Friday Night Photos

Yay for Friday! Today was Eli's last day of school, so it feels like it's officially summer now. I don't know why I feel like a kid who is giddy about summer vacation, but there is something about school being out that is exciting--even for me.

I have a smorgasbord of completely random photos from this past week...

I'll start with a couple of new recipes I tried. These are Indian Potatoes from Two Kooks in the Kitchen and they were SO good. Don't they look amazing? 

This isn't as pretty as the potatoes, but it was delicious. This is Spicy Black Bean Soup from Midwest Foodie. It made an enormous batch (this bowl is one serving--there are eight servings in the recipe), so we're going to have the leftovers tonight. Everybody really liked it!

This meme made me laugh; Jerry and I always play this little game of "what joints did you hear?" when I stand up. I can't move without my body making cracking noises all over the place!

Of course I have cat pictures... Sadly, I probably have more cat pictures on my computer from the last few years than I do pictures of my family. Chick has always had a great sense of balance, but when I saw him sleeping like this, I was kind of amazed. It's not a great picture because of the clutter, but his bed is balancing on a little shelf in front of the window. He was just chill, no idea that he was about to tip over.

It's funny what brings cat enemies together. Phoebe and Estelle despise each other, but when the sun is shining midday, all of the cats can be found lying in the sun. It's like they make a truce each afternoon so they can relax in the sun, and then immediately afterward, they are enemies again.

If you know how to get peanut shells out of a shag rug, please enlighten me! When we feed the squirrels, we tend to track peanut shells into the house and they stick in the rug.

Phoebe is kind of known for sleeping in the most uncomfortable positions. And she likes to find something random to perch on--below, she's sitting on my computer. The way she's sitting is how she sleeps! I don't know if she's in pain because of her kidney disease or if she truly finds it comfortable, but that's how she likes to sleep. It was cute that she saw my computer and thought it looked like a good place for a nap.

I was walking past the living room when I noticed Duck sleeping on the floor with his tail sticking up and curled over--it looked so funny! When I grabbed my phone to take a picture, he woke up--but his tail was still sticking up. Something only a cat-mom would grab her phone for.

Noah got contacts and was having a hard time with them. I wore contacts for years before I had LASIK surgery, so I was trying to help Noah. I didn't realize Jerry was taking a picture, but I think the look on my face was funny!

This is the least exciting transformation ever to look at, but I put new casters on my workbench--wahoo! I had some that were mounted on the side and you could raise and lower them (so the table would rest on the floor and then stepping on the lever pushes the wheel on the ground, lifting the table up). I felt like I needed two more casters for the middle of the table, so I swapped them out with some regular casters with brakes. I like them a lot more.

I spent a lot of time in the garage this week! The weather has been perfect for woodworking, and while I haven't completed any projects yet, I have a couple of things I'm working on. I love having the tools on little carts like this (there were a couple more behind where I was taking the picture from) because when I'm done, I just push everything into the corner to clean up my mess and make room in the garage.

I have Reynaud's Syndrome, which is part of the reason I hate being cold. It's mainly on my feet--my toes and heels get completely translucent-white when they are cold and it's really freaky to look at. It's kind of a fun party trick; people always gasp when they see my white toes, hahaha. 

Lately, as stupid as this sounds, I've been trying to get used to being colder. Instead of wearing hoodies every day, I'll wear a long-sleeved t-shirt or something like that until I can't take it anymore and I put on a hoodie. Anyway, I wore a t-shirt when I had to drop something off at Eli's school and by the time I got back to the car, the tips of my index and middle fingers were numb and turning white. I have no idea if I'll actually get acclimated, but I hope so! (Interestingly, the Renaud's and constant coldness only started after I lost about 100 pounds.)

And lastly... an update on the ducklings! I cannot believe how BIG they've gotten. And I think it's hilarious that they are still at my parents' house. My mom said taking care of them is like a full time job, and I believe it. They do pretty much nothing but eat! Ducklings eat constantly because they grow super fast. My dad gave them some seaweed from the lake (is it called seaweed if it's in a lake? hmm) and they love that. 

This was a little set-up that my parents made for them in the yard. I thought it was odd that they put a chair in there, and then my dad told me it was to create shade for the ducklings, hahaha. 

And of course, they love being in the water. My dad was excited to show me how they dive under the water, so we put them in the pool and naturally, they made him look like a liar as they floated on top of the water and nibbled on the seaweed.

He put a rock and some more seaweed in there and finally, they started diving. I'd never seen ducks do that--when they are in the lake, they disappear for a second and resurface, but you don't get to see what they do underwater. In the pool, I could see that they dive under and swim super fast underwater--it reminded me of penguins. They go from one side to the other in a blink. 

... and that's all I've got. Have a great weekend! xo

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Reader Questions #29

I must have been half asleep yesterday morning when I wrote my blog post; looking at it now, I'm a little embarrassed for the overshare, haha. But I'm thrilled with the bra suggestions, so thank you! 

