Odds and Ends Wednesday.

An odds and ends post in photos.

Manny is spending more time being good than being bad these days,
thank goodness! He has become my clingy little baby boy.

Mother's Day weekend. 

I set out to paint a "Beware of Dog" sign for our garden gate, but it turned
out to be an abstract floral painting instead. lol

I did it all with bits of sponges, no brushes. It's not any particular flower,
just something that came out of my brain to my hand. lol. I still may take
a white paint pen and write "Beware of Dog" on it in a nice script across the bottom.

We finally bought a back door. We wanted sliding
glass doors, but delivery costs made it untouchable, so we
got this full glass door in the largest width it came in
which is 36 inches. It's going in this weekend and it will
lead onto our new patio.

Hubby and I take walks often and very early in the morning when only a few people are
around. Here we are at one of our favorite local parks. 

This is a young armadillo we spotted one day. Odd to see them in the daytime.
Our dog Zoey is actually the one that spied it first.

This little guy was my first turtle sighting of the year. He was hanging out under a pine tree.

A neighbor replaced their mailbox and put this old one in the trash. I saved it,
scraped off the numbers and made it into a storage box for my garden tools.

Hubby attached it to our fence. My gloves and pruning shears are in there for
easy access now.

It's hard to see, but hubby is installing solar lights that easily attach to the gutters.
They were not very expensive. He found them at Home Depot.

They illuminate the patio area nicely and they stay on until morning!
 I like looking out the window at night and seeing that area all lit up.

This is a bird feeder we bought that is supposed to be squirrel proof because of the cage around it.
We've had it up for over a month and nary a bird has entered it. The other day I saw this squirrel
trying to get at the seed inside. He couldn't and I was glad...until......

...he actually squeezed through the top part, made himself comfortable INSIDE
the feeder and devoured our bird seed!!!

And finally, here is Zoey. She is 6 and starting to look like a senior dog. She loves the backyard and especially that ground cover. There are lizards in it and she is fascinated by them. She could sit outside all day and be totally happy. She is going to love the new back door as it will be easy access to our little garden paradise.

Out of The Darkness Walk.

Yesterday was the Out of the Darkness walk to Prevent Suicide. It was a very successful and emotional event. There were hundreds of people there, the weather was perfect and it was announced that close to 50 thousand dollars was raised this year. Wow!

Hubby and I went out early to hide my rocks around the event area and along the walking route through town. I only had 9 rocks, even though I had planned on painting 20. Just not enough time.

The main event area was at city hall and I hid a few around the beautiful Daphne fountain. This photo was taken around noon. Later on it was packed with people. Registration was at 1:00 and the walk started at 2:30. Just before we set off, the team that raised the most money was awarded the honor of carrying the banner and they posed for a photo. Then a group of high school students sang a song from Rent called Seasons of Love (525,500 minutes). I started crying. Just as they ended the song, the most amazing thing happened. A bald eagle circled above the crowd in the crystal clear blue sky. Everyone looked up and pointed. I got the chills. That was the coolest thing ever!

The Dogwood Trail maids showed up to see us off.

I didn't take a lot of pictures, but I did take the time to get a temporary tattoo on my leg.

During the walk, I was checking my hiding spots and all my rocks had apparently been found. On the return trip, I noticed a couple that each had one in their hand and I struck up a conversation with them. As it turned out the young woman and I had met before at a flea market back when I had first moved here. We remembered each other because we had both relocated here from Pennsylvania. How funny is that? 

When everyone returned to the event area, some of the people that found rocks posed for a photo.

That made my day!

A huge thank you to everyone that donated to my walk. It is so very much appreciated!
You all rock!

Weight Loss Check In #6

This was my weight last Friday, on the 16th. I was excited.

This was my weight this morning. Not too happy.

