My Rabbling Thoughts of the Day

Although it's been pretty hot lately, summer is coming to a close. The lawn cutting is slowing down. Instead of having to cut each lawn once a week, its been averaging 10-12 days between cuts. For me, this means finding another form of exercise.

My husband will be leaving on the 18th of September to start building a garage at our new home in Tennessee. I just can't seem to get rid of anything so he is building a 24 by 36 garage. I'm going to try and do the lawn business while he is gone. He still has to teach me how to hook up the trailer to my car and how to run the weed eater. This is going to be interesting.

I've only used the riding lawn mower twice. I may be cutting all the lawns with the push mower. I'm just so nervous when I use that rider. I don't drive very fast and figure I can run the push mower faster that I drive. I'm just going to have to see how my knees hold out.

Of course I realize doing it all with the push mower will increase my exercise, I'm not sure I'll have enough time to keep up with all the lawns. I'm just glad the lawn growth has slowed down.

The knee I fell on a couple of weeks ago is still swollen and feels rather numb to the touch. I guess that is better than hurting. I know it's going to take a while for it to heal as I hit the concrete so hard on it. I'm being patient.

I was listening to the news tonight and it said obesity is still on the rise. The reporter said the most obese people are in the state of Mississippi. With that message being posted, I imagine there will be all kinds of weight loss programs popping up all over that state.

Dash Diet Recipe.......Hot Red Potato and Spinach Salad

I like recipes that are easy to make and don't call for tons of stuff I don't usually have in the house. I wanted to share this recipe from the Dash Diet. I'm fixing this for lunch today.

1 pound of red potatoes 1 can of red kidney beans drained and rinsed
cut into small pieces (about 2 cups) 2 T balsamic vinegar
1 bunch of fresh spinach, stems removed 2 T lemon juice
roughly cut 1/4 t coarse salt
1 T olive oil 1/4 t fresh ground pepper
2 cloves garlic, minced 2 T Parmesan cheese
1/2 red onion cut into thin slices
1 1/2 t dried rosemary

Set a pot of water over high heat and bring to a boil. Place the potates in a steamer basket, lower into the pot, and steam until tender. (about 20 minutes)Then drain them. Place spinach in a large serving bowl and set aside.

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet and add the garlic, onion, and rosemary. Cook, stirring occasionally until the onion is translucent. (about 5 minutes) Add the potatoes, beans,vinegar, lemon juice, salt and pepper to the skillet. Raise the heat and continue to cook until it comes to a boil.

Pour the hot vegetable mixture over the spinach leaves and toss until the spinach is coated. Top with Paremesan Cheese and serve hot.

Servings Calores per serving Fat(g) Sodium
8 (1 1/2 cups each) 114 2.5 277

This is a good one for my diet as well as my high blood pressure and an easy one to make.

How Did I Ever Have Time To Work

I've been retired now for over a year and half. There just doesn't seem to be enough hours in the day to get things done. I remember when I worked, I use to leave for work at 5:30am and get home at 6:30pm. Between my volunteering two days a week and the grass cutting business, I can't seem to get everything done. I'm good at putting things off. I am my own worst enemy. I find I procrastinate too often. When I do that, I get stressed.

When I get stressed, I use to eat, eat, and eat. I've doing better coping with stress. Music has taken the place of food for me when I'm stressed. I've started writing down my daily list of things to do and then have prioritizing them. Things always look better as I put a line through them. Even when I don't get it all done...just to see what I've accomplished...is a good feeling.

My stress level is dropping and so is my weight. I'm setting goals for my weight loss...it feels good to be crossing them off as they are accomplished. One pound at a time.

House Hunting in Tennessee

I won't be posting for a few days. We are driving down to Tennessee house hunting. I'm making sure I wear a pair of my cobbie cuddlers. I know I will be doing plenty of walking. I hope I can find something I like. If I don't....that's ok too. I'm in no big hurry to move.

I've already got the cooler ready to go. 40 pounds of ice and lots of flavored water. I've got a few diet cokes too. We are leaving in about an hour. This way I can sleep and I won't be a back seat driver. It's about a 9 hour drive.

Since I've been doing well with my weight loss lately, I am going to watch what I eat while traveling. I have a box of my 100 calorie snack crackers packed.

I've got a couple more things to throw in the suitcase. I'm such a procrastinator. Geesh!!!!

These legs are made for walking

My arms and shoulders are still sore...and my right knee is black, blue, and yellow. This didn't stop me from cutting lawns today. I walked a total of 28,000 steps doing lawns today. I'm surprised how good I feel after all that.

I think I can attribute it to my shoes. I wore my cobbie cuddlers. I didn't have these shoes on when I fell on Saturday. I wasn't thinking, and wore a pair of loose fitting loafers.

I went to the ability.org website and see I have burned over 4300 calories cutting grass. Since 3500 calories equal a pound, I'm feeling pretty good about my workout. I haven't had time to eat yet today and it's already after 6 pm. I drank plenty of fluid while I was cutting grass so I figure that is why I'm not hungry. I wish I could workout like this everyday, I'd be losing this weight.

So much for wishing....off to the shower with me.

Weight on my Knees--I've got to Lose This Weight

Friday was a busy day. We were cutting lawns for about 9 hours. Of course, I forgot my pedometer. I didn't need it to know I had over done it. My knees were hurting so bad, I could hardly walk. I have got to get this weight off before I end up needing knee replacement.