I was reading through email yesterday when I noticed a folder I'd created a couple of months ago for "Ask Katie" emails. I completely forgot about it! They are questions that readers have for me to reply to on my blog. Years ago, I used to do a Q&A once a week and it was fun to answer questions--everything from what's my favorite movie to the best way to train for a half-marathon. (That's why this is #29; I left off with #28 in 2016.)

I have a few other folders for blog post ideas, too. If I don't keep things in my inbox, I tend to forget about them; so, if you sent me something like that and haven't heard back from me, I'm not ignoring it--I promise.

I thought I'd answer some fun questions today...

Q. I want to know if you were given a free international trip, where would you go, what would you do, how would you travel there and who would you bring?  -Lauren

A. This one is tough because I have travel anxiety (along with everything-else anxiety) and the thought of flying overseas scares the bejeezus out of me! So let's just pretend that my anxiety doesn't exist ;)  The only place I've ever had a burning desire to go is to Alaska; but since that's not international, I think I'd probably pick Africa.

My parents went to Nairobi in 2004 as volunteers to work with a medical staff providing a make-shift clinic for citizens to see a doctor. If I remember correctly, I think my dad worked as a "handyman", fixing things that needed it. And my mom helped fit people for prescription glasses (that had been donated) after they saw an optometrist. She said she loved seeing the disbelief and happiness on their faces when they could see clearly for the first time.

If I didn't have anxiety, I'd love to go there and do something similar! My parents got so much out of that experience and felt great about helping people. They said people walked there from great distances to see a doctor and everybody who was seen/treated was SO grateful.

Sorry, this is a much longer answer than I'm sure you were looking for! Haha. I'd bring Jerry with me--he's my best friend and we have so much fun together. I think he'd really like working on a mission like that, too.

Q. I really enjoy Jerry’s posts; he seems like a great guy.  I have a question for both you and Jerry.  What is the most embarrassing thing that one of your kids did, that you secretly found funny?  You know, when you were totally humiliated as a parent but just couldn’t stop laughing about it?  -Kathy

A. Ohmygosh, there are so many! What a fun question. Jerry doesn't embarrass easily, but as soon as I read your question, the answer popped into my mind immediately. And Jerry agreed that this is the best answer to your question...

When Noah was in preschool, the kids had to line up just inside the entrance to the school until the teacher came and walked them all to the classroom. The parents would sit on the benches in the hallway while the kids lined up and waited for the teacher. Naturally, the kids talked to each other while they were in line.

Noah was having an animated four-year-old-boy conversation with the boy behind him. The teacher appeared and like always, she would wait until the kids were quiet and then she'd walk them down the hall. At the exact same time that it fell silent, Noah yelled to the kid he was talking to, "Shut up, you retard!" (being four years old, his speech wasn't perfect and it sounded like "wee-todd").

Now, you KNOW that I don't use that word--spending so much time with Mark before he died, it broke my heart to see how some people treated him for his intellectual disability--so I have no idea where Noah heard it.

I was mortified and I pulled Noah aside to talk to him about 1) not yelling at people like that; and 2) how it's not okay to say that word. If I'm being honest, though, I was trying hard not to laugh. It was the perfect timing of the whole thing--yelling it right as it got super quiet, and his speech ("wee-todd") made it funny. I told Jerry about it later and we got a good laugh about it. Jerry and I still bring up that moment in conversation once in a while!

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Thank you, Kathy and Lauren, for the fun questions! I enjoyed answering them. If anyone else has a question for me, please ask! You can email it to me at: katie (at) runsforcookies (dot) com. Make sure you say somewhere in the email that it's okay to post on my blog; I don't want to accidentally post something that was meant just for me. Depending on how many questions I get, I'll answer them periodically when I'm not sure what to write about.

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And now a question for all of YOU... what is the most unexpected and kind thing that someone has done for you? (I know that trying to comment on my blog is a pain--sometimes *I* can't even do it--so I apologize. I have no idea how to fix it!)

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Wednesday Weigh-In: Week 54

It feels like I just did my one-year weigh-in but it's already two weeks later. I had a lot more energy this past week--spring tends to do that to me--so I stayed pretty busy working on various projects. Unfortunately, the landscaping was not one of them. I really need to get that done before all the weeds grow back!

I've gotten in the habit of not logging my calories and I don't think that's a good thing just yet. Since I eat the same things for breakfast and lunch every day, I've just been eating a "normal" dinner and then a snack later. I don't bother logging the calories because I just assume that the calories aren't high enough to make me gain weight.

However, it's possible that the scale begs to differ:

I was at 147.4, so I'm up a pound from last week. Since I was up a pound the previous week as well, I'm thinking that I need to log my dinner and snack again just to see if I'm eating more than I think I am. (It could be totally unrelated, but I don't want "little gains" to turn into "big gains"; that's how I got into this mess!)

