Deborah a year and a day in my life

So this week held a few minor disappointments for me and a nice little surprise. First the disappointments:

1. My tomato plant could not stand up to the heavy rains we had this week, when I returned from work the poor thing was bent over, at first I was just annoyed after all the work I invested but figure well there was no tomatoes on the darn thing where the blossoms were so I guess it doesn't matter. 

So I proceeded to pull the thing up and decided I wanted to see how tall it was, so while laying it out to measure it, sure enough there was 3 little tomatoes started, I was thrilled and disappointed all in the space of a heart beat.  Well after measuring my 9 foot tomato plant I plucked off the 3 tomatoes and toss them for the salamanders or to rot. 

I had forgotten all about my Morning Glory seeds so I am going to late start them and see what happens.

2. I began taking a new medication for something unrelated to my high blood pressure and the side affects I am experiencing are so awful I don't know if I can continue, I can't managed 2 hours of sleep a night and work for 8 hours it just doesn't work well at this age, was a piece a cake in my twenties to go from Friday to Sunday with no sleep and still make it to work fresh and ready.

And now for the surprise:

After 14 years living here in Florida I have finally seen a worm!  Yippee! Though not while I was digging in the soil, but while I was sweeping away the wet leaves and twigs that gather beneath my table legs.  I thought I saw something squirm but I looked and nothing so I kept sweeping and there it was squirming around probably wondering where all the wet leaves went.

Well of course I had to scoop it up and put it on under a small pile of wet vegetation out of the way of foot traffic and my broom.
I was grinning like a fool, all these years here and all the gardening I have done over the years and I had not once seen a worm.  ( I haven't ever seen a wild rabbit here either).  People would talk all about the worms in there gardens and I thought are they buying them from somewhere cause I have never seen one even after the rain.  Wonders never cease.

I went through my spice cabinet today and tossed away 12 jars out of date (by a decade) spices. Most were from my Thai cooking stage back in the late 90's and I am happy to say most were well used up.  Now I have room for a few new items. 

Yesterday my weigh in yielded another big loss of .8 pounds which I am happy to say is alright with me, better a loss than to stay the same or gain.  This week I figured I would have gained because I ate lots of saltine cracker thanks to the nausea all week. 

I picked up a prescription refill today at the pharmacy and when I got in my car I opened the bag to get out a lifesaver and what do you know those long white pills look nothing like the white capsules with the 2 black stripes I was expecting and why is someone named James on my bottle. So I go back inside bring it back to the pharmacy window and when I explain to the Tech she takes the bag reads my name and asks that's you right?  Yes that's my name but who is this James on the bottle.  AH she reads the bottle, looks at me and says yep I guess this isn't yours.

This would almost be comical but it happens too often to me.

So I am going to start reading Fearless Fourteen by Janet Evanovich and enjoy the rest of my Sunday, well right after I fill out my self evaluation for work.  Time flies once you give up temp status 90 days went by so fast.

Where does the time go?  It amazes me some days how quickly the days go by and once the weekend hits the days seems to be on hyper thrust zooming right on through till its Monday again. 

Well this week just about all my fingernails broke, tore or chipped, so much for the Miracle nail fix solution which I now believe just weakened the nails.  In reality 3 nails broke but I am so hmmm whats that word I am looking for?  Yes that one, I had to cut all the nails to about the same length so growing would be uniform.  YEAH a mild dose of OCD fits well with my anal retentive personality.

Today I put together some crab cakes to bring to lunch this week and a nice Greek salad this time using cherry tomatoes the farmer's market had such a nice selection of cherry tomatoes and cucumbers I couldn't resist, though I should try peeling some of the cucumber next time for better digestion. 

I actually have 6 crab cakes made these 3 are going into the oven and the other 3 will be cooked later in the week.  I prefer to bake them because I have avoided fried foods most of my life.  Last night I baked a nice piece of Mahi Mahi with just a pinch of salt and pepper and butter wrapped it in foil popped it in the oven, served with some steamed veggies dinner done in less than 15 minutes.

