Reflections of My Life

Vida May said:
I would be in assisted living if I could afford it. I would love to join people in the dining room and not have to cook for myself. It would be fun to join others for activities and bus trips.

When I lived in a secured building, I never locked my door. I was more afraid of needing help and people not being able to get in than I was afraid of the wrong person coming in.
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The manager has a pass key to every apartment but of course, she is not here every day. The lady across the hall, not the one who was cooking, but one of the other ones has a key to my apartment. I have had to use it when I got locked out. They are supposed to be changing our locks to the digital ones sometime in the future. Some apartments already have them.

I would not like to eat in a dining room with others. No, I'd be eating in my room.
 

katlupe said:
Well even though the vacuum sat out in the open all day, I never got to it!! 😀 I pushed it to the side instead of putting it away. I will see if I can use it today, but that is doubtful, as Sonny is coming today to take me to get water.

I know you were just joking but...... being born rich is one thing, but never marry someone that has money. I know this. They think they bought and paid for you as well. You might live good to the outside world, but on the inside it is another story...........

I just used the sock thingy again this morning. Getting those things on before coffee is something I thought I'd never be able to do, but I did it now two days in a row. Part of my routine now.
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👍
 
katlupe said:
One of the things about fakebook and including other online sites is that you are informed almost daily of the state of other people's health, bad fortune, state of their marriages or relationships, illnesses, etc. Not that it is a bad thing but depending on how many people you are connected to, at times it can be overwhelming. My fakebook news feed is constantly filled with missing pets and asking for prayers for loved ones. I share all of those and add to my prayer list.

At times I feel helpless because all I can really do is pray for people. I believe in the power of prayers and have seen them work in my own life. Yet, there have been many that were not answered for some unknown reason. And the unknown reason is never actually clear to me at the time. Like why did my mother have to suffer for so many years with a rare disease that most doctors had no idea how to treat? She prayed constantly. I prayed. She went through more than a person should have to go through.

So I keep an ongoing prayer list that is constantly changing. Currently the person being prayed for constantly through out the day is the woman I told you about that is married to my son's stepbrother. She is in an induced coma and every day she seems to have a little improvement. Her odds are 50-50 though so that does not sound real good. But we are not giving up on her.

Last night, her husband (my son's stepbrother) took their fifteen year old daughter out to a date night that they had made reservations for (mystery dinner thing in Tampa) long ago in advance. The daughter broke down yesterday morning so he thought instead of canceling the reservation it would be good for their daughter to have a little relief from the hospital. And her mother would have wanted him to do so. Her family means the world to her. It brought tears to my eyes that he did that. He had a horrible childhood and never had a father in his life at all. So I believe he has been determined to be the best husband and father to his wife and children that he can be.
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Oooh....that is so sweet! 💕💕💓💓💕💕💓💓💕💕💓💓
 
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3 quarts of my homemade bone broth in jars and one mug I drank already. All from a gallon size zip-loc bag that I kept in the freezer and added to every time I fixed chicken. I added celery stalk and leaves, black peppercorns, dehydrated onion and carrot dices. I think that was all. Strained it twice. Came out perfect! Bone broth is good for your immune system if you drink it daily. (Note: I am not a doctor, though I DO play one in my own home and health care system!)
 
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9 Degrees in Norwich right now. Still cold, even though the day brightened up considerably. My apartment has three very large windows and the sun comes in here every morning and pretty much all day if it is out. Passive solar heat. I am able to turn my heat down or else I get too hot. The apartments on the other side of the building, don't get much of that passive heat. Maybe the ones on the third floor.
 
Today the new corner shelf I ordered from Amazon came today. I put it together and set it in the shower. Now see on the Amazon reviews some people said it would not stand level on their shower floors. Mine does perfectly! It was exactly what I wanted. My old one, which was not that old, the vinyl covering the steel inside on the leg cracked and started rusting, which was leaking onto my shower floor. I think I like this new one much better!

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What a nice well equipped shower you have, katlupe.....I like the chair too, you're lucky to have a shower large enough for the chair and shelves, mine is too small for a chair, I did manage to order new shelves from Amazon too, mine are the kind that stick on, at first I didn't think they'd stay on but they have and hold a lot of weight.
 
Jackie23 said:
What a nice well equipped shower you have, katlupe.....I like the chair too, you're lucky to have a shower large enough for the chair and shelves, mine is too small for a chair, I did manage to order new shelves from Amazon too, mine are the kind that stick on, at first I didn't think they'd stay on but they have and hold a lot of weight.
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For some reason, not only my knees hurt but my shoulders too. If have to reach up for anything I hurt for days afterwards. Like today, I hung my damp laundry from the shower curtain rod (I always do this) and of course, my shoulders and arms are hurting right now. So I need to have the stuff on shelves I can reach down to from the chair.