Yesterday, I spent some time entering recent recipes (things I'll make again) into my logging app. I've been using Cronometer and I'm not sure yet if I'm going to renew it. I use the gold version because I like a few features that you can't get with the free version. It's supposed to renew any day now. I'll probably renew it because I have a LOT of recipes saved there that I don't have in Fat Secret (my favorite free app). I just wish that apps would have a "lifetime" subscription option--I wouldn't mind paying more for it if I didn't have to pay annually.

Anyway, I am going to pay closer attention to my calories this week and make sure to measure and log everything. I've been so close to 144 (a big milestone for me) for weeks now. I know I can get there! I have a few pairs of jeans that I want to wear but they are a bit too tight; I think losing another five pounds would make them feel so much better.

Speaking of clothes, I have NO summer shirts. I wear hoodies pretty much year-round because they're so comfortable and I'm always cold. However, I'd like to have some options for when I am outside this summer. It's just hard to find shirts with sleeves that cover my upper arms (to just above my elbow). I have a lot of loose skin on my upper arms and it's super uncomfortable to wear "regular" short sleeve shirts.

TMI: Also, my arms fart sometimes; and no, I'm not joking! (It is funny, though.) You know how kids cup their hands under their armpits and move their arm up and down to make farting noises? Yeah, well my arms make that noise randomly sometimes when I stretch them over my head and bring them down quickly. It's happened a couple of times when grocery shopping and I reach for something on a high shelf. Thankfully, no one was around!

Aside from having an upper body lift, there really isn't a fix for it. Right now, I'm trying to find a bra that covers the skin between my armpit and where my bra band would be. I don't have a lot of fat there, but the excess skin bulges out the top of the bra. So, if any of you know of a bra that has good coverage in that area, please let me know! I've tried a few and they just aren't what I'm looking for. I don't need much support (I'm a mid-B cup) but I really need more coverage.

End TMI. (I wasn't planning to write all of that! Haha)

I'm going to go to Goodwill this week and see what I can find for summer shirts. I haven't had much luck with clothes ever since the pandemic started.

After two gains in a row, I'm hoping to see a loss for next week's weigh-in!

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Transformation Tuesday #74

I've been working on projects all week, but nothing is complete yet! The only before and after pictures I had from this week are from organizing my mom's spice drawer/cupboard (that was on Saturday's post). I was a little disappointed not to have more transformations to share today, but this one from a reader is pretty jaw-dropping and probably deserves its own post!

This is actually from Rach, a blog reader who I met up with for breakfast when I went to Boston with John and Caitlin in 2017 (that was such a fun trip). Rach is so sweet, and when I saw that she posted these pictures on Facebook, I told her I would love to share them on Transformation Tuesday. Here goes...

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My partner and I bought our first home together last year and were excited to do some projects to make it truly ours. In addition to ripping out old carpets, painting, and even installing some new flooring ourselves (a total first for me!) we also outsourced a few projects. 

I really wanted a new outdoor living space, and to beautify our yard. This meant hiring a crew to install a new patio in back of our house and spending many days planting new flowers and shrubs ourselves! A local company gave us a reasonable quote and their incredible crew demolished our old patio and installed a new one. Here are some photos. We have been loving it!

- Rach

Rach, I absolutely LOVE the patio--it's exactly what I hope to have someday! It looks so cozy and it's perfect for entertaining. What a great place to hang out all summer. I'm glad you've been enjoying it :)  -Katie

A huge thank you to Rach for sharing your photos--the whole transformation is gorgeous! If anyone has a transformation to share, please do. It doesn't have to be something huge, like a patio. Just send me a before photo and an after photo at: katie (at) runsforcookies (dot) com. Be sure to include your name and a description of your transformation, and I'd love to share it for Transformation Tuesday!

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Summer Heart Rate Training: Week 0

That picture is from March; I just didn't have a new picture for this post.

Well, it's been two months since I took a break from running to (hopefully) heal whatever was going on with my knee. The knee issue is so hard to describe and it only happens sometimes--completely randomly--so I think it's just something I'm going to have to live with.

I feel like it has something to do with the way I sit. I love to sit in the corner of the sectional with my legs crossed, and when I stand up afterward, I may feel pain in my knee until I walk around for a minute. Sometimes, though, it won't go away, or it locks up and feels super stiff.

Anyway, I don't feel like it's a big issue right now. I won't know if running aggravates it until I start running regularly again. And I'm looking forward to getting back to a regular running schedule!

After finishing the 10K plan I was following, I had planned to start a 10K plan by Matt Fitzgerald from the '80/20 Running' book. I knew I wanted to try out heart rate training that is different from the MAF training. Since '80/20 Running' is structured around running in different zones, I figured it would be a good plan to start with.

