Yay – My favorite posts of the year are back. If anyone is still here reading LOL. April didn’t have any big snowstorms and weather was okay this year. We actually got in a decent amount of biking, unlike last year where I don’t think we were able to get out at all in April.
Anyway, things are popping up and becoming green in the garden beds:
It doesn’t appear that I lost much over the winter this year. There are some late risers that I am still waiting on, but it’s looking good so far. I did plant some tulips and a few hyacinth last fall:
I love how these hyacinth start a little orange and then turn pink.
The garden center had pots of these on sale for $2, which you all know I couldn’t pass up.
This actually has been blooming for a couple of weeks now. It’s cheery on the front stoop.
Tippy pots are up and running.
It’s a little early for petunias. We can get frost/freeze for another couple of weeks, so it’s a bit risky, but I couldn’t help myself! Next to the tippy pots is a new azalea bush. Hoping it takes and over winters well.
We have new neighbors next door and it turns out they are avid gardeners, too! Based on what they have done so far, our styles are pretty different. Their beds are all neat and tidy whereas I am more cottage relaxed style. However, it’s so much fun to talk to people who love to garden. I’ll be sharing plants with them to help get their beds going as well. Yay!
Since John is a vegetarian, sometimes protein choices can be tough. There are burger type items out there like Morningstar patties, but they are small and not really like a burger. So, Beyond Burger is trying to fill that void.
These were on sale at the store, so I picked some up on a whim for us to try. The nutrition is as follows: 290 calories, 22 grams of fat, 5 grams saturated fat, 20 grams of protein, The ingredients include water, pea protein isolate, canola oil, and refined coconut oil. A lot of fat, actually.
They look like hamburgers:
They are supposed to cook for about 4 minutes on each side, but it took a few more minutes than that. You don’t need anything other than a spritz of cooking spray because a lot of oil comes out of these during cooking. The weird part is that they remain pinkish in the middle forever – no matter how much you cook them – so if you like your burgers well done, these might creep you out LOL!
We used a little finishing sauce on these, which is why they are so dark:
It holds it size and shape and really is similar to a hamburger… almost. For John, who hasn’t eaten meat in a few years, he thinks it is pretty much a burger. For me, it is easy to tell it’s not meat. The texture was firm and the flavor was good. Not really beefy tasting per se, but a lot better than other veggie burgers on the market.
For the calorie count, though, I would stick with a regular burger. These are something that we will bring to any cookouts for John to have to be part of the burger bunch, so it’s a great alternative for that. I imagine a lot of vegetarians (and non) would think these were a tasty thing to try as well.
The garden is peeking out more and more now:
We are going to go at the lawn again this year and got serious with a soil test:
John took a sample from the lawn and I took one from the garden bed. They look darker from this angle, but they are pretty much in the normal area. The garden bed is slightly more acidic, but overall pretty good. I just want to get in there digging, but it’s too early.
Those of you following on Facebook saw that Pixie was sick. (This next bit might be TMI for you, so skip down to the x-ray if you want ). I woke up on Monday to find that she had vomited and it has some plant material in it. That’s not unusual. If she gets to a plant and eats it, she vomits it up. I didn’t think that much of it, but then we just found vomit all over the first floor. It was pretty much all water and throughout the day, it seemed a huge amount of water each time since she wasn’t eating or drinking. Plus she got more lethargic as the day went on. So she had a trip to the vet.
Her tummy was really tender and the vet said the amount of watery fluid she was bringing up was a red flag for blockage. I had taken a picture of it to show the vet what was happening. So, she ordered fluids and barium for Pixie and then a morning x-ray. They offered to keep her overnight, but I didn’t want to leave her there. Since the barium coats the stomach and is heavy, it was probably somewhat soothing to her tummy. She was moving around gingerly and in the evening she came and just sat like this with her front paws touching my lap for the longest time:
It was weird, but I was glad she seemed more alert. I think laying on her tummy hurt more than just sitting did.