This apartment is designed for a disabled person so that is why the shower is so nice. I wouldn't leave here for anything because I really love my shower! lol
 
katlupe said:
For some reason, not only my knees hurt but my shoulders too. If have to reach up for anything I hurt for days afterwards. Like today, I hung my damp laundry from the shower curtain rod (I always do this) and of course, my shoulders and arms are hurting right now. So I need to have the stuff on shelves I can reach down to from the chair.

This apartment is designed for a disabled person so that is why the shower is so nice. I wouldn't leave here for anything because I really love my shower! lol
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Homes are nothing unless they have what we need to keep us safe and comfortable. It's nice that you found one that matches your needs. 💓
 
This morning it is cold in here. I turned my heat up as high as it would go because even if I am cold, I can always add more clothes or afghans to get warmer. My little bunny boy would not like me covering him up. I put an old nightgown down on the floor in a heap hoping he would make it into a bunny bed. No, he didn't. He will sit on it from time to time but that is about all. I am thinking about another "hidey" house for him but he has my whole apartment as it is.

When I still lived at my house, when it was cold during the night, I would have several very heavy afghans on me. Rabbit and my cats would be gathered around the pedestal of the wood stove. The fire, by morning would have burned out. My husband would get the fire going pretty hot in the evening before bedtime. Sometimes it was so hot, I could not stand it. Then he would bank it back (close the dampers) till morning. If it was extremely cold, he would get up in the middle of the night and put more logs on it. Our stove was VERY large so it kept a fire for a long time. Trouble was that we went to bed too early.

I slept downstairs in the living room for a number of years. I could not go up and down the stairs easily. The bathroom was off the living room so that was easier for me. My dog also could not go up the stairs any longer and I felt bad for her to be alone downstairs. Really! I did! I am a worrier. I worried constantly about the wood stoves. We had a wood cook stove in the kitchen also. I was so afraid of being upstairs if something went wrong with the stoves and not being able to get out.

By the time I got Rabbit, my dog, Nikita, was gone. Rabbit would sleep all day on the firewood piled up on the hearth or on a cushion I had for him near where I slept. On the cold mornings though, I'd get up and I could see my breath because it was so cold. Items, like cups, furniture, doorknobs, etc. would be ice cold. Once all your things get cold, it is too cold as far as I am concerned. I had gotten where I could not lift the logs to put into the stove unless, my husband left them on the floor of the hearth in front of the stove.

I thought I wanted to live that life but I never pictured it the way it turned out. My husband lives on credit. Pay the bills and then reuse it. Though he was only paying the minimum. So it was never enough. I had no money for our food. I realize now that I was not that strong of a woman to have lived that way. It was a lot of work and I was never a tomboy type of person. So it was difficult. Maybe that is why I have bad knees now and mobility issues. I can only look back and remind myself that I have come this far since 2018 and if I hadn't left I'd be worse off.

I keep moving forward, trying to find my niche in this life I am living now. I can do some of the things I used to do and adding new things that I could not do before. No more compromises. Living alone means freedom to me and I love it.
 
Today I am feeling pretty good. Must be my food. I haven't had one thing with sugar or wheat in it since about December 10th. It could be because I am now drinking bone broth with collagen added daily. Plus electrolytes and mineral drops several times a day. What a difference! The back of my legs, the calves, especially on one leg, are not sore in the least. No charlie horses either! (knock on wood).

I had tried some processed Keto foods (ChocZero bars) and they were really good. But not buying anything like that again! I cannot control myself and end up eating one every day and they should be spaced out as a rare treat..........the key word is rare. No more nuts either as I have a hard time controlling the portion of those.

For now I am going to concentrate on making one meal a day and eating it for my early meal. Since my eating window is from 11:00 AM to 5:00 PM, it will be the early meal. Today it will be bacon and eggs and 2 Brazil nuts. Bone Broth a bit later. Keto Chow shake for supper. Honestly, I will not be hungry in the least. That is how it works when your body becomes keto adapted.

Sorry if this is boring to you but it is exciting to me because I have started a diet, many different ones over the years and this is the only one ever stuck with. But..........over and over. Lose some weight and gain it back. This time I have stuck with it for over a month and now I feel I am "into it" if you know what I mean. What has helped is the Keto Chow and the 3 Keto groups I am in on fakebook (the main thing I love about that site is these groups) and these groups came from their YouTube channels as well. So thanks for reading and I will..........keto on!
 