Well my newspaper awaits, the laundry is completed so the rest of the day is mine, I'm going to inflate my foot bath and soak away my tired feet while I read whats on sale this week.

a good use for cherry tomatoes

Crab cakes

I forgot about the other stuff happening lost another whopping .6 pound at WW meeting this week, not bad considering I had a birthday this week and had a nice slice of cheesecake and a slice of marble cake all in the same week.  But I planned ahead and ate light on the days I had the cake.  You want to know something cake didn't taste so great, no nothing wrong with the cakes both were quite good its just that my tolerance for sweets has lessened over the past few months and the taste of sugar was all I could taste and this was simply a turnoff.

I finally pulled some outgrown stuff out of the closet and packed it all into 3 large plastic bags to drop off at the local shelters.  Funny how I outgrew stuff I didn't even get to wear again, I wasn't paying attention to how big my clothes were getting and the smaller sizes I had waiting wee now too big to wear.  I will pay closer attention to what I wear. 

I also tossed things that would fit but I either don't like or the shoulder pads date them and I don't have the space or desire to hold onto to them.  I also decided when I shop instead of buying 2 or 3 pairs of pants then look for blouses, I will buy the pants/skirt and blouse at the same time so I have something ready to wear.  This has always been one of my mistakes when shopping for clothes.  Right now I have 3 pairs of capri pants waiting for the right top, sure I could just throw on a white blouse ...

I think it is time to shop around for a new car my beast is  showing more wear and tear in the interior due to the Florida sun beating down all day the visor fabric is dry rotting and the plastic is warping in a few places, the AC has not worked in 3 years (each time it is repaired it dies within weeks) and I can't see putting in more money for repairs it does have 130+ thousand miles so  I think it is time to shop around though I am going to take it slow looking for just the right fit, I mean some days I try on hundreds of shoes before I buy, so the new car must be a good fit.

It is also time to look into moving form this apartment with the continued plumbing problems and the lack of good or even fair lighting and the wiring isn't so great either.  Not to mention the garden that can only withstand things planted in containers, so a move is something I was considering for the new year/new me agenda and while the new me is coming along well, and the new job was nabbed moving would be the next logical step.

Just when I think I've seen it all something new catches my eye and I realize nope there is still more out there. What I am referring to is fake toenails, now I really don't know why I am so surprised I mean there have been all kinds of artificial fingernails for decades.

Now I truly have not had my head in the sand but the whole toenails things had me laughing out loud right there in the store aisles. And yes I looked carefully at them and I am guessing you would apply them to wear with sandals I could not imagine slipping on socks, stockings and shoes. I still don't get it, would you wear them to cover ugly toenails?

I guess it really doesn't matter since wear fake anything is a personal choice in fact years ago if I broke a finger nail I would apply a false nail until the nail grew past the fingertip to keep things uniform.  After a while that just seemed bothersome so once a nail would break I would just cut all the nails down so they would all grow together.  Now I am considering something new.  For about a year and a half my thumbnail keeps splitting in and would have to cut the nail down so short just to prevent splitting down the entire nail bed than I would slap a bandaid on it while it grew out, yes weeks of wearing a bandaid gets annoying but it worked.  Lately though I was thinking about having an artificial nail applied on top until it grew out past the splitting stage.

I was looking for other alternatives in the nail care aisle when I stumbled across the "toenails"  which seems to have stuck in my head for some reason, I have been letting my toenails grow a bit longer and to be honest my feet look better and my toes look less like Fred Flintstones yes I have been cursed with short, stubby round "flintstone toes"

So while browsing the nail care aisle in search of a Sally Hansen product I used over the years which of course is no longer available (where have I been) the product was thin tissue paper you could lay over the break and apply a clear adhesive to Mend a Nail.  Than there was some other stuff with nylon fibers in it that you could just paint on the nails. Both served the purpose as a temporary fix.  So yesterday I found something called Miracle Nail Fix, just brush on the affected nail and it seems to have bonded the split, so I will give it a try if it keeps the nail from splitting without the need for a bandaid great if not its off to the salon to see what magic they can do.