A lot of the plan (80% of it) is made up of "foundation" runs, which are done in Zones 1-2. This is basically very slow running and even walking in order to make sure it's a nice, easy workout.

On Tuesdays and Fridays, there are speed work runs: fartlek, hills, short intervals, long intervals, fast finish, and mixed interval. I like the variety; I think it'll help me from being bored with all of the Foundation runs.

This past week, I did Fast Finish Run 1. Each run on the plan has a number next to it--the lower numbered ones are easier, and they get harder from there. So, Fast Finish Run 2 is a little harder than Fast Finish Run 1, and so on. When I set up this run on my Garmin, I couldn't get it to sync to my Garmin for the life of me.

I was SO frustrated; I could have gone for my run, showered, and ate lunch in the amount of time it took for me to mess with the Garmin issue. I'm still trying to get used to a Garmin without a touch screen; I have a hard time finding the screens I'm looking for. That day, I wasn't able to sync the Garmin and I got too frustrated to keep trying. I just did manual laps (pushing a button when switching zones) and that wasn't ideal--I was looking at my watch too much and even then, I overshot and did the zones too long.

Eventually, I noticed the Garmin needed a software update and that's probably why it wasn't syncing. It took nearly two hours to download the update! I was able to set up Foundation Run 2. I even used a Garmin watch app that shows which 80/20 zone I'm running in. The 80/20 zones can't really be set up correctly using the default Garmin calculation.

I'm getting way off track here, so I'll spare all the details. It turned out that when I set everything up, I still managed to mess up the zones. Gah! It felt SO EASY when I was running--and I use that term very lightly, because it was a very slow jog/walk in order to stay in the foundation run zone. On the difficulty scale of 1-10, it was a 1.

I'm actually kind of relieved that I was mistaken, because I don't think I could do this plan if the runs were that slow. A fast walk didn't get my heart rate up high enough but a slow jog made it too high; so I was doing a constant jog/walk that required too much paying attention. I just wanted to listen to a podcast while going for an easy run. 

Which brings me to now. Now that I realized my mistake with the heart rate zones, I think it should be much better. I already posted this before, but these are the zones based on my heart rate reserve:

My Garmin has 5 zones, so for this purpose, Zone 2 is actually a combination of the Garmin's Zones 1 and 2.

Technology totally complicates things sometimes ;)  Running is the simplest sport there is! Just put on a pair of shoes (or not) and run. But with running watches and apps and smart phones, a super simple sport turns complicated. I wish I was willing to run without the technology, but I'm used it now.

Today marks the start of Week 1 of the 80/20 Beginner 10K Plan. I'm going to try this through the summer--it's 12 weeks long--and just see how I like it. I've actually never trained using heart rate this way (I've always used MAF) so I like that it's something new to me. Some of the workouts on this plan will be fun! Take this one for example:

That will absolutely require setting up the workout in my Garmin--there is no way I could remember that!

Wow, this post is all over the place. I had planned to write about the runs I did last week, but after discovering my issues with heart rate zones being off, I'm just going to call this Week 0 and the official start of the plan will be today (Mondays are rest days, so tomorrow will actually be the first run). I'll probably do my weekly recaps on Sundays.

Now that I'm not in pain when I get up in the mornings, I would really like to try to get in the habit of running right when I get up. I used to do that and it was so nice to have run and showered before 8:00 in the morning!

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VEGAN RECIPE REVIEW: Hoppin' John

Well, I didn't end up being able to make the more "adventurous" recipe that I hoped to try yesterday. I had to order an ingredient from Amazon and it should be here today. I will spoil the surprise and tell you that I'm going to attempt making vegan mozzarella "cheese". To people who have eaten a vegan diet for a while, it may not sound interesting at all; but I just can't imagine making something that truly resembles cheese! Supposedly, it's sliceable, shreddable, and meltable. So it'll be a fun experiment.

Instead, I'm going to write a review of Hoppin' John by Sweet Potato Soul (I will link to it again at the end of the post) that I made earlier this week. I'd never had Hoppin' John before; I just knew that it had black-eyed peas and rice. The ingredients for this vegan version were very straight-forward--nothing that I wouldn't already have: cooking oil, onion, jalapeño, celery, garlic, brown rice, bay leaf, thyme, black pepper, vegetable broth, black-eyed peas, smoked paprika, hot sauce, and parsley.

When I choose recipes, I usually just look at the ingredients and decide if it sounds good. I don't read through the directions until it's time to cook, and after making this, I think I should probably do that. Once I started cooking, I saw that the recipe said to add the rice and "stir well" and then let it cook with the lid ajar. Later, you stir in the paprika.

It's no secret that I *love* rice. When I cook rice, I never, ever stir it (unless it's risotto or another dish that is meant to be creamy). I bring it to a boil, put the lid on tight, set the timer, and when the timer goes off, I remove the lid and use a skewer to stir it--sounds odd to stir with a skewer, but it keeps the rice from clumping together and/or getting gummy. Stirring while cooking leads to gummy rice as well.

