Monday again...

I'm still loving the spring and realizing just how much I missed the spring season during the 8 years in the desert. The trees that are currently in bloom are particularly impressive. This grove of trees, not far from me, is especially beautiful.  There are many of these Ornamental Pear Trees ( I think that is what they are) near me that I drive by every day. Last Saturday I went to the monthly genealogy meeting that is in a section of town built in the mid 70's, or somewhere in that era. I was stopped at a stoplight and while looking around I saw trees like this on one corner, a huge magnolia tree on another corner that was in bloom, a hedge of bright yellow forsythia on another and tulips on the fourth corner. I was wishing the light had stayed red longer.... My heart was smiling by the time it turned green and I drove on. I have always heard that spring is a time of "renewal" but don't think I understood that until this year.

Pain Class:  Last Wednesday was the last of the 10 week series and it will seem strange not to be driving down to KUMed after Weight Watchers every Wednesday. We wrapped up with T'ai Chi. I'm not sure how I feel about it... I like the slow movement although I'm not good at remembering movement patterns. I just can't remember all the steps and what you do when in what sequence.... I got really bored with the meditation phase like I was with the yoga meditation. I knew this time which moves cause me problems with my back so didn't do the full movement of those. I may sign up for a class in June when I get some time - we'll see.... The instructor wrote The Complete Idiot's Guide to T'ai Chi & QiGong and he really knows his stuff. I can't remember if I mentioned before that they are doing an article in KUMed's quarterly Good Medicine magazine on the pain classes.  A photographer and writer were at the first meeting and apparently they are using me in the magazine. I had to sign a release form and send it back to them. The magazine comes out in April and it will be interesting to see what they say. Stay tuned.... 8-)

Several people at the genealogy meeting commented that they had read my Letter to the Editor in the KC Star newspaper last week. That surprised me....

I cannot believe how much seed the birds and squirrels eat in a day!  I can put out 5 lbs of seed for the birds and it will be gone in a couple of days. Now that is a LOT of little seeds that they eat 1 by 1. The squirrels eat the sunflower seeds and will set at their feeder for the longest time eating - of course they have to open their seeds first so that takes longer. This morning a Blue Jay was on the patio railing and loudly letting me know that I had forgot to put his peanuts out. I admit that I love looking out at the feeders and watching the squirrels and birds while I'm setting at my desk. And then there is the squirrel feeder on the patio that I see from my recliner but usually it is only squirrels that use it except for the occasional Blue Jay eating the squirrel's peanuts. Doesn't take much to entertain me!!!

Spring is here...

Spring: Yep, it's here.....grass is turning green, birds are building nests, yellow forsythia is blooming, white crab apple trees are starting to bloom, red bud trees are budding, daffodils blooming AND thunderstorms are forecast for tonight/tomorrow. It just plain makes you feel good.... 8-) I know it may freeze later this week but those nights are the exception now instead of the norm. The only negative is that I will soon have to pack up my sweaters for awhile. 8-(

Labs: I had my labs done a few days ago and got the results today. Like last month, they are all good! Kidneys are happy. Liver is perfect even without the meds for 2 months. My cholesterol is only 154 which is pretty good for me. Last Thursday was my last physical therapy session. I learned a lot and now the challenge will be to do some of them on a regular basis. Notice I said "some" not all of them.

Genealogy KC: This is a 1 1/2 day conference on genealogy that occurs once per year here in Kansas City.  There were 63 sessions to choose from to fill the 10 slots I had over 2 days. You sign up for a 1 hour class taught by a professional, have a 15 minute break and then go to another 1 hour class and so on... By Friday night my brain was exhausted and by noon on Saturday my brain was on overload and numb. It will take me days to go through all my notes and try out some of the things I learned. And on top of all that - it is FREE. Around 500 people registered from all over the area.

Another Hack: I tried to get on my Facebook account Sunday morning with no success so fixed breakfast instead.  Then I went back to Facebook and it told me that "someone in Shanghai, China had tried to access my account from a device not normally used by my account". Facebook wanted to know if it was me and I could choose "Yes" or "No" so of course I said it wasn't me..... Then I had to go through resetting my password, answering some security questions, etc before I could get onto my account. I am so tired of things I deal with due to my email address being hacked in the Home Depot episode. I could change my email address but that would be admitting they win so I just keep deleting some really weird emails and watching my accounts. I have had my email address since the 80's and do not want to change!

Happy Spring Morning to you....

I am loving the recent spring weather we have had for the past few days!  I'm so happy with it that I'm not minding the forecast of mid 50 weather for the next few days since my bones have thawed out and I have had a taste of spring weather to come. I noticed today that some trees are budding out, tulips are coming up, etc. However, I was shocked at the electric bill I got last week!  I didn't even have a bill that high living in the desert. I know it was brutally cold and having basically a wall of windows didn't help.  Also, my apartment faces the north so I never get any sun in the house to warm it up thus relying totally on the furnace. It was noticeably warmer in the office area which has a west window with sun than in the rest of the house. I don't have any gas in the house at all so it is all electric but my water heater doesn't use a lot and let's face it, the kitchen stove isn't used that much since I do so little actual cooking.  I admit that I don't hesitate to put on another sweater and turn up the thermostat if I am cold. Oh well.....