It is very important to me. I just fasted for 24 hours because I was feeling "imbalaced". I am cutting out eating 3 dark chocolate squares three times a day, to just one time a day. I am also cutting out the baked Mozzarella buns and Coconut patties. It seemed to have helped already. :)
 
katlupe said:
Today I am feeling pretty good. Must be my food. I haven't had one thing with sugar or wheat in it since about December 10th. It could be because I am now drinking bone broth with collagen added daily. Plus electrolytes and mineral drops several times a day. What a difference! The back of my legs, the calves, especially on one leg, are not sore in the least. No charlie horses either! (knock on wood).

I had tried some processed Keto foods (ChocZero bars) and they were really good. But not buying anything like that again! I cannot control myself and end up eating one every day and they should be spaced out as a rare treat..........the key word is rare. No more nuts either as I have a hard time controlling the portion of those.

For now I am going to concentrate on making one meal a day and eating it for my early meal. Since my eating window is from 11:00 AM to 5:00 PM, it will be the early meal. Today it will be bacon and eggs and 2 Brazil nuts. Bone Broth a bit later. Keto Chow shake for supper. Honestly, I will not be hungry in the least. That is how it works when your body becomes keto adapted.

Sorry if this is boring to you but it is exciting to me because I have started a diet, many different ones over the years and this is the only one ever stuck with. But..........over and over. Lose some weight and gain it back. This time I have stuck with it for over a month and now I feel I am "into it" if you know what I mean. What has helped is the Keto Chow and the 3 Keto groups I am in on fakebook (the main thing I love about that site is these groups) and these groups came from their YouTube channels as well. So thanks for reading and I will..........keto on!
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I was overdoing it on overpriced overprocessed keto candy and junk food too!

Now I buy a box of Atkins candy as a holiday treat a few times during the year.

IMO the simple inexpensive readily available low-carb foods are the best choices.
 
I was thinking about it and if you start a new food plan (I hate the word diet), whatever kind you choose, why is there the need to replace the old food (like bread or desserts) with another food that is nothing like it? I like chaffles but they are not bread and they don't taste anything like bread to me. Truthfully though, I do not miss bread. I am used to living without it now.

Chocolate is another story. So is ice cream. That is where the meal replacement drink comes in. I can drink it hot, or with coffee, as a shake, a pudding or make it into ice cream. Many different flavors and the thing about it is that is really good. So that takes care of any longing I had for sweets now. Sometimes though, I make egg creams (if you aren't familiar with them, it is NYC thing, mainly Brooklyn and the Bronx). The name is misleading as there are no eggs in it. It is like a chocolate ice cream soda without the ice cream. My first husband was from the Bronx and he taught me how to make them. I use seltzer and sugar free chocolate syrup and little bit of almond milk or heavy cream. Pretty good!

My favorite meal of all foods, keto or not, will always be breakfast. Bacon and eggs. Being able to eat that is another plus for me. One of my friends on fakebook has a food page and she makes hamburgers with poached or fried eggs on top of the burger. At first I thought it was strange........till I tried it. I like that now and include it in my menu.
 
katlupe said:
I was thinking about it and if you start a new food plan (I hate the word diet), whatever kind you choose, why is there the need to replace the old food (like bread or desserts) with another food that is nothing like it? I like chaffles but they are not bread and they don't taste anything like bread to me. Truthfully though, I do not miss bread. I am used to living without it now.

Chocolate is another story. So is ice cream. That is where the meal replacement drink comes in. I can drink it hot, or with coffee, as a shake, a pudding or make it into ice cream. Many different flavors and the thing about it is that is really good. So that takes care of any longing I had for sweets now. Sometimes though, I make egg creams (if you aren't familiar with them, it is NYC thing, mainly Brooklyn and the Bronx). The name is misleading as there are no eggs in it. It is like a chocolate ice cream soda without the ice cream. My first husband was from the Bronx and he taught me how to make them. I use seltzer and sugar free chocolate syrup and little bit of almond milk or heavy cream. Pretty good!

My favorite meal of all foods, keto or not, will always be breakfast. Bacon and eggs. Being able to eat that is another plus for me. One of my friends on fakebook has a food page and she makes hamburgers with poached or fried eggs on top of the burger. At first I thought it was strange........till I tried it. I like that now and include it in my menu.
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I threw an egg on a burger when I was a kid...I really liked it!
 
katlupe said:
I was thinking about it and if you start a new food plan (I hate the word diet), whatever kind you choose, why is there the need to replace the old food (like bread or desserts) with another food that is nothing like it? I like chaffles but they are not bread and they don't taste anything like bread to me. Truthfully though, I do not miss bread. I am used to living without it now.