However, I went against my instincts and followed the recipe as-written.

First, heat the oil and cook the onions, celery, and jalapeño.

Add the garlic and brown rice, stir well (no liquid at this point, so it was just toasting the rice a bit).

Add the bay leaf, thyme, black pepper, and broth. Stir well, then cover with lid, leaving it ajar. 

Cook 10 minutes, then add the black-eyed peas. Cook until rice is tender. Stir in the smoked paprika. I *really* didn't want to stir it at this point because I could see that it was a bit clumpy. I stirred in the paprika as gently as I could, but it wasn't turning out well. The black-eyed peas were mushy from cooking so long with the brown rice (brown rice takes a while to cook). And sure enough, the whole dish was very gummy.

This picture shows the texture a little better: 

Jerry and I each took a bowl of it and gave it a taste. The flavors were great! If not for the texture, I would have really liked it. I'm going to make it again--maybe trying out different recipe--but I would definitely either cook the rice separately or I wouldn't stir it or open the lid while the rice was cooking. I would also wait until the last five minutes or so to add the black-eyed peas so that they don't get mushy.

I made this hoping that Jerry and the kids would like it (I want to find a few go-to vegan meals that the whole family likes). Jerry thought it was good; like me, he liked the flavors but thought the texture was gummy (I don't like that I keep using that word, but it's the best way to describe it). The kids took a bite and they weren't wowed but said it was okay.

Overall, the flavors were great! I just like rice to be light and fluffy, so the texture was the disappointing part for me. I don't think I've ever cooked with black-eyed peas before--I only ever use them in a bean dip that doesn't require cooking. It just never occurs to me to use them in place of other beans sometimes--so after making this, I am inspired to try them in other recipes. Kroger puts the black-eyed peas with the canned peas and not with the beans, so I always forget about them.

You can find this full recipe for Hoppin' John at Sweet Potato Soul.

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A Saturday Transformation

I prepared a recipe for my vegan recipe review, but I am planning to make something much more interesting later today, so I think I'll hold off on that post until tomorrow. I'm hoping it works out!

Instead, I'll just share a few pictures of a small project I worked on this morning. For Mother's Day, I got a whole set of matching spice jars--yes, after I'd washed and reused a ton of jars I had!--and I loved them so much I got my mom a set, too. And I told her that I would go over to her house and transfer her spices over.

This is my own "before" and then after I transferred everything to the spice jar set:

I hope my mom doesn't mind my saying so, but hers looked even worse than mine, hahaha. She had some spices in old pill bottles and lots of assorted little containers. (Better than having pantry moths!)

Naturally, I forgot to take a picture before I started pulling things out, but this is the cupboard and drawer after I took the spices from the shelf insert (bottom left).

I spread all of the spices on the table. I found with my own spices that I had a lot more than I thought I did. I think the same thing happened with my mom's spices--it didn't look like that much until they were all grouped on the table.

I grabbed some jars and labels, turned on a podcast, and got to work. I find doing organizational stuff like this to be fun--maybe that's odd, but it's so satisfying to see the end result! I put all of the spices into jars, labeled them, and condensed down the ones I could (I think everyone winds up with doubles of certain spices because when grocery shopping, you can't remember if you already have it. One time, I somehow wound up with three Sam's Club-sized containers of cinnamon--yikes.)

A few hours later, my mom's spice drawer was completely transformed!

Doesn't it look awesome? Here is a before and after:

I managed to fit all of her spices in the drawer, so I put the envelopes of taco seasoning and things like that in the cupboard above. The jars came with TONS of labels--I didn't need to make a single label for my spices! But my mom had several seasoning blends, so I used the blank round labels to mark those ones.

If anyone is looking for spice jars, these are the ones I bought on Amazon. (Affiliate link disclosure--if you happen to buy through that link, I may get a small commission.) I bought the pack that has 66 jars for $40, and the labels come with them. They have smaller packs of jars, but I figured if I didn't need them for spices, I could use them in the garage for little screws and things like that. 

There are a lot of sets that have a plastic flip-top lids, but with the pantry moths, I didn't want to risk it. I actually found a pantry moth larva in the onion powder! I don't think the flip-top lid was closed tightly enough. So, I ended up choosing jars with the aluminum lids. I'm really happy with them!

My mom was thrilled with her spice drawer makeover, and I loved doing it!

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Friday Night Photos

I always try to remember to take photos throughout the week because I like using them for Friday Night Photos. These posts act kind of like a journal for me; all of the stuff that doesn't fit in during the rest of the week basically gets thrown onto Friday Night Photos. It usually isn't until Friday night that I realize I didn't take as many pictures as I thought! And I'm almost embarrassed to post the pictures from this week because they are SO not interesting, haha. However, there is an update on the ducklings, which is worth it!