Its all about the fingernails lately, my nails up until a few years ago were strong and hard a break was rare, for the last 2 years my nails have been soft and break very easily I suppose its another age thing. In my late teens I spent up to 2 hours every Saturday morning manicuring my fingernails and once a month I would do a pedicure. I recall my senior year in high school I wore a different color polish everyday depending what I wore and than I discovered RED and that was all I wore for about 3 years. 

When I began working in the "corporate" world I would wither just buff them and they looked like I was using a clear polish but as I gained more time for myself I began to use the clear polish and paint the toes wild colors, now I have all the time for me and the nails get the manicure and the feet the pedicure either at home or at a spa/salon, I still prefer a clear polish or buff for my fingernails but the toes are getting special treatment.

Yesterday while shopping I picked up an inflatable foot bath and a new foot soak, not to mention a few new files and toe separators and soft cotton balls and 2 new colors for the toes both is bright pick shades. 

So yes this summer its all about My nails.

On Tuesday I am going to be 53 years old and I have noticed the more pounds I lose the more lines I have on my face, I have lost the fat filler and now I have wrinkles or stretch marks, and this can’t be my neck Yikes!

Often I find myself lost in the aisles at Walgreen’s and CVS reading the labels (after I whip out a pair of the magnifiers) on firming creams and line fillers.  When did I get so vain and what is in this stuff they charge $30.00 an ounce for it? I recall preparation H is supposed to firm though if things keep going the way they are I see plastic surgery in the near future. 

Just what I need slathering on more creams and lotions from head to toe, in the winter I do this for the dry skin but the darn stuff clogs the pores a get a hot flash which makes me sweat, than I wonder why I slide off my mattress. And don’t get me started on my hair that most times feels like straw.

And just where is my issue of AARP I paid for months ago, I think its being passed around the local post office before I get it.  And I just renewed this subscription after a 2 year lapse because I thought I was too young. I had problems back then too I received the first 2 issues than nothing for months and months, finally made a formal complaint at the post office, and the next month my issues began to arrive in a timely manner and the distribution center mailed me the missing issues, all 4 of them.

Well there hasn't been too much going on over the last week or so, I seem to be going from one minor ailment to another so my energy levels are zapped. 

have dealt with the Blood pressure issue, than the bout of pneumonia and than a respiratory infection and now just tired from all the bullshit of being sick and trying to work and rest at the same time.  The body is a stubborn machine but I think my batteries need a recharge.

I have pretty much just done the basic household chores and errands and these are not to my satisfaction but just enough to get by: dished and laundry washed, groceries bought, and a few moments of movie watching and letter writing.

My tomato plant has grown taller than the fence and something has been snacking on my new basil plant and everything else is just flourishing especially the weeds ( we have near daily rain showers now, it helps) I just don't have the energy to pull the weeds this week.

In fact my biggest battle right now is the daily removal of a spider's web so I can get to my trash can, you know I don't mind the webs but just don't drape them across the access to my trash, I hate walking into webs so every day I remove it and each day tits there, I have moved the spider from the web to another area in the garden but it likes hanging on the Hibiscus plant. You would think this spider would cooperate, after all I could have stomped on it rather than move it but that would just be cruel after all I do get a beautiful view of the webs it creates though I haven't been able to get a good clear photo to post. So I moved the trash can today.

I have been doing well on the weight loss, 2 pounds gone this week by my scale, I felt so icky I did not make my meeting yesterday not even to weigh in.

Let me post this so I can have a cup a tea.

So it looks likes I caught a summer cold,  this week while working closely with a co-worker I am guessing her cold germs decided to jump on me so I have been under the weather for a few days and today along with the fever I have the chills and body aches.  I weighed in at WW meeting but I was feeling so icky I didn't stay for the meeting, I am happy to say I lost .6 pounds for the week. (you know I am sick when I don't stay for the meeting)

This is going to be a short entry so I can lay down and rest, last week I spent so much time reorganizing this apartment I didn't have time to blog.