To catch you up on the pain management classes in which foods and chair yoga were the topics:

Foods: There is no scientific tests but enough studies have been done to support the theory that certain foods promote inflammation in the body. The bad foods are fast foods, processed foods, the wrong kind of carbs, wrong kind of fats, sugar - all foods I love. An interesting comment was "We may inherit certain genes but what we eat can make the inflammation better or worse."  They recommend going back to "whole foods" which is going back to eating like we did when we were kids. We bought raw meat and cooked it. We ate vegetables out of the garden and mom canned them herself. We made our own bread, etc. I like the theory but I don't think it is realistic for me when cooking for one person. He suggested I can cook up all the stuff on one day, freeze it and eat it during the week but that's more work than I am willing to do. We agreed that there are some things I can do by making better choices in what I get to eat and I will try to work on those.  And I AM NOT giving up my diet caffeine free coke!!!!!!!! He also mentioned that buying deli mean in the deli section where they slice it has less preservatives than what is pre-packaged. Other interesting information was: Stress alone can alter your metabolism. Eat 3 meals a day at regular times is a must for good metabolism. Meals should last at least 20 minutes. Organic pasture butter is better for you than margarine.

Chair Yoga: I have mixed feeling about this. I know the stretching from yoga is good for the body. I cannot get down on the floor so the idea of chair-yoga is appealing where you sit in a chair or stand but don't get down on the floor. There are not very many certified chair-yoga instructors in the area and some of them have a waiting list of people to get into the classes. We went through a lot of the "poses" and I found out that some work for me and a couple of them really hurt my back. She said "don't do this if it causes you a problem" but you don't know if it will or not until you do it. At the time, I didn't know if it was simply stretching unused muscles or hurting the back but now I know that I can't bend 90 degrees forward at the waist or rotate the body at the waist.

This week's class is "Guided Imagery" which I became very good at when flying every week while being a "white knuckle flyer". The company I worked for paid good money for me to see a therapist and learn how to do guided imagery in order to get on a plane. Next week is T'ai Chi which I am leery of after the Chair-Yoga.

That's all for today - time to go for a walk in the warm sunshine....

Spring has sprung!

It may not be officially spring yet but a string 60+ days is enough for me to declare it's spring. I am reminded by the weather people that the last freeze is usually mid-April and in 2013 there was snow in May but I still say it's spring! On Saturday I spent most of the day out in the garage going through boxes.  I opened, sorted, tossed and repacked stuff still out there from the move - some boxes unopened. All in all I got rid of 11 boxes. Next is the shelves in the closet and office storage. Needless to say by the time I was done on Saturday my back hurt really, really bad but was much better the next day.

Today I got my taxes done which was totally depressing and after that I went to the zoo to be cheered up by walking around in the sun and watching the animals.

"Look at my arm band - I told you my name was Rose."

 "Can I have the that one right there?"

 

 I like to take the ski lift from one side to the other because you see things you don't when walking.  However, it has been too windy the last few times at the zoo and I don't do sky lifts in the wind but today it was perfect.

I wasn't the only one enjoying a sunny warm day.....

Mon Misc on Tuesday - Again....

     I admit it. I forgot to post yesterday! I had a note on the computer and then ignored it..  Oh well, that is part of being retired...
     Johnson County, in which I live, has declared this week "Emergency Preparedness" week for the upcoming storm season. I signed up for their notification program last fall and today I got a text, got an email, got a cell phone call and got a phone call at home letting me know the message was a test. In addition I heard the sirens when they were testing them although they were not as loud as I would have liked.  If all this truly happens when needed then there is certainly no reason for me not to know I might be blown away.... My "Go Bag" is still in the closet from last year so that is ready although I did get a first aid kit today to put in it. Guess I can take the cat food and leash out of it... 8-(
     The weather says that a week from today the temperature will be 66 and I sure hope it is accurate! I am just chomping at the bit to be able to get out and do things even if the trees don't have leaves... The animals at the zoo are calling me!
     Tomorrow's pain class is on foods that are pro-inflammatory and I may not like what I find out but am really interested to know what they say.
     Through the magic of computers and brilliant programmers, I am starting to get a bunch of emails about who I may be related to based on my DNA test that I did a couple of years ago. I didn't get much until I went public with my tree and not the computer at Ancestry.com matches me/my DNA/Pedigree Chart with other people who either match or have a near-match on DNA.  Clear as mud?  It is usually that the other person came from a brother/sister to a person in my tree. Example: The person's Great-Grandmother is the sister of my Great-Grandfather. Ideally the other person will have some information that I am missing.  Otherwise, I'm not sure I'm going to rush out to meet my 5th cousin 3 times removed...  However, I know some people who think it is wonderful to meet their very distant relatives. Tracing down these "hints" could be a full time job! That is beside the matches for my brother's DNA from last year.