Lost a friend to colon cancer today--only 45 years old.

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

I've lost my first friend ever, older family members have died, but until now, never a friend my age. Dave was 45, died of colon cancer he had had for 5 years. He outlived the time they gave him, but it was a terrible disease.

Death always brings people together, and this is no exception, the emails flying around from people all over the world, the Facebook posts--who knew FB could be good for anything?, the old pictures from high school people have found, the old funny stories, it is all a real tribute, but a bittersweet tribute given the situation.

Dave was a 6'7" giant bear of a man, always with a smile, always ready to help a friend, always silly, always loving. He didn't deserve this end, no one does.

This is a new kind of pain for me. 90+ year old grandparents who have lead full lives dying and leaving us we expect, even if it hurts. A young friend dying is just plain old pain.

I can't go to his funeral, I am thousand of miles away on another continent, the emails, Facebook posts and sending someone to the funeral in my place will have to be enough. It doesn't seem like it though.

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Creating Eating Routines

Wednesday, June 02, 2010

Detail from stained glass in local cathedral.

I'm thinking about making MORE routines. I usually have one of a couple of breakfasts and very frequently exactly the same, saves time, shopping, even $.

Example: on breakfasts, my raspberry-cocoa-yogurt smoothie, oat bran-wheat bran galette, my high fiber chocolate chocolate chip muffins, regular yogurt, fromage blanc, assorted fruits, scrambled eggs. I almost never eat anything different from those, one or a combo usually.

I often have one of a few possible snacks, but would like to get that down to an actual acceptable list and go from that.

In an ideal world, I'll create a sort of personal cookbook-plan, with about 60 lunch or dinners and rotate mostly through that for the next bit of time. I need to stop spending so much time organizing, finding recipes, logging in SP and shopping, I think it could be streamlined a lot and less creative and save trouble. I could also more easily predict for more protein and fewer carbs which remain trouble spots.

This could gain me exercise and relaxation time and save $ too. Think if it was all in SP and all I had to do was click the right things to log, or at least minimize tracking to fewer things.

I cook from scratch a lot and live in a country where not a lot of premade stuff is not as readily available. So I have to enter a lot of food from scratch into the tracker.

I think I'll look into this. Starting now.

Does anyone do this type of thing?

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Attempt at Organization--June Goals

Tuesday, June 01, 2010

+

Statue in local park, roses are also all in bloom there right now.

Attempt at getting down June goals, not being naturally organized, this is new for me.

-eat 25 + grams fiber a day
-alternate strength training exercises: arms day, waist-stomach day, legs day every three days. Keep this up for month of June and take stock of situation. I don't give enough importance to ST.
-stay in calorie range, but OK to be on high side
-2100 exercise points per week--mostly walking cardio
-at least 50 Spark points per day to be taking part on site and using educational info
-EAT MORE PROTEIN!!!
-Too many carbs-sweets lately, be aware!
-do not allow T's problems to affect your or your husband's life.
-try to get at least 7 hours of sleep a night

OK, that's the plan. I'll give it a month, no major changes there except the ST and I really do have to up the protein and down the carbs. Sleep remains the biggest problem.

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The cool, cloudwrapped heaven of a new pair of tennis shoes. - R.Bradbury

Monday, May 17, 2010

New Balance shoes today, new ones. After running all over town looking for a decent pair at a decent price I wound up at the running shop near the train station. Personal service, 115 euros, not cheap, but shoes fitted to my feet by a professional. It turns out I don't do anything weird with my feet and I'm not lop-sided. I'm neutral. Like Switzerland. Nice to know.

Ray Bradbury, in a beautiful little book called Dandelion Wine that people don't necessarily know but are really missing out on if they don't, writes about being a child and the pleasure of 'firsts' of each new year. Douglas Spaulding, the main character, discovers that nothing makes a boy fly weightless through his summer vacation better than slipping his feet into the cool, cloudwrapped heaven of a new pair of tennis shoes.

Slipping my feet into those expensive New Balance shoes brought back that scene from Dandelion Wine. I can't wait to fly weightless through the summer.

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At least I haven't opened the Mint Milanos!

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

This is the Pont du Gard, an old Roman aqueduct not far from where I live.

Yes I live in a place with a lot of nifty things, but I was hoping to go back to the States for a visit and now it looks like a volcano will be standing in my way. I've had this trip planned for 8 months, tickets bought eight months ago, visits set up with family all over the place. I haven't seen my grandparents, who aren't getting any younger! in almost 4 years or my parents in 2. As of today, most of France is still closed to flights, Europe too. I have six days for the situation to change.

Stress?

I wouldn't have considered myself an emotional eater but I have been starving lately. I'm still trying to figure out if it is due to stress or not. So far I have been trying to deal with it reasonably, eating half of whatever I want, doing exercise instead... the exercise thing lead me to whopping blisters on both feet from walking in a pair of shoes I'm not used to so that is no good at all.

So far I haven't opened the pack of Mint Milanos my non-thinking husband brought home about a week ago. Unheard of in France, a real treat. If I open the bag, I'm doomed. Closed, it is no danger, almost not even a temptation. Woe to me though if I open it.

If my blisters didn't hurt so much, this would be a perfect time to evacuate stress with serious cardio.

Not sure what comes next. One the one hand, I'd MUCH rather be on the ground wishing I was in the air than in the air wishing I was on the ground.

I'm old enough to be able to see things from a reasonable point of view, and I'm disappointed in myself for being so childish about this whole volcano thing. A lot can change in six days, I need to practice a little patience.

Wish me luck!

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