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--KREN's Recent Blog Entries
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Monday, July 23, 2012
People are always asking me, "Who is Joe?" I mention him a lot and people can't quite figure out the relationship, lol.
I was married for decades to Jim, the love of my life. We raised two wonderful sons. He’s now deceased.
I met Joe about 13 years ago when he moved in next door to me. We became friends. He’s been my good buddy and best friend for all these years. He started by knocking on my door to say the postman had put my mail in his mailbox. That happened many times. Later I accused him of taking my mail for his own purposes, lol.
Initially, he invited me over for Reuben sandwiches, a specialty of his. I told him I didn’t like those and declined the invitation. When I told my friend Lillie about it, she said, what is now a famous QUOTE in our history, “You FOOL! A 35 year old man wants you to come over for dinner. You go over there and eat whatever he gives you!” LOL. I remind her often of when she called me a Fool. AND thank her, lol. (By the way, I now love Ruebens!)
I was about 50 yrs old then. Joe is 16 yrs younger than me. Which is why it took me so long to “catch on”. He says I needed a cheat sheet on dating, lol. I had been married all my life. I didn’t have a clue.
Anyway, we progressed. We both loved books and read a lot of the same non-fiction. We have traveled together and continue to spend time together every day. We don’t seem to tire of each other’s company. If I were younger, MUCH younger, I would call him my boyfriend, but I detest that word!
Surely, in our American English language we can come up with a dignified, more mature version of “boyfriend!” Once you’re over 40, it just sounds silly to me.
Joe has his own house. I have mine. We lived next door to each other until about 4 yrs. ago when I bought a house about a mile away. Joe had always stopped in to see me before he went to work, which is pretty early, about 5 a.m. I thought this would stop when I moved, but no, he drives to my house every morning. Now that I’m retired, I still get up at 5 a.m. Wouldn’t you do that if someone wanted to give you a hug and a kiss before work? We have a signal system. If my light is not on, it means I am not up and he doesn’t stop in. But I’m telling you, that’s a rare occasion, lol.
So here we are, very happy in our little world, together but independent. I get asked all the time when we are going to be married. NOT. I don’t want to. And what other reason do I need? Why do people try to talk me into something I don’t want to do? We are both very happy this way.
You can see photos of Joe on my SP photo page. And the photo of me in the red dress was taken about the time I met Joe.
So here is where I need some help from my imaginative Spark People friends. –
Think of another word for BOYFRIEND for all of us “mature people” who have them, lol.
Any suggestions?
Karen
I'm just looking for an easier way to introduce him!! LOL.
Friday, July 20, 2012
I ate so many tasty veggies from the local farmer's market this week, mostly squash, cucumbers and tomatoes! I just ate some tasty beef or pork with them and had a low carb diet, which not only got me a 3 lb loss this week, my fasting blood sugar this morning was 84!
My blood sugar is always good EXCEPT when I first wake up it's a little over 100. So having it UNDER 100 makes me pretty happy. Also, my BP yesterday afternoon was 118/80, best it's been in a long time. Carbs cause water retention which affects blood pressure, and inflammation, which affects everything!
I basically eat all I want of every veggie that does not require cooking. (This means I avoid or keep count of (restrict) things like potatoes, starchy beans, etc.) I've become a veggie-pusher, telling everyone that the more veggies and the wider variety of veggies that you eat, the better you will feel. And of course, stay away from SUGAR.
My Mother called yesterday morning right after I came home from my swim. She was on the floor and could not get up. She didn't fall, and she wasn't hurt, she just couldn't get up. I had to call Scott (my son) because even though I was going right over there, I am reminded that I can never get her up. She's not obese, but weighs more than me and I have a wimpy back. Her vitals were all good, so it was just her almost 90 yr. old knees that give out now and then.