My knees were hurting so much I took 4 viacodan pills. I don't know why I did that. They never do a thing for me. They didn't even put me to sleep. The next day I just felt groggy. That was bad. I wasn't careful and caught my toe on the lawnmower trailer and fell so hard on the concrete pavement. The gas can ended up in the middle of the street and my glasses went flying as well. I only ended up with a banged up knee. I got up and started cutting grass. I didn't want it to stiffen up on me. Today, the knee doesn't hurt much..it's my arms and shoulders. I know that was from bracing myself as I fell.

I got on the scale and I am at the weight I was a month ago. I can tell I've lost some since I've gotten back from California. I figure I'll continue to lose as the garden vegetables are coming in. I just made myself a salad with green peppers and tomatoes from our garden. I used a light Italian dressing. It was great....and I'm full.

I better get busy and cut our grass. It seems our yard is always last.

A Weight Loss Friend Had Tagged Me

My online friend Iportion has tagged me. 5 weird or fun things about me. Hmmmm I'm thinking...I'm thinking.
1. I have my two favorite pillows. They are at least 20 years old. When I go on vacation...I take them with me...even on an airplane. They were cheap pillows I bought at Woolworth's...2 for $5.00. I've looked and looked but can't find this type of pillow anywhere. I guess I'm just going to have to keep mending them.
2. I love fishing but I'm such a big chicken. I can't touch a worm or a fish. Yesterday when we went fishing, a fish brushed the side of my leg while it was on the hook and I almost jumped out of my skin. I'm sure they heard my scream in town. I'm not sure where this fear originated...but I just can't get over it. ( I caught more fish than the 3 guys yesterday)
3. I'm a spur-of-the-moment kind of person. I'll get mom in the car....and just take off. I love those kind of trips....never knowing where I'm going to end up.
4. At my age, I still like having snowball fights, making snow angels and building snowmen.
5. I love shopping. I have sacks and sacks of new clothes under my bed, stacked along side my dresser, hanging in 3 closets as well as the basement. I just keep wearing the same old things. I don't want to wear something new until my old things are worn out so the sacks just keep piling up. I hope I break this habit soon.....I'm running out of space!!

Come Here Little Fishy

I went shopping and bought myself a new reel a couple of weeks ago for my fishing pole. The other day my husband and I were shopping, and decided to buy a new fishing pole. Now that husband has assemblied my new equipment, we're going fishing today.

I'm wondering if I am ever going to be able to touch a worm or fish. I remember as a kid, I use to get night crawlers in our back yard for my dad and it didn't bother me. It was after I got stung by a bullhead, I quit touching fish. I think I was about 16 when that happened. Wowww.......that's almost 40 years ago. The time sure has flown.

My cousin is going with us. I've got to get a lunch packed for the guys. I've never been able to eat while I'm fishing. I think part of it is the smell of some of that awful bait my husband uses. I'll just keep plenty of water handy.

I haven't caught a fish big enough to keep yet this year. Perhaps today. I've got my fingers crossed. I better get going...the fishy are calling ....(so is my husband).

Weight loss journey.....19,400 steps later

It took us well over 5 hours to cut this customers lawn. It got up to 88 degrees. We had planned to use our riding mower and theirs too. To my dismay, their lawnmower was on the fritz again. My husband tried to get me to use our rider but I chose to use to push mower. I wanted to add up some steps on this weight loss journey. I topped out at 19,400. I'm sure I'll hit 20,000 before the day ends.

Their grass was rather tall and I had to go over it twice in many places. Those darn purple flowered weeds, they grow so tall. I don't know their name....I just call them a big pain.

I drank 64 ounces of Prople water while I was cutting the grass. When I'm doing physical work in this kind of heat, it's easy to get my water quota in. Checking at ability.org......I've burned off 3300 calories.

Eating on the Go

Life is so fast paced. Although I am retired, I am still so busy. We dine out quite a bit. I was reading over at the Nest. They have some good suggestions on food choices when dining out. I wanted to share them.

We are heading out the door already this morning. We've got our 4 acre yard to cut. The weather has broke so it's going to be a great day for working outside. I've got my Propel water and pedometer in hand. Off to satisfy another customer.

The Weight of the Air

It's 6:30 am and it is already 79 degrees F. The high humidity is what makes it so much worse. It is so hard to breathe. I thought the weatherman said it was suppose to break today. I think that has to be the only job you can be wrong so many times and still keep your employment.

I wasn't able to sleep two nights ago. I didn't get to bed until 5 am. I slept until 8:30. I piddled around the house for about 2 hours and decided to see how much work the free clinic had for me. I went to work about 10:30 and decided to call it a day at 3:30. I made a good dent in organizing the paperwork the drug companies require to provide assistants to clients. It was nice to see the two office girls. I enjoy working with them. Neither of them are gossipers...I really like that.

My husband is ready to go. We have two lawns to cut today. I'm just glad they are both average size lawns. I'm grabbing a large glass of ice tea and my pedometer. I was going to stay home today because I have my other volunteer work to do at 11:00 but feel to guilty with the temperature already uncomfortable.

I just tell myself, this grass cutting is helping me lose weight. It also has to be building muscles. I'm back to using that ability.org. It sure helps in figured the amount of calories I'm burning.