stared at me in horror.
Surprisingly, I also became desperate to hear anything in regards to what was going on with me. And I mean anything. I would go to appointments to obtain test results, and tell myself that I would be happy even if they diagnosed me with cancer, because it least it would be an answer and I could treat something. I just wanted a chance of being me again.
As I mentioned, I never got any answers. Lots of treatments and medications and recommendations, but no answers. The one thing that I did have was a friend who knew exactly what I was going through. That in itself was priceless.
Wendy IS priceless. And a warrior. And wise. And she didn't leave me alone when I needed someone to keep heaving my ass up and push me along my path. (This'll freak her out....) She was like my own little mortal Jesus, carrying me when I was too pathetic to walk thru life. Lol!
"I worry when you get quiet. Send proof of life." Those words let me know that I couldn't just shut down and hide with my family. I had someone to answer to.
Then there was guilt. Guilt because while I was so happy to have someone who understood, I also love her greatly and wanted her to find answers to HER issue and relief of her own. She is still searching for that. She was my rock..... and she still suffers while I am feeling better.
I'm sure you're wondering what my point is here, aren't you?
My point is twofold.
Number one, I'm so grateful for Wendy. She taught me many things, but one of the largest lessons is my number two. (Meaning, my second point... not my poop)
Number two, nobody likes to go through crap alone. And there are a lot of us struggling with so many different trials and tribulations and dramas and traumas. We should try to come together and support each other, especially when you find somebody desperately trying to cope with an issue similar to yours.
(Side note: Dont sink...SWIM! It's essential to find someone who will float with you, not drag you down. If you feel like you're drowning with them, BAIL!)
So, I'm putting my shit out there. I believe that a good portion of the things that ail me are a result of the fact I'm extremely unhealthy right now. Granted, I rarely drink and I quit smoking over a decade ago. The only drugs I take or ones the doctors prescribe. I see a therapist regularly to help me deal with the ups and downs of life, as well as to help me interpret my husband.
I say interpret, because I swear we speak different languages sometimes and my therapist is excellent at Manterpretation. And no, you may not have his name and number, because he is totally fucking excellent and I don't want anybody infringing on his availability to me. (Lol)
Hopefully I'll be able to honor my commitment here, because what I'm getting at is that I'm going to be posting my journey on my blog. I hope to succeed, but I imagine there will be some failures along the way, because even though my husband tells me that I think I'm always right, I know it's not true.
Feel free to comment, offer encouragement, cry on my shoulder, commiserate, and any thing else you feel like adding along the way. And if you would like to join me in the efforts, I would be honored.
Here's my first entry:
Ps. Don't judge the hair and makeup....I work outside and I'm sickly, so cut a sister some slack!
Happy 5000 Blog Views! Wow! For something that started as a project for fun, I've been lucky to have so many people interested in "the opinion of little ole me"! Whether it was 10 people who showed up 500 times or 50 people who showed up 100 times or whatever, this has been a lovely experience and I'm grateful and honored that you have been here. Thank you.
I hope you all had a magnificent Thanksgiving. Mine was tremendous. Thank you for asking. I am a great lover of the traditional Thanksgiving meal and we celebrated twice over the weekend, so how could it go wrong? This was the first Thanksgiving in six years that I didn't have to work and got to really enjoy it. Plus I got to see all of the family I love, on my side and my in-laws. Four star Thanksgiving for sure! I'll attach a photo or two at the end.
Allie, the child who has an unusually diverse vocabulary, has thrown some zingers my way. I say diverse because she can be totally incorrect with her grammar, and she follows it by busting out the four star words that make us go, "How in the hell does she know that?" Sometimes you will get them both within the same conversation. One minute she will say, "I seed the pap-ah ova thay-rr" and the next she will say "Would you like to read the instructions as well?" One minute she's a New Yawker and the next she's little miss proper grammar.
So, in her honor, I'm going to list the five most irritating words/phrases that make me wish the Language Police would come fine people for using them, along with five that I feel should be snuck into Webster's Dictionary. DON'T CLICK THAT BUTTON! I know you're rolling your eyes and thinking 'borrrrrrrrrring', but I implore you to just skim through this. Do it just for shits and giggles! You might be saying this stuff and don't know it's wrong, therefore, you will learn just like I did from someone else. I'm only sharing knowledge, not preaching. We be equals, dawg.