Well, I had a really bad week and boy am I glad it's over. I need to do a reset. Last night I indulged and ate more than usual, plus I had a glass of wine and a treat. Friends of ours invited us over for dinner and a campfire. Knowing I was dieting, they made turkey burgers which was great, but I also had some steak fries and a little dessert. Still thinking of me, instead of s'mores, my friend made me a frozen yogurt pie with strawberries. It was delicious, but it was made with Cool Whip and a graham cracker crust. It was the most food I've eaten at one time in probably 6 weeks. Now I have to be good for the rest of the weekend to try and drop that extra weight before it settles in and gets too comfortable.

Weight gain wasn't the only bad thing that happened. I got a call from my doctor's office about my blood test results that I had a month ago. Back in November I had my wellness screening for my health insurance. My blood glucose a a little high, but I had just eaten. They suggested I see a doctor to follow up, just in case. In December I saw a doctor, had another test and my glucose level was good, but the doctor wanted me to have a fasting, full blood screening which I had done on Jan 15th.

I got the results online and was concerned that a couple of the values were elevated beyond the standard zones. They were in regards to liver function. I hadn't heard back from the doctor, so I thought maybe there was nothing to worry about. Turns out the doctor finally got to reviewing my results and wanted me to come in for another blood test to double check my AST and ALT liver enzyme levels, which were elevated. The nurse that called told me to stop taking Tylenol and stop drinking alcohol. Well, I don't take Tylenol and I only have a drink maybe 4-6 times a year, at the most.

So, I'm thinking, oh great. What does all this mean?

Google search.

Oh crap.

Elevated liver enzymes can mean anything from hepatitis and fatty liver to cirrhosis and cancer. Of course the overthinking starts and panic sets in. Then I found this video:

I decided that the most likely cause was a fatty liver and the good news is that it's repairable. Cutting sugar out of your diet is the key. Well, guess what? For the last month, my sugar intake has been drastically reduced, so surely when I take the blood test again, the results have to be better, right?

Right!

I got the results online yesterday and my liver enzyme levels are well within the normal range now. That's good news and it's also proof that reducing your sugar intake really makes a difference. 

I'm still walking every day with Zoey on the old golf course. She loves it and her reward for being a good girl is some time rolling in the grass. It's beautiful and peaceful there and it helps me clear my head after a stressful day. 

I also found out this week that a neighbor on the street behind me, (who I thought was a nice person), shot and killed himself just as the FBI was coming to arrest him for something to do with child pornography. I was pretty shocked and upset. Our children are not safe in this world and it's very distressing. We need to make their safety, their education, their nutrition and their health a priority, the sooner the better. Please support and vote for politicians that care about these things.

 Have a great weekend and cut down on your sugar. 

Love your liver!

A quiet simple Christmas.

It's been so nice having this time off from work. It's very quiet and peaceful in our home and I love it that way. I'm not a party girl, not someone who has the need to go out and be with lots of people or find adventure. Even when I do go out, I seek a peaceful environment. For instance, we recently discovered a park on the Mobile Delta that is beautiful and we love to take Zoey there for walks. It's actually closer to us than the dog park and we really enjoy the serenity. We went just before the holiday.

On Festivus Day, I spent a few hours baking in the kitchen listening to some old Motown sounds like The Temptations and Smokey Robinson and the Miracles on Pandora.

I made pistachio raspberry bars, apricot coconut bars, pumpkin squares and ginger snaps. I gave an assortment to the lady two doors down who took care of Zoey when we went to NY last summer. She lives alone and had to work a 15 hour shift Christmas Eve waitressing at the Grand Hotel, poor thing bless her heart.

On Christmas Eve, we were excited to finally see the new Star Wars movie.

I didn't realize this, but it was the first time Megan got to see a Star Wars movie in a theater.

She was incredibly excited and had a goofy grin from ear to ear throughout the entire film.

After the movie, (which was fantastic by the way), we went out for a nice Japanese dinner and left our waitress a generous tip. It was a really great day and it was also our Christmas gift to each other. We plan to take Megan to see the movie for a second time on her 21st birthday which is coming up shortly.

On Christmas morning, I went outside in my jammies to take a photo of the full moon. It was beautiful, but my poor photography skills only allowed me to capture this blurry white light shining through the pines.