X-rays came back looking good:
The white is the barium. If that white patch had been to the left on the screen, that would have meant nothing was passing through the stomach. The vet said the weight of the barium might have coated and moved the blockage so it passed. Whatever the reason, she seemed to be feeling a lot better. She started eating again (we are giving her tiny portions periodically) and is a lot perkier. Not back to her normal self yet, but on her way, thank goodness. Thanks for the well wishes for her!
Last I left off, I had the cortisone injection in my shoulder. After a week, I was told to start doing upper body exercises that I couldn’t do before. My shoulder is much better. It’s not pain free, but a lot better. I’m hoping it will continue to progress.
My arm feels a bit weak. It’s been months since I have done things like lateral raises, so that was the first thing I tried. I was only able to use a 5# dumbbell, but after months of not being able to do that – it’s a good start! I only did a few things like overhead presses, lateral raises and a few incline pushups. Certainly don’t want to overdo it. I will try some planks on the next gym visit.
My legs are feeling good, though. We’ve been on the bikes a bit with some cooperating weather. I don’t have my hill legs, but my endurance is pretty good. I have to work off winter chub for sure. Spandex is not forgiving and never will be until the end of time 😀
I have completed 90 days of the invisible aligners and the difference is really noticeable now.
I am wearing the aligners in that picture, too. They really are pretty undetectable. I had to send in a bunch of pictures at 90 days to make sure everything was going according to plan, which they said was happening.
I’m really thrilled with the results so far. Here are some close up comparison shots again from beginning to now:
The bottom ones are the most noticeable to me, although those teeth don’t show when I’m speaking, so I don’t think other people notice it as much as the upper ones.
My teeth are shiny because they are squeaky clean. I am so tired of always brushing my teeth. It will be nice to go back to my normal twice a day after all this. I have 4 more sets of aligners to go – or about 6 weeks. Almost there!
I’m also thinking about cutting my hair. It’s pretty much always up and gets in my way when it isn’t. and going back to bangs, too.
One of my goals for 2019 was to take care of me. Already completed would be an eye doctor exam(with new toric lenses for astigmatism), my PCP physical and doing the Smile Direct aligners. Well, that last one isn’t complete. I still have 2 months to go, but it’s in process. Also on the horizon will be a mammogram and colonoscopy. Like I said – 50 years old and getting all the things done LOL.
Long-time readers know that I have had shoulder issues for a few years. About 3 years ago, I had horrible pain in my shoulder and got a cortisone shot, which worked fantastic. It wore off about a year ago ish and I have had nagging pain and weakness in the shoulder. Nothing really terrible and it didn’t seem bad enough to do anything about it and there was the hope it would get better on its own. This year it started waking me up at night and was limiting strength exercises. Overhead presses, lateral raises, planks, pushups and the like were off the table because they caused pain. So – it was time to get a referral to see orthopedics.
Sometimes I don’t know why I wait so long to do things. It’s like when I feel a headache coming on, I don’t take anything for it thinking I will tough it out and then have to deal with it later when it’s bad instead of nipping it in the bud. I think I have a pretty high pain tolerance – to my detriment. Anyway, after an exam, it confirmed my suspicions of impingement syndrome (former ortho transcriptionist self diagnosing). My rotator cuff tendons are inflamed and are getting caught in the subacromial space of the shoulder when I move it. Which then ends up being a viscous cycle kind of like when you bite your cheek. There is also the possibility of a partial tear of my rotator cuff. X-rays showed no bony issues or arthritis, so there is some good news.
The ortho told me that he wants me to get back to regular use of my arm and that is the end goal. So, first up is getting the inflammation under control with a cortisone shot.
It didn’t really hurt that much because you get the numbing freeze spray, then a shot of novocaine and then the cortisone.
No strength exercises for about a week along with a course of anti-inflammatories. Then I’m supposed to start doing all the things with my shoulder. Pushups, planks, overhead stuff – whatever was bothering me. And then in a month I’m going back for a reevaluation.