Bad bad words that give me pre-vomit cheek water:
1- IRREGARDLESS : This sucker is numero uno. For those of you who think it's not a word, I regret to inform you that it is. Some jackass in 1912 decided he wanted to sound like a smartypants (more on that one later) and started using it. Here is my argument....Regardless means "in spite of things" or "without care". And that freaking "IR" they slapped at the means it's going to be the opposite of the rest of the word "REGARDLESS". So does that mean irregardless means "caring about things; with care"? Nope. Oh my gawd, it's too exhausting. I hate the person who made this word up.
2- COULD CARE LESS: So, you COULD? Then that means you DO care a bit. It's "Couldn't care less". That means that you've reached the bottom of giving a shit. You totally don't care. Not even a rat's ass worth of caring. "COULD" is the opposite of what you really mean, and trust me when I tell you that people hear it and the polite ones are thinking, 'What a moron. It's couldn't, not could." Maybe you don't care that people think you're a moron. Therefore you couldn't care less. (see how I did that?!)
3- FUNCTIONABILITY: Not a word. Not even a little bit. The person is trying to say functionality, but functionability sounds so much more impressive, doesn't it? Not if you know it's not a word!
4- JOHN DOE OR MYSELF: When I worked at a large company, I saw the big cheeses doing this all of the time. I sent them all an email saying "It's not: Please see John or myself. It is: Please see John or me." Not one person changed. They think adding "myself" sounds so fancy. Trying to sound fancy is actually making them look like a jackass. If you aren't sure what to use, follow this rule that my Mom taught me: "Take the other person out of the sentence and see what sounds right." So, does "Please see myself" sound better than "Please see me"? Nay nay.
5- IRONY IS NOT COINCIDENCE - The other day I heard someone say, "It started pouring and ironically I had grabbed my umbrella this morning without knowing it was going to rain!" Oh, heavy sigh. IRONY is the opposite of COINCIDENCE. I'm not going to lecture on this one. Look it up. I will summarize it with this: IRONY: "The irony of it is that I grabbed all of our rain coats umbrellas this morning thinking we were getting rain and it ended up being a perfectly sunny day." COINCIDENCE: "I grabbed my umbrella without thinking this morning and coincidentally it began to pour the second I got out of my car."
Five words/phrases that don't receive proper recognition:
1- WACKADOODLE - I have no idea when I started using this term, but it perfectly summarizes a vast number of people I know. People who are totally out of their minds, yet harmless, are wackadoodles. I'm sure many of you are reading this and thinking "Hello, pot? This is the kettle....you're black!"
2- KAJUNGOUS or HUGEANTIC - When ginormous made it into the dictionary a few years ago, everyone and their cousin emailed me. Why? Because I used it all of the time and people made fun of me. Well, surprise, surprise! Those peeps at Merriam-Webster beg to differ! They find it useful. Pllbth! Kajungous was a favorite from high school, but Hugeantic (hugely gigantic) really is interchangeable with Ginormous (gigantically enormous). They just don't know it yet.
3- AGREEANCE - it just flows better than "agreement". And it does have an air of smartypantsness. It's in the dictionary, but the dictionary peeps are a bunch of snobs who put it in there under duress and discourage the usage.
4- CLUSTERF*CK - I know I'm pushing it with this one. But who hasn't been in the middle of a project that has gone seriously wrong? And if you're pissed about the disaster, this one works well. I often wonder if Obama got into the White House, evaluated the situation in the Middle East and looked at his constituents and said, "Well, isn't this just one big giant clusterfuck??!!"
5- ________PANTS - My grand finale. My personal favorite. Einstein was a smartypants. When Allie gives me the "nnnnnnnnnno!" answer to my requests, she's a freshypants. I was sick on and off for three months, so I was sickypants. The bitch who cut me off at the gas station and gave me the finger this morning was a nastypants. She was a snottypants too. Love it.
Feel free to add your own personal favorites in the comments!
By the way, my site will have it's own Facebook page as of this week. https://www.facebook.com/flipsidemom I'm not sure how well this all will work, but if you would like to "like" it, I'd love it.
In the meantime, here are a few photos from the past few days:
"Just give me one more minute and I'll have this thing working. And YES, the backscratcher is a necessary tool for this repair!"
"Hello. My name is Allie. I'll be your server this evening. What can I get you?"
"This restaurant stinks. I'm overworked and underpaid. I can't even read my own handwriting anymore."
4pm on November 28th....Allie finally gets over her 3 YEAR shyness with her Uncle and sees that he's damn awesome. (Fortunately they play together better than he and I did when we were her age!)
If you clickity click on the banner below, it will seem like nothing happened, but it did! You can close the window as soon as it opens if you like. T'anks peeps!