We have been getting the regular summer rains and the plants are doing well and yesterday we had an all day rain which gave me time to go through a few shelves of books and ready them for donation to the library.

Oh I remember last weekend I went to a huge antique and flea market and spent the day outside in the sunshine browsing for things I didn't need.  Had a great time picked up some good produce and had lunch out.

Okay I'm tired let me go rest, read the paper and write a letter.

So as planned I made a lovely Greek Salad and now I am waiting a few hours so all of the flavors fuse together, and while waiting a few hours for the salad to be ready I have been working on a scarf I started months ago, the yarn is so soft and I love the colors, I stumbled across this while reorganizing a few things early this week.  I thought I completed this along with another one I made in December, guess not.

While I was tossing the salad together I kept thinking of other things to add to experiment at a later date, maybe some yellow squash or zucchini or even some eggplant oh and definitely mushrooms.

A feast for the eyes:

Greek Salad

Scarf

yarn ball

Scarf 2

So another Sunday morning and I am finally beginning to feel better, I'm not as out of breath as I was but still not feeling 100%!

I made it to work for one day and barely made it through the day, I guess the possible pneumonia was right on because I was winded just pull a pair of socks from my drawer, geesh what a week.

This week I wanted to go pick your own blueberries at one of the local farms unfortunately being so ill I had to settle for picking my own package at the local farmers market, oh and raspberries too. This is peak season for blueberries and I just love them and thought I would share:

raspberries

blueberries

Now to find a few recipes at 'zaar to get the best use from all these jewels.

This week I did not have a loss at weight watchers, no gain either, I figured without exercise I wouldn't drop a thing. Hopefully by mid week I will feel up to walking the track.

I did take out the trusty tape measure on the first of June and I am happy to report since March 1 I have shed 2" inches from the bust, 4" inches from hips and 4 1/2" from my waist. Oh and 1 inch from my wrist. I am not going to list all the other body parts but I am happy to say I have lost inches all over.

So this morning when I returned from the farmers market I was greeted by one of my many garden visitors, he was just hanging around on the screen slider probably keeping out of reach of the big black garden snake living under my tomato planter.

hanging on

He is a pretty nice looking salamander, lizard, newt? I don't know what but he sure is cute.  I find them in my apartment all the time and they are quick. I was just getting ready to water the plants and I guess I startled him or maybe he just want to show off

time to go

  for the camera.  After leaving fresh water and pulling a few dead blooms off the plants he was still hanging out, watching whats going on around the garden. 

My tomato plant is doing well and so is the bamboo in my recycle trunk planter its coming up through the sweet p otato vine and the impatiens.  I have quite a few new shoots on the bamboo and I am quite pleased at the results.  I also found another sweet potato vine on the other side of the planter.  This vine died during the winter freeze, I pulled it out and was surprised when it appeared.  I was going to plant something else there but just don't feel like pulling it out, however the ants seem to love it so I may just plant it on the other side of the fence.

Tomato plant

The tomato plant now resides in the pot the lilies were in, I have it staked to an old bamboo rod and so far I have found 3 buds, I am planning to add another tomato plant in the next week or so. 

The bamboo is growing in all directions among the Impatiens and the Sweet potato vine I like the way the keeps growing, I had it growing up along the fence but the vine seems to prefer growing closer to the ground because it keeps moving back so I will leave it to nature.

I am currently reading The Camel Club by David Baldacci and when I finish I will begin The Club Dumas by Arturo Perez-Reverte I have never ead either author and so far I am enjoying The Camel Club and I will read another of his books.

bamboo & Sweet potato vine

Well its time for me to search for a recipe or two for the berries and start making a Greek salad to use up some tomatoes. 

The bronze key chained was earned when I lost 10% of my starting weight with Weight Watchers the silver token is for 25 lbs lost.  The tokens mean a a great deal to me and as I continue on with my weight loss every time I open the door or start my car I am reminded of the great job I have done so far.

weight watchers

Began WW on March 1 as of June 1 I have lost 28 pounds.WOOOHOOO!