On Monday, we finally got to cook on the grill and and hang out with the kids. Everybody was off work, there was no baseball, and we had good weather. Noah and Eli invited their girlfriends over and Jerry cooked burgers on the grill. After dinner, we played cornhole. Eli is really good at it, and he and his partner won every game (we switched teams a couple of times). Can you believe how grown up the boys look? (Noah's on the left and Eli is on the right.) 

Last year sometime, I wrote about how frustrating it was to get my kids to put away their laundry. At the suggestion of several readers, I gave each of them their own hamper for clean clothes and I decided to stop asking them to put away clothes.

They are in charge of their own laundry--from dirty, to the washer, to the dryer, to their hamper in their bedroom. If they choose to put the clothes away, awesome. If not, they can wear wrinkled clothes ;)  I had to go in Eli's room the other day and I saw his clean clothes; this went exactly how I expected! (There actually is a hamper under there.)

The cats have been loving the warmer weather. I've been opening the windows when it's nice outside and all four of them seek out a window to in front of. Watching the "kittens" is funny; they both move their heads completely in sync when they see something move or they hear a noise.

And this is the old lady section...

Phoebe's fur is not looking great. (Doesn't it make you want to rub her belly, though?) Ever since we saw the vet and learned about her kidney disease, she just hasn't looked her best. But she's eating! I bought SO many different flavors, textures, brands, and types of wet cat food to try to get Phoebe to eat and I finally found one that she loves (it's a creamy shrimp soup for cats--so spoiled!). She won't eat anything else. She seems happy, though--she's gotten a TON of extra attention and she's basking in it. 

I have no memory of taking this photo below, so I'm thinking either Jerry did it himself or one of the kids used my phone to get a picture of Jerry. No idea! But I figured I'd include it.

Noah's girlfriend got very sunburned in a Memorial Day parade and I thought it was cute that he was putting aloe on her burns.

It was 96 degrees at Eli's baseball game the other day and I felt so bad for the players. I'm sure the heat bothers the parents more than it does the players, but I am "that" mom who worries about the kids being miserably hot. Eli is a catcher, so he has to wear all of the catchers' gear as well.

A few years ago, my mom suggested that I soak a washcloth with cold water, put it in a Ziploc bag, and then into a cooler with ice. At the game, Eli can use the ice cold washcloth to cool his face and head. It made me think about how absolutely amazing that would be to have while running a race. When I ran my first marathon and the heat index was over 100, I would have paid probably $300 for one of these! 

I'm only mentioning it here as an idea in case anyone has a summer race; if you have someone watching your race, they could hold onto it for you and give it to you when you run by. Then you can just discard the (cheap) washcloth afterward. When I ran the Rockford Half Marathon, someone was handing out cold wet sponges and "heavenly" doesn't even begin to describe how good it felt to squeeze ice water on my head.

This was at the insanely hot baseball game. It was a district game and they played on really nice fields. They won the game, so they move on in the district tournament tomorrow, where they'll play two games. I'm really hoping that it's a cooler day!

I was working on my blog post a couple of days ago and Phoebe wanted on my lap so badly. I finally let her up, and she was not happy that I was still typing instead of petting her. So this was her solution:

Remember this random, spontaneous purchase I made at the thrift store? Jerry had told me that it would be a waste of $2 because the cats wouldn't use it. I figured even if they only used it once or twice, it was fine. Well, they still love this thing! Phoebe doesn't use it, but Estelle and the kittens do all the time. The other day, it was collapsed on the floor and Estelle didn't let that keep her from making her way inside.

I bought a box of rotini and when I opened it, I found an odd surprise... rigatoni! (Did you think I was going to say pantry moths? haha!) It wasn't just a single noodle, either. They were mixed throughout the box. I opened the second box I'd bought and it was the same. Odd, but pasta is pasta.

I made this "Vegan Grain Bowl" from EatingWell.com and holy smokes--it was SO GOOD. The components are very simple--just roasted sweet potatoes, quinoa, chickpeas, and avocado--but the dressing is what makes it amazing. It's made with olive oil, tahini, lemon juice, garlic, salt, and pepper. 

It tasted like garlicky hummus and reminded me of La Pita, my favorite middle eastern restaurant--it's been way too long since I've been there. This dressing tasted like their hummus and garlic sauce mixed together. Yum!

And finally, here are some pictures of the ducklings! My parents still have them, and I'm assuming they're going to stay with them until they're ready to fly away. If this is what Jerry and I have to look forward to someday, sign me up! ;)

I think this picture is hilarious. My dad is just chillin' in the yard watching the ducklings in their swimming pool.

Have a great weekend! xo

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How Eating Vegan Has Affected My Chronic Pain

I've been wanting to write this for several weeks, but I kept feeling like I needed to write some big, profound post. There actually isn't much to write about! The point of this post isn't to try to convert anyone to eating a vegan diet; I still believe that people should eat the way that is best for *them* and their needs. This is just to describe how it has affected my chronic pain. 