Chocolate is another story. So is ice cream. That is where the meal replacement drink comes in. I can drink it hot, or with coffee, as a shake, a pudding or make it into ice cream. Many different flavors and the thing about it is that is really good. So that takes care of any longing I had for sweets now. Sometimes though, I make egg creams (if you aren't familiar with them, it is NYC thing, mainly Brooklyn and the Bronx). The name is misleading as there are no eggs in it. It is like a chocolate ice cream soda without the ice cream. My first husband was from the Bronx and he taught me how to make them. I use seltzer and sugar free chocolate syrup and little bit of almond milk or heavy cream. Pretty good!

My favorite meal of all foods, keto or not, will always be breakfast. Bacon and eggs. Being able to eat that is another plus for me. One of my friends on fakebook has a food page and she makes hamburgers with poached or fried eggs on top of the burger. At first I thought it was strange........till I tried it. I like that now and include it in my menu.
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i have made chaffles recently.it tastes a little better if you add cream cheese to the mix.still not like bread though.i have been making egg creams for years,but now i use the sugar free syrup and add vanilla extract.i also make scrambled eggs with ground beef.i add peppers and onions.
 
fatboy said:
i have made chaffles recently.it tastes a little better if you add cream cheese to the mix.still not like bread though.i have been making egg creams for years,but now i use the sugar free syrup and add vanilla extract.i also make scrambled eggs with ground beef.i add peppers and onions.
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I started making the chaffles with 2 egg whites instead of the yolks. That way they do not have that "eggy" taste. Someone just posted on my keto group a picture of her breakfast which was eggs with ground beef in a bowl.
 
katlupe said:
I managed to get the vacuuming done this afternoon. It is really no big deal since my apartment is quite small. Sonny did not come today. Maybe tomorrow. I might have him take me for a ride in the country so I can find a piece of green firewood with the bark still on it. For Rabbit. So he can chew on it. And some blackberry brambles. He loves those, thorns and all. Unless we get more snow. Not much around my street but out in the country it is probably another story.

Today my neighbor, across the hall burnt something she was cooking. Oh YUK! I all of a sudden started sneezing and sneezing and thought what the heck was making me sneeze? I opened the door and could smell the most awful smell! I am surprised the fire alarm did not go off. I had to turn on my fan and air purifier. I could not open the window since it was so cold outside. My eyes were watering for hours.

My fear is she will die while she is cooking something and catch the place on fire. She is 97. She falls asleep waiting for her food to cook and I guess she has had a small fire once before. Not while I was here. She locks her door and she can't hear very well so hard to go in to wake her or turn off her stove.

My son was just here. Told me to stay warm because it was cold out. I love when acts like the parent!
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Her smoke alarms need to be tested immediately.
 
Yesterday, I cheated and did not put on my compression stockings. They have been hurting that bone right below my knee.....the shin bone? By the time I went to bed last night, my feet were swollen and hurt. I usually tell everyone on fake book good night and put a special one on Sonny's timeline every night. Last night I just left my computer on and went to my recliner to watch my YouTube videos. This morning they are good again. Way down. My own fault.

I put the compression stockings on as soon as I got up this morning which was around 3. I went to bed too early to sleep much longer. Another thing I did not do yesterday was to lay down with my feet up on the wedge for a bit, about an hour is what I usually do. I have learned to do that and to read or talk to Sonny on the phone. Yesterday I was into a photo project on the computer and did that all day. I could not stop myself. Did not walk anywhere except to the dumpster and the mailboxes downstairs. Usually if I do not do much walking, I use the Legexerciser. I will use it today.

Today I want to develop a dumbbell routine for my arms, biceps & triceps. I was going to include my shoulders but they have been hurting lately.......too much reaching up. So will make a routine without them for the time being. I need to develop more strength. I feel too weak lately. I have been dropping stuff like crazy because I don't get a good grip on it.

On Brad & Bob's video, they show how to roll a couple of balls beneath your feet so it will help combat the fluid build up. I usually do that many times through out the day. I keep the balls near my chair (but now where I'd accidentally step on one) so they are handy. I find if things are not handy or in plain sight I forget about them.
 
As I told you a few days ago, I think on the 3rd, my son's stepbrother's wife was in the hospital. Yesterday they said they will place a trache tube so they are able to remove the ventilator tube. Freeing up her throat and making her more comfortable until she is able to oxygenate 100% on her own. This will also allow then to perform an MRI and lower the dosage of sedative allowing her to wake up. A huge prayer chain on fake book for days. Some people were fasting. I was thinking about them all afternoon and prayed for her. I go back to fb and she is awake and alert. Can move and smiling at her family. She is young and looks healthy but a ruptured aneurysm is pretty scary. Anyway, I am pretty happy and thankful tonight.
 

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