If the shot continues to work, that will be the regimen for the foreseeable future until they stop working. If I am still having pain at that visit then an MRI will be ordered to see the full issues in the joint. There is no point in doing one yet since the treatment right now would be the same with or without the MRI. There is a surgical option as well to make room for the rotator cuff tendons by shaving down the acromion, which as yucky as that sounds – at least I do know there is a solution in the end so that my shoulder will function properly. But, conservative treatment for now.
It’s a relief to be started on the path, I have to say. My shoulder definitely feels better today. A bit achy from the shot, but my range of motion is much better. I have my fingers crossed get good relief from it. And then I was also told not to overdo it once it started to feel better. 😀 Duly noted.
Second part to the flower show! This was the display area. During the rest of the year, this is an ice rink for the college. It gets transformed in a few days for the show and I’m amazed each year at what they do in such a short time.
The theme was vintage this year and the first installation was Monet’s garden:
My sister went to France a few years ago and actually was in the real thing there 😀
Complete with posed garden by the famous painting:
Another designer worked in driftwood or bent wood:
He had a whole surrounding gazebo type structure around this, but it was too hard to get a picture with all the peeps.
Succulents called String of Pearls.
Or peas 😀
A very cool garden shed:
And I need to find an old water pump to recreate this fountain:
Another really nice gazebo:
The sand sculpture artist was there and did his own take on vintage:
It makes me a little sad that this gets taken down so fast after all that work.
The hyacinths smelled so good. They were all over in pockets and really fragrant.
One of several waterfall features:
Again, the transformation of the ice rink is amazing.
Who wouldn’t want to have dinner here?
This was one of my favorite things with the abundance of flowers:
I cannot wait for plants to start blooming around here! Our snow is mostly melted and some of the bulb greenery is poking out of the ground finally.
Always a good time at the show and much needed after a cold and snowy winter. I’ll finish with another of my favorite displays – the donut bouquet!
Okay, my last wholesale show is finished. That was the first part of this week. It was not as good as the last one. Hopefully some good contacts were made, though. Only time will tell. So glad to be finished with those and can concentrate on other things that were pushed aside.
My sis and I went to the Capital District Flower Show on Saturday. Couldn’t miss that – work be damned LOL! It’s my escape and reward for working hard. The calendar says spring, but there is still snow melting outside.
This year’s theme was vintage and it was fun seeing different takes on this. I’ll start with the floral displays and then do another post on the installations.
This mini wheelbarrow was so cute! I want to do something like this. Of course, I say that every time I see something new…
This was created with old ice cream boxes and carnation ‘sundaes’
Definitely one of my favorite displays.
Flowers in wooden crates:
This was an homage to the movie The Birds:
Vintage hat adorned with flowers:
This one was recreating an older style of flower arrangement into a more modern look. Older style in back, modern in front:
Isn’t that gorgeous?
There were displays with classic art as the inspiration:
Then the tropical flowers. Not vintage, but they always have them.
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This orchid is pretty funky looking:
Does anyone else see a monkey wearing a red jacket and white bell bottoms?
I like this orchid.
I keep thinking about getting another orchid since mine died, but then I realized I can have all the stained glass ones I want made by John and they are always in bloom 😀
Hope you enjoyed those. The flower show is such a treat for the senses! Next post will be the installations. 😀
It’s hard to believe, but I have just started month 3 of my Smile Direct aligners! The first two months had 3 sets of aligners. I wore a set for a week, the second set for a week and the third set for two weeks. Rinse and repeat for month 2. Also, that seems to be the pattern for the other months to come.
This means I am just under halfway done and now I see difference in my teeth.
Before and current photos. (Excuse the yellow lighting on the current picture).
