ALLUDING SLEEP

I have to get some sleep. I woke up at 2am this morning and could not get back to sleep until 5am. I read a good book but now I am tired.

Here is my lunch today.

Polenta with tomato sauce, baked tofu, black beans, and green beans. Yum!

Did some good cardio with the dogs today.

Until tomorrow...

BAD WORDS

Short post today. I did a lot of walking and meal planning. Then I watched the movie Bad Words. It was awful funny. Not recommended for children or folks that don't like to hear bad words.  I appreciated that they used the bad words in context and didn't over do them like in some movies.

This movie is about a forty year old guy who shows up at his local spelling bee for children and wants (insists) to participate.  I don't want to go into any of the details but you can image how the parents of the kids react.  He sort of befriends one of the kids.  

Until tomorrow...

FINALLY GOT DRAWERS FOR MY OFFICE

It only took three trips to the store and lots of time surfing the web to find some drawers that fit under my desk.  I have this pretty spectacular (and by that I mean huge) desk and because it has an under the counter sliding keyboard tray shelf, it makes it hard to put anything under it. Most drawer units measure 24 inches tall. The space under my desk is only 21 inches. I bought one unit that advertised that it was 15inches. When I got it home it was actually 25 inches.  Back it went. Today I found some drawers that are individual. I bought three and stacked them. They came to 20 inches. Just perfect. The cleaning and organizing of my office continues.

Tonight I made a stuffed pepper, black beans and steamed carrots. Such a pretty plate. The pepper was stuffed with brown rice, silken tofu, tomato juice, red wine vinegar, dried cranberries, almond slivers, ground ginger, and ground pepper.   It was tastier than I thought it would be. It was a recipe for 4peppers but I only made 1 to see how it tasted before I made a bunch.

Today I rode 11 miles in 1 hour on level 3 on the stationary bike.  That is 52 miles for the week.

Until tomorrow...

RESULTS

Today I got the results of my mammogram and it is all good.  I have a clear test.  I passed!  I do have dense breasts.  Isn't that funny?  Dense breasts.  Anyway, that means that I am more apt to get cancer.  What joy!

The next step is an MRI to look deeper into my dense breasts.  That happens in a few weeks.

So the Power of the Tiara worked its magic once again. 

I rode the stationary bike for 1 hour and 11 miles on level 3 today.

Until tomorrow...

MAKING RICE

My meal plan for tonight's dinner required me to make rice.  I only needed 1/3 cup rice for my dinner so I didn't need to make much.  I decided to make the rice on the stove and not in the rice cooker.  This is the first time I have made rice on the stove in my life.  I know that it sounds funny but here is the story explaining:

I used to live on the East Coast.  I had some very good friends who took my under their wing.  They were great guys.  I moved out to the West Coast by myself and I didn't know anyone out here.  I know courageous.  Some would say stupid.  One day I wanted to make rice.  I bought the rice because it was cheap and I was broke.  I had never made rice before and didn't know how.  Twenty years ago I was not able to cook anything.  If I could have burned water, I would have done that.  I called my friends on the East Coast and they tried to talk me through it.  I put the rice back in the cabinet.

A few weeks later my friends came to visit and they brought me a present (remember when you could bring presents on airplanes??).  It was a rice cooker!  (like they would be able to bring that on an airplane in 2014!)  They gave me a tutorial on how to make rice in the cooker.  I can now make rice!  For the last 20 years I have made rice in the same rice cooker.  It is the best invention ever invented.

So that is why I don't know how to make rice on the stove.  Tonight was my first time and luckily it was a success.  It is also so gosh darn time consuming!  With the rice cooker all I have to do is throw the rice and water in and push a button.  Voila!  Rice is made when the button pops.  No standing over the stove.  No stirring. No checking to make sure the rice is not sticking or burning on the bottom.  Explain to me why everyone doesn't have or want a rice cooker?  It makes life so easy.  I am going back to the rice cooker.

Rode the stationary bike for 1 hour and 10 miles on level 3 today.

Until tomorrow...

CLEANING OUT FILES

Today I pulled out old files. You know the files, the ones you have not looked at in years.  I must have pulled out 30 work files and 35 personal files. I went through the contents and decided I could find the information (probably more current information) on the internet. So why keep dusty old files I will not look at again?  I did find some useful files and some interesting files.