First, a recap of my chronic pain issues (I'll keep this as short as I can)...

I've always had a back problem (I remember it as far back as eight years old) but it's in a very specific spot on my back (the T10-T11 vertebrae). When writing this post, I'm not going to be referring to that pain. That's "normal" for me and because I know it's in that one spot, it's easier to grasp mentally. It's the pain I'll write about below that was almost unbearable.

In 2018-ish, I started feeling sore ALL THE TIME. It felt like I had run a marathon with little training--whole body sore. I was remodeling the house in 2017-2018, so I was used to feeling sore and I just assumed my body was aching because of that. I didn't really start to worry until 2020, after I drywalled the garage. I knew I'd be sore from that, but even months after the garage was done, I felt as sore as I had on Day 1.

I took breaks from all activity, but the pain didn't ease up. It was mostly my joints; my shoulders, neck, hips, back, and hands were the worst. Getting out of bed was really challenging. I would get so sore and stiff during the night that when I woke up, my hands were swollen and I would walk hunched over like a little old lady (I was only 36ish at the time, so it was definitely not normal). I still thought it was due to the heavy work I was doing on the house.

In 2020, I started working on drywalling the garage, which took all summer. It was right around that time that I realized I couldn't really move for about an hour and a half to two hours in the mornings. I spent many, many mornings sobbing because I was in so much pain and nothing was helping. I had no flexibility whatsoever. My body would get so stiff when I wasn't moving, but moving made it hurt and I wanted to sit. A catch-22.

This is a photo that I had Jerry take of my wrists one day. I was pulling my hands back as far as I could and they would barely move--especially my right hand.

At the suggestion of several readers, I made an appointment with a rheumatologist after seeing several doctors (primary care, neurologist, sports medicine, orthopedist) and trying some treatments (physical therapy, medication, TENS unit, chiropractor). The rheumatologist was extremely thorough--after she learned of my symptoms, she ordered a TON of tests. The lab took 13 vials of blood! I had x-rays of several areas of my body. My symptoms most closely pointed to rheumatoid arthritis. I tried several medications to no avail.

Some of my tests indicated a possible autoimmune problem, but the numbers weren't off enough to diagnose anything. After all of the appointments, tests, and medications, I was just tired of it all. My insurance rejected my MRI order and that was it for me. The rheumatologist gave me a diagnosis of fibromyalgia and said that the best things I can do for it are to get lots of sleep (I have insomnia, so that was disheartening) and a plant-based diet.

I wasn't happy with the diagnosis because a lot of doctors don't take fibromyalgia seriously--it's kind of an umbrella term to explain chronic pain with no real answer. I felt like the doctors thought the pain was just in my head or that I was exaggerating how bad it was. Because the pain was so bad, I felt like there HAD to be an answer--in my blood, in my x-rays--but I looked healthy, for the most part, on paper.

I'm not saying that fibromyalgia isn't real--I'm saying the opposite! It just sucks when you are in *real* pain but you can't prove it. And doctors want to see proof.

I prematurely assumed that I could never eat a vegan diet. I would be able to go without meat, but I couldn't imagine giving up cheese. Most of the things I cooked had some sort of dairy. Also, trying to eat vegan with a family who eats animal products seemed impossible. So, I didn't even try.

A couple of months later, in January 2022, I was just bored and looking at YouTube videos one night and you know how that rabbit hole goes... I somehow stumbled upon a documentary called 'Dominion'. It's a film that exposes how animals are treated before being slaughtered for food. I won't get into the details because I know people don't want to read that here--if you're interested, you could always look it up on your own--but I was only able to make it through half of the film. I haven't eaten a single animal product ever since.

I was very curious if this would help my chronic pain. I was extremely skeptical, but I started watching more documentaries about plant-based eating and it started to make more sense to me.

I'm not sure when it happened (maybe a month after switching to vegan), but I noticed one day that I wasn't in pain when I woke up. And when I thought about it, I couldn't remember feeling pain for a while. I started paying attention to my pain levels and they haven't been more than a 2 on the pain scale of 1-10. Getting out of bed is no longer a problem; I don't walk hunched over and I can't even remember the last time I cried due to the pain.

The pain I still deal with is in my shoulders, mostly, and I'm sure it's due to anxiety. I get big knots in my upper back near my shoulder blades and they get better or worse depending on my anxiety level. Jerry massages them for me to loosen up the muscles (which is not a "feel good" massage but an oh-my-god-that's-going-to-kill-me massage).

As far as the fibromyalgia pain that was near-crippling at times, it's all-but gone.

I have mild osteoarthritis in some joints, but that is from wear and tear due to age. It showed up on my x-rays. It sucks, but compared to the pain I was feeling before, I can certainly handle it.