It’s especially noticeable on the bottom teeth:
I will be glad to be done with these. I’m pretty used to talking with them in, but if I talk a lot or right when I put in a new pair of aligners, I will lisp for a bit. They really aren’t obvious to anyone else at all, which is pretty cool. The taking them out to eat and then brush is really kind of a pain, especially if I’m out to eat because I don’t bring a toothbrush with me. I probably should, but I just never do. It still has cut down on my snacking, but I have found that I want to eat more at meal time to make up for that and I have not lost any weight. So much for the aligner diet LOL. Actually really having issues with weight right now, but that’s another story.
I’m pretty excited to see the final changes seeing as the difference is noticeable now just after 2 months.
Another progress area is of the green variety. There aren’t many women that would be excited if their husbands gave them something that looks like this for Christmas:
It’s a beehive ginger rhizome, which John ordered from Puerto Rico! I was a little worried when he said it had been in a plastic bag for a couple of weeks before giving it to me on Christmas, but I potted it up and have been babying it. It took about 6 weeks for anything to happen and now it has sent up a shoot!
Those sticks are covered with the plastic bag to give a moist environment since our house is really dry. I keep this by the radiator and move it to bright light during the day. Of course, the shoot came up on the side of the rhizome instead of the middle, so it’s not centered, but I’m thrilled that it’s growing!
This is what it will flower to at some point (hopefully), but I think mine will be red.
We still have tons of snow outside, so any bit of green really helps right now that spring eventually will come!
Yay Mardi Gras! I need a trip back to New Orleans like yesterday LOL. Or any vacation, really. My trade show last week was really successful. We headed out just before really crappy and super windy weather came in. I thought that might affect attendance for the show, which it probably did on Monday.
Yuck. There were white out conditions from the wind, too. Nasty stuff.
We were at Turning Stone Resort and Casino, which is on a reservation. Our hotel, which was on property, actually had slot machines you could play while eating breakfast:
View from our breakfast table:
One day there was a little boy there and he really wanted to go in there. Hard explaining to a child why fun colorful video games were off limits.
The gift show ran for 3 days. Three loong days. Wholesale buyers only. You have to get used to a different pace because it isn’t like a regular craft show where you get a bunch of shoppers all at once.
I had cash and carry available and I took orders at the show to ship later. I lucked out with a corner spot, which gave me two lines of sight for passers by
On the last day, a couple that owns something like 8 stores in the region came back to place an order. I spoke to them the very first thing on Monday and they were really interested, but then I didn’t see them again until Wednesday. The woman asked if she could buy all my remaining inventory I had at the show to take with her! I said “of course” very calmly while completely doing cartwheels on the inside. 😀 That was nice to the tune of a $2300 order! I’m hoping it works out well because 8 stores to stock is pretty great. Not to mention they are all local to me in the Lake George and Saratoga region. Funny how that worked out being 2-1/2 hours from home for the show.
John mostly was being on vacation, although he helped out from time to time getting orders ready (thank you!!!) and bringing me snacks!
I was pretty tired each night. Being an introvert, doing all that talking and selling is extra exhausting – and there isn’t a whole lot to do other than gamble at the casino, which I don’t really do much of. So, we just kind of hung out. It is a nice casino with some pretty Chihuly glass art.
That tree is enormous and so detailed.
I wouldn’t want to be the one in charge of dusting it!
We had to do a quick plan for our Mardi Gras party after we got back. We hosted it on Saturday.
Food and games!
If you guys have never played Telestrations, you need to get this game. It’s great for groups and so. much. fun!
Dessert of pralines:
Always a good time. John and I were both so busy after we got back. I had orders to make and now am trying to rebuild all my stock for the next wholesale show in 3 weeks (eek!). John’s Etsy shop must have gotten featured somewhere because he had a whole rush of orders come in over the space of two days. It’s a good thing, but makes it hectic.
I am taking a “me” day this week for an afternoon treat at the salt cave. I promised myself after the show I would do that, so I’ll have to recap that. I haven’t been to the salt cave yet, so it should be interesting.
Almost 2/3 done with February – wow! Time just keeps speeding up. I’m really noticing the longer days now. It’s so nice to not have it dark at 5 pm anymore.