On Christmas Day we got a visit from our neighbor and his two kids. I had little gifts for them and they gave us a bag of some potpourri that made the house smell like a Christmas tree.

The little girl sat with me in the kitchen and watched me make an apple pie while her little brother pretty much ran all through the house getting Zoey a bit over-excited. His hands were all over the walls as he went around corners asking a million questions. "What's in here? What's this? What's that?" 

A few hours later, some family came to visit and we enjoyed the apple pie I had made earlier. Again, we had another young'n running around the house touching the walls with not just hands, but with feet too. I wondered if we had any extra wall paint. Zoey again was over stimulated.

After they left, Zoey conked out on the sofa, I scrubbed the prints off the walls and got started making sauce and meatballs for our Christmas spaghetti dinner. While it simmered on the stove, we watched a movie and snacked on cheese and crackers. 

I hope everyone had a nice holiday without too much stress or drama. We won't be hitting the stores for all the sales and madness that today brings. Instead we'll be working in the yard removing some very prickly holly bushes. Peace out.

Meet Pepper!

No, I didn't get a dog. Pepper is my neighbor's dog. She was running around our yard the other day and, for the first time since we've lived here (and probably because Coco's not around), she let me approach her and give her some pettin's. I'd been thinking of volunteering at the shelter to walk dogs, but I was too afraid of getting emotionally involved and wanting to take every dog home with me, so I didn't sign up.

Then Ashley suggested dog walking as a business. I thought that was a pretty neat idea, but I wouldn't know where to start. I just really miss my dog and walking around town without her feels strange. Then, as fate would have it, Pepper's owner stopped by last night to invite us to a Mardi Gras party he's having tomorrow night. Cool! While he was here, I asked if he wouldn't mind if I took his dog out for a walk now and then. He said, "Sure, anytime!" So today Pepper and I went for our first walk together. She's 13 and can't do more than a half hour, but she did perfectly fine. I think I did too. :-)

Penny of providence?

My special penny.

providence
1. a. Christianity, God's foreseeing protection and care of his creatures

    b. such protection and care as manifest by some other force
2. a supposed manifestation of such care and guidance

3. the foresight or care exercised by a person in the management of his affairs or resources.

Yesterday afternoon hubby was in an especially bad mood, having dealt with maneuvering around wealthy tourists earlier in the day. "Remind me to never drive into town on a Saturday at lunch time ever again!" He needed something at the hardware store, but it had closed just before he got there. He was pretty mad and started saying bad things about rich people, so we decided to take a walk to shake it off. I wasn't in the best mood either because sales on ebay have been dead even though I have 80 listings up which is more than I've ever had. We had also hit a bunch of garage sales first thing in the morning but they yielded very little. So we were both pretty grumpy.

We walked around town hitting the back alleys and pass-thru shortcuts trying to avoid the tourists, scouting behind businesses for good boxes I can use, all the while grumbing at every BMW, Mercedes and Lexus we saw in the public parking lots. We came across a beautiful labrador in the back of a pickup truck with no collar. We stopped to pet him and he was so happy and gentle. I wanted to take him home. Who would leave their dog alone like that? Not me. But we managed to break away and keep going.

It's probably weird, but I walk with my head down. I don't know why, but I do and I usually scan the ground for shiny things as I go along. When I used to walk Coco back in PA, I would find coins, jewelry and bird feathers on our little journeys. Here in Fairhope, I haven't found a thing. I was saying this out loud to hubby while we were walking. "Not even a penny!" I said. We couldn't have walked more than 50 steps, when there in the middle of the street, right in my path, was a bright shiny penny! "There see? You asked for a penny and you got it," my husband said. "Damn, I should have asked for a fifty dollar bill," I said. As I held the penny in my hand, I realized that the universe does listen, so I'm going to try to think and say more positive things. When I got home, I taped the penny next to a photo of my dear Coco to always remind me that I'm being cared for and protected by "some other force." That's one special penny.