I can't think of any other reason that the fibromyalgia pain would just up and leave like it did other than switching to a vegan diet. I didn't change anything else. I was extremely skeptical in the beginning, and if it wasn't for the Dominion film, I never would have tried to eat a vegan diet.

This is an old picture from a local dairy farm. I had no idea what pics to include on this post!

While the main reason for the switch was an ethical one, I feel really good about my choice for health and environmental reasons as well. I had no clue about how the meat and dairy industry affects our way of life until I started watching some documentaries about it.

I highly recommend the film 'The Game Changers' on Netflix. It is NOT a slaughterhouse video or a "scare tactics" video to try and convert people to a plant-based diet. It focuses on how a plant-based diet affects our health and performance. There are interviews with elite and even olympic athletes--from body builders to football players to runners to cyclists--who thrive on a vegan diet. It was this film that really made me believe that eating vegan could help with my pain. The film is very motivating if you're looking to eat healthier (even if you don't want to switch to a plant-based diet).

It also shows people, including a house of firefighters, who switch to eating vegan for a short period of time. They have blood drawn before and after, and the difference in some of their numbers, particularly cholesterol, was jaw-dropping. There is even a fun experiment with men to see how eating meat for just one meal can affect the number (and size!) of erections they get while sleeping (more/larger erections indicate better blood flow and cardiovascular health).

Remember how much I despised cooking? Well, now I'm starting to like it again. It's been super fun to try new recipes using methods or ingredients I'd never tried before. I've learned just how easy it can be to eat vegan once I started cooking vegan meals; there are vegan recipes out there to satisfy just about every craving one could possibly have.

While my family still eats meat and dairy, they taste the food I cook and they are very surprised by how good (most) of it is. My kids have been shocked at some of the ingredients they've eaten without realizing it--like mushrooms, which they both hate. I'm happy that they are open-minded about trying new foods. 

But anyways, back to the point of this post...

I am very happy with how a vegan diet has affected my mind and body--and it's only been a little over four months. While I still have the typical aches and pains that we get as we age, the type of chronic pain that I thought I was going to have to deal with for the rest of my life is all-but gone. I wouldn't have believed it if I didn't experience this myself. I can't say it would work for anyone with chronic pain, but it's certainly helped me!

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Wednesday Weigh-In: Week 53

It's thunderstorming as I write this and I'm probably much more excited than warranted. I love a good thunderstorm! We rarely get them anymore, and if we do, it's during the night. I feel like I'm always opening my posts with weather-talk, but the weather has just been kind of crazy this year. Yesterday evening, it was 96 degrees outside! Eli had a baseball game and it was the first time this year that I didn't wear two long-sleeved shirts to his game. That's how dramatic the temperature change has been.

After having lost weight for four weeks in a row, I was hoping to continue on that streak, even if it it was just a few ounces. My June weigh-in for DietBet happened to be today, too. Unfortunately, my weight was up today from last week:

I was at 146.4, which is a gain of one pound. I'm not worried about it, though. On Monday, I ate a heavy dinner--a huge vegan burger, twice baked potato, and corn on the cob. The vegan burger was delicious! I followed this recipe by Minimalist Baker. There was a lot of prep work for it, but in the end, I think it was definitely worth it. Naturally, I forgot to take a picture of the whole burger with all the toppings, but this is what the patty looked like--when you see the ingredients, it seems so odd that they come together to make this:

The main components are brown rice, mushrooms, cashews, and oat flour. When I was making them, I realized something that kind of freaked me out for a second. With vegan burgers, you can taste the mixture before forming it into patties--something you would never do with meat. It seemed so odd being able to taste and adjust seasonings before forming the patties. Eating vegan has opened up a whole new world of foods to try that I wouldn't have otherwise--it's fun!

I was able to hit my DietBet weigh-in goal, thankfully. I had to be 147.1 or less. The final weigh-in for this six-month bet is July 1st (where I have to maintain 147.1 or continue to lose weight). I will be SO glad when the DietBet is over! I don't think it was helpful this time to keep me on track; it just stressed me out as the weight came off slower and slower.

Jerry and I decided that after this DietBet is when we'll get our yearly physicals. I'd like to work as hard as I can for the next month to get my weight under 144. The physical forms (for health insurance) ask for BMI because they charge a premium for people who have a BMI over 30, which is considered "obese". Mine is very close to 25; I'm still considered "overweight" until my BMI is under 25.

For insurance purposes it won't make a difference, and I know how outdated and inaccurate the BMI scale is, but I'd love for my BMI to be considered "normal" for the first time in a few years. I think the last time it was normal for my physical was in 2017. It's hard to believe it's been that long since I gained the extra weight!

This week, I'd like to focus on drinking more water. With it being so hot outside and the fact that I started running again this week, I want to make sure I stay hydrated. I always feel so much better when I drink a lot of water.

Here's to hoping for a good week! I remembered to take a picture of the random fact today:

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