Poor Scott couldn't stand her apartment anymore, so he went and got cleaning supplies and changed clothes and came back and spent 6 hours in there cleaning - with her griping at him all the way. I told her I didn't know anyone in the world who would volunteer to do what he was doing and she should thank him. Yeah, right. I tell him all the time that he is a wonderful son and goes beyond the call of duty as a grandson.
Anyway, I helped as I could, but it was hard work. Would have taken me days and I'd have been in bed after that. Besides, I just can't stand the griping and constant negativity. I am blessed with wonderful sons and she is blessed with wonderful grandsons. The difference is, I know it and she doesn't.
Thanks for letting me vent, Dear Friends. I'm headed back over there this morning to bring her some kitchen items.
I started to label this blog "Mother Troubles, Again" but I'm feeling too good to dwell on that. My goal in the latter part of life is not to let her get me down!
I hope you all have a great weekend!
Monday, July 16, 2012
For the record, this is my very own experiment done by my very own self on my very own body!
It began back in December, 2011 when my cholesterol was higher than it had ever been, even though it was still in the “good” range. So I changed my eating ways (knew in my heart I had been wild and crazy for a while) and 3 months later I wrote a blog about the results. (lowered cholesterol by 47 points!)
www.sparkpeople.com/mypage_public_jo
urnal_individual.asp?blog_id=4780528
So now, 4 months after that blog, I went back for more testing. My cholesterol was still great but had gone UP 10 points. So why am I happy about that?
Because it really validates what happened before, so it wasn’t just a fluke. During these past 4 months, I really went OFF my NO SUGAR plan for about a month or so, triggered by grandkids visiting for two weeks and some other really interesting excuses, lol.
So for about 6 weeks of the past 4 months I was chomping away at the sweets and the result is my cholesterol went UP 10 points.
I began reading about nutrition about a year ago, and found some suggestions here and there that sugar was responsible for high cholesterol. I had always heard of several reasons for high cholesterol, fat, of course being the main one. But no one was waving the sugar flag about it. I had hardly ever seen sugar even mentioned with the word cholesterol. But once I focused on that and on how much sugar was in my diet, I decided to live without it.
I’d never heard anyone say “I think you need a little more sugar in your diet.”
Dr. Robert Lustig says if anything else has the markers in our body that sugar does, we label it a poison!
Dr. Michael Roizen says sugar damages the protein in your heart, kidneys, brain, skin, etc. for months after you eat it.
So, I began my sugar tracking by keeping a little tablet handy to total my grams of sugar each day. I try to keep it WAY UNDER 20 grams. The more real food I eat and the less processed food I eat, the easier that is to accomplish.
www.sparkpeople.com/mypage_public_jo
urnal_individual.asp?blog_id=4611475
The results are clear. More sugar equals higher cholesterol. I also track my blood glucose pretty frequently. I’m not diabetic and don’t ever want to be. Home monitoring helps me know what foods and combination of foods will/will not spike my blood sugar.
By the way, Joe has joined me in my little experiment. His cholesterol and other numbers were way high into the danger range. After 4 months his cholesterol went down over 100 points! Diet alone.
Just sayin'
Karen
PS - I'm also a veggie pusher, lol. No one ever told you you're eating too many veggies, did they? But that's another blog.
Friday, June 22, 2012
www.youtube.com/watch?v=0OR-6y-8-nM
Ernestein Shepherd will make you get up off the couch! Watch this amazing woman.
She is an inspiration for all of us, no matter how old we are or how wimpy we are, lol.
Karen
Sunday, May 27, 2012
Every day he takes a walk at the same time.
Every day she waits for him and they walk together.
Wouldn't it be great if we all had friends like this. No words needed. Just walking in Friendship.
Karen
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Get An Email Alert Each Time --KREN Posts
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. She is amazing. Thanks.
Thank you for sharing with us!
Member Comments About This Blog Post:
And I'm glad you're staying positive in the face of your mom's negativity; I know it's not easy ... I had one just like her.
3 lbs......you rock"........ 