One file I found was a complaint I made to the ADA.  About 15 years ago, before I was diagnosed with RA, I was seeing a doctor we will call Dr. A.  I was really sick and I went to Dr. A and she didn't  seem to do enough for me so I transferred to Dr. R. Dr. R ran some tests, sent me to an allergist, etc. I still didn't get better. I was very tired, my wrists hurt, I was foggy.  He told me "you are getting older now, you need to get used to it."  I was not even 40 years old yet!  I switched doctors again to Dr. D.  Dr. D. sat down and listened to me and then he sent me for a blood test. That one blood test showed that I had pernicious anemia (the inability to absorb Vitamin B12).  My vitamin B12 level was zero.  The tech ran the test three times because he had never had anyone my age have a zero vitamin B12 level.  A vitamin B12 level of zero can lead to neurological issues and to death.  Neither of my previous doctors tested me for vitamin B12 (dispute me being very clear about being a vegetarian).  I wrote letters to the AMA complaining about both doctors. Of course nothing happened to them despite almost allowing me to die. Now I give myself vitamin B12 shots.

Cleaning out my office us allowing me to find some interesting stuff.

Rode the stationary bike for one hour 10 miles on level 3 today.

Until tomorrow...

CONTINUING PHYSICAL THERAPY?

I went to physical therapy today and found out I only have one more appointment. I am not sure how I feel about this. On one hand I am happy I don't have to schlep a cross town twice a week first thing in the morning. On the other hand I worry that I am stopping too soon like I did with my knee and I will end up having to go back a month from now.  I am reserving my decision about continuing therapy for my appointment next Monday.   I have one week to see if my foot feels better or worse. 

Today I rode the stationary bike for 1 hour for 10 miles on level 3.

Until tomorrow...

CARDIO DAY

Today was another cardio day. I took Lucky for a long walk. I decided to take my new camera with us and take some photos of the neighborhood.  I love taking photos of flowers and plants and the neighborhood has a lot of plants in bloom.  At first Lucky was not too cooperative but soon she caught on and learned to sit while I took a picture.

Then I came home and took Happi for a short walk.  After that I got online and bought a new orthopedic bed to replace the one that got ruined when Happi had two accidents.  I also got Happi a new dog tag. Her tag is so worn out I can't read her information.

Her is a photo of tonight's dinner: tofu hotdog, sautéed squash, steamed broccoli, boiled potatoes, and raw veggies. Oh, mustard is a free condiment.

So far my foot has been feeling good. Let's see after this weekend.

Until tomorrow...

WALKING LIKE A CHAMP

Today was my cardio day. My day to walk and not bike. First I walked about 16 blocks. I felt good. I used the cane because some of it was uphill. Then I took a break and had lunch. Then I took Happi for a short walk and then Lucky for a short walk. The best part was that I didn't use the cane and tried to walk normally. No limping. Amazingly my foot felt better not worse. Of course we will see how it feels tomorrow but for right now it is not swollen or throbbing or anything. It just feels normal.

Today was supposed to be my big cycling event. On New Years Eve I decided that I wanted to do a cycling event this year. We chose an event that was not too long and that was not too hilly. Today was supposed to be the event.  Of course with my foot I could not go.  It was a tough thing to think about today. I was really looking forward to doing it in this year.   Well next year will be here before I know it. 

Someone wrote in and asked if the bike riding is making a difference. I lost five pounds in the last week. I think it is the combination of the changed diet and the biking.  I had no idea that just tweeking my meal plans and biking would make me lose this much weight so fast.  The thing about the meal plans is that with the snacks between meals my blood sugar level doesn't drop so I don't get the migraines I have gotten in the past. I always thought it was from hunger that I got migraines but now I see that it is from a drop in blood sugar that I get migraines (as well as other reasons). 

Until tomorrow...

MAMMOGRAM

Today was mammogram day. My tech was a funny lady. She took her job seriously, I mean really seriously but she was also passionate about her dog. She has a standard poodle named Angela Davis.  She had to do one of my images twice because she could not get it clear enough. Boy did she squeeze my boobs in that machine. She kept telling me to relax. First of all if you know me, I don't relax very well to begin with. Second, who in the hell can relax while standing in front of a machine naked from the waist up while their boob is pinched in a machine and their arm is "resting" on the machine. Oh, and your chin is looking up in the air. Such a comfortable and relaxing position. 

I don't have any results yet. 

On the way back from the breast health center a light turned on on my dash board. I drove right to my friend at the dealer. He said it was the ABS, anti brake system. They could not fix it today but it is not an emergency. I won't be driving in the rain anytime soon. We are in a drought!  When I left the dealer the light went out. That may be good news. It might just be a short in the light and not the ABS pump. 

I rode 10 miles on level 3 in one hour today. That makes 50 miles this week.  Tomorrow is a walking day. 

I forgot to take a photo of my dinner. It was corn and potato chowder, tofu and tomato wedges.  The chowder was okay. 

Until tomorrow...