It’s still pretty snowy around here. John’s favorite line is “I hate winter”, followed closely by “Did I mention I’m sick of winter yet?”
This year I have a pact to myself to get all kinds of health tests done, being 50 and all. First up was the eye exam.
I have astigmatism, which has gotten worse to the point where now I am going with the toric contact lenses. They do make quite a difference, I have to say. More expensive, but then everything seems more expensive when you get older…
Planet Fitness has been happening about 3 times per week for full body workouts. Plus some cardio:
The stationary bikes just don’t cut it. I miss my outdoor biking!
I’m doing a wholesale buyers show starting on Monday, so there has been a ton of prep for that for my jewelry on top of filling existing orders. I am doing cash and carry, as well as taking orders, which has meant ramping up production on that. It’s my first time at this venue, but I have talked with other vendors who have done it and said it was good. Fingers crossed. I’m debuting a new product – pins:
It will be a mini vacation for John. He is coming with me since the event is being held at a casino and he can entertain himself there and bring me food and such during the day 😀
On a fun note, my sister and I were out in terrible weather on Monday for a rally on president’s day. It was a very small rally, but did have a special “chicken” in attendance.
Much to my immense surprise, our little town got mentioned on Rachel Maddow’s show that night! We got on TV. You can barely see me being the shortie I am, but still fun nonetheless! You can view the video below if you wish. It’s about 2-1/2 minutes long and Glens Falls is mentioned halfway in – ish.
Happy February! Phil says an early spring, but I have my doubts 😀 We had another snowstorm that dropped 10 more inches on the 16 we had the week before. Now it is a winter wonderland.
Today we got some of that beautiful warm weather and it was 50 degrees and sunny, which will start to melt a little of this stuff.
It will be a long time before the ground is visible again, unfortunately. I’m glad for the snow cover for my plants, especially after that arctic blast.
I’ve been enjoying Planet Fitness so far.
I’ve gone at some different times to try to find the least crowded time and right now that seems to be right after lunch. That’s an okay time to work out. I like early morning, but it’s better for me to get orders packed and morning work done and then go out. It takes 10 minutes to drive to the gym, which is good.
Currently I am doing 3 times a week of full body workouts with mostly machines for now.
Chest Press 30 x 3 * Seated Leg Curl 35 x3 * Lower back extension 55 x3 * Calf Extension 55 x3 * Leg Extensions 35 x3 * Cable Triceps Push Down 20 x 3 * Seated leg Press 60 x 3 * Ab Crunches 45 x 3 * Hip abduction 65 x 3 * Hip Adduction 55 x3 * Low Cable Row 3 x 45 *
I’m debating on a program, but this will do for now. It really feels good to get back in the swing of lifting again. I do have some limitations because of shoulder issues. I can’t do any overhead exercises, dips or things of that nature. I may schedule an MRI this year to have a further look at my shoulder, but I know that currently I am not at the point where I want surgery done; however, I do have discomfort on a lot of days. And some days are worse than others. I will talk with my PCP on my next visit about it.
Any of you watch the boring bowl? I wasn’t into it this year so much. Really, really tired of seeing the Patriots in the super bowl. Sorry Pats fans. I wouldn’t even want the Broncos in that often – variety makes for a fun game. John and I decided if they are in the super bowl next year, we would do a board game night instead – with all the snacks 😀
The game was meh, but the food is always good (and plentiful).
Aligner update:
I have been wearing the aligners for a month now. I can’t believe how fast that went by!
I can’t see any difference in my teeth yet. I can see a difference when I look at my first pair of aligners compared to the ones I am wearing now (set 4), so there is a very slight difference in alignment. It really feels weird when I take the aligners out to eat and my teeth actually touch each other. I think my teeth are actually a little whiter now because I brush them 3 to 4 times a day, and we do use a whitening toothpaste. I have to say I am tired of brushing my teeth so much LOL. I had better not have any cavities at my next appointment!
