Late in 2008 I bought a new computer. My old one was getting unreliable and just didn’t have enough room on it anymore. I looked around and Sony had one that looked really cool. An all-in-one unit with wifi network connection.
When I got, oh, it was so cool. Compared to the cable spaghetti that had been under my desk, it was just wonderful. I took it out of the box, plugged it into the power outlet and it was up and ready to go.
This was the view out the hotel restaurant window. Ah, greeness.
Out there is a freeway and traffic and business and houses, but all I could see was palm trees.
We flew from LA to Dallas and then to San José, finally arriving at the hotel around 9 pm. We met the guide, checked in and went to bed.
We woke up at dawn. Sunrise was lovely, and LOUD. We’re in the capitol city and it sounds like a jungle movie. There were parrots in the palm trees around the hotel, among many other birds. It was fun to listen to the noise.
Very scientific. And so far more successful than anything else I’ve tried.
I read about it on-line, damned if I can remember where. If I could remember where I’d go back and thank the guy.
This is the plan: Don’t eat as much. So far I’m down 7 pounds.
I read it in a comments section someplace on-line. Some guy said that someone had asked him why he didn’t just eat less. He thought about it, started doing it and it worked for him. I thought about it, started doing it and it’s been working. Better than anything I’ve tried in years.
I still can’t believe it’s that simple. The Spouse and I have been edging more towards a vegetarian diet; we generally eat healthy stuff. Not too worried about the what.
So now I just get the smaller plate, and put a smaller portion on it. Do I want a Big Mac? And sometimes I do, I eat half of it. Small fries if I order any. I LOVE ice cream. So I don’t have a bowl, I have a custard cup.
I can’t believe it’s really that simple.
Been home since Tuesday last, but it doesn’t feel like it at all. Had to be at work the next day, worked one extra day because people were out.
Kind of hit the ground running and haven’t had a lot of time to reflect on the trip. So far I’ve managed to offload the pics and review about 50 of them. Only six or seven keepers out of that lot.
It was a great trip. I’m impressed at the foresight of the Costa Rican government. Wish ours thought as far ahead as they seem to have. Of course, it’s a tiny country. Any natural resources would be exhausted in very short order. Their environment is their resource and if they don’t protect it they would have little to offer the rest of the world. As it is, I saw much more wildlife there than in the Amazon. And much closer, too.
I managed to lose a little weight on the trip, too, wonder of wonders. They generally feed you a minimum of 3 times a day, with snack stops if you’re travelling a long way. In fact, they use the same strategies to keep you busy that parents use on their kids. Snacks, videos and stories. Worked a treat, too. They have the science of tour groups down pat.
Off to Costa Rica in a few days. The Wonderful Spouse isn’t going, darn it. Though I entirely agree with the reasons he’s not, it doesn’t mean I don’t wish he were.
It’s one of the places I’ve really wanted to go. Dad is going, along with quite a few from our travel group. I’m rooming with one of the women whose company I really enjoy.
Leaving in 3 days and still have not packed a single thing. I have gone over my meds and made sure I have enough to cover my time there and a few days when I get back. I’m always paranoid about leaving my pills at home. I wouldn’t last 3 days without them.
I’ve hit the nervous stage. Usually happens before any major trip. Certainly anything that requires me to get on an airplane. Not afraid of flying, just not wild about traveling in ways that aren’t under my control. I can decide when I want to drive out of my driveway. I can’t control when the plane takes off.
The thing about being out in the yard is that there’s always something to do, and while I can go outside with a book intending to read it just doesn’t happen. I think of the thing I want to plant or prune or something and after a few minutes of reading I’m up and moving around. Something that is good for both me and the garden.
But the best moments in the garden are the ones where I’ve been still for a time and all of my usual fauna have forgotten that I’m there.
The black phoebe comes and perches on a beam over the front gate. I thought that they mostly ate bugs, and I’ve seen them catch butterflies, but I actually saw him pulling the seeds off vine. That and he leaves evidence of his eating habits all along the brick coping of the planter below his roosting spot. If I’d actually paid attention to that instead of just cleaning it off I’d know why there are so many fewer seeds on the vine this year. This is a good thing for me; I don’t have to sweep as much. It also means that the stuff is going to sprout anywhere there’s enough water. It’s amazes me how much you can learn by just sitting and watching.
I went out and bought tomato seeds and planted them. Last year I planted a bunch of different types to see which one did best and the yellow cherry tomatoes kind of took over. Unfortunately they were pretty awful as tomatoes go. So I pulled out the remaining vines and planted 3 varieties of red tomatoes. Try the same trick with tomato varieties I actually like.
Had a scare the other day. Wanted to find that picture of Dad’s helicopter. Put the disc with the photos that I’d spent months scanning into the computer and initially it didn’t read the disk. Almost had a heart attack.
So I’ve been feverishly uploading them to Flickr. I want them someplace besides just a single dvd.
In going through them I realized that some of them were just awful. I was new to digital photography, new to scanning everything and new to Photoshop when I scanned them. Many of them have the frames of the slides. In many the color went wonky because of the age of the film. There are simple fixes for most of them, I just didn’t know how to do it at the time.
So now I’m going through them again. Adjusting a few every day. Cropping, removing dust spots, adjusting the color. Wonder how long it’s going to take me this time.
I stopped walking in the last month before Christmas. Between filling in at work for everyone taking time off, and everyone has been taking time off and projects I was making for Christmas presents, exercise just didn’t get done.
And for the last month or so my right hip has been bothering me. It felt stiff and sore. It hurt to cross my legs. I’m 52, decrepitude could be creeping in. I was concerned. It got worse, not better over time.
The day after Christmas I decided it was time to get on the treadmill. I walked longer and faster than I usually do. And my hip no longer hurts. I’m starting to think exercise is the cure for everything.
Christmas was great. And crazy. Wonderful Spouse and I went over to my parents house at 10:00 am, with the rest of the crowd due there at 2:00. Boy, am I glad we went early. Even gladder that the Spouse went with me. I think Mom and Dad were just overwhelmed by the whole thing this year. They did handmade cards; they have for years. It’s a tradition. But the assembly was quite complex, they didn’t get them out until Christmas eve. Didn’t get the tree put up until Christmas eve, either.
The house was quite a jumble when we arrived; decoration boxes everywhere, wrapping paper and ribbon, vacuums, just stuff all over the place. The Spouse and I just waded in and started shifting stuff. While I’m happy with all the stuff my husband got me for Christmas, I was most pleased with his assistance right then. We straightened and swept, cleaned and washed. Did a load of dishes and cleared out the dishwasher so we’d have a fresh start for after dinner.
The sisters, spouses and kids did the kitchen dance getting dinner ready and youngest sister had her kids in an assembly line after, doing dishes and getting them put away after. The spouses shifted furniture assembled the home-made table so everyone could sit in the same room at the same tabled. Well, the same table with a folding table added to the end. The family has gotten quite large now that we’ve added a couple of stepsons and my stepson’s wife.
Everyone popped their Christmas cracker, put on their paper crown and read the enclosed jokes aloud. Turkey, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes. Mom told me I could bring something other than the crudité that I usually bring. I told her that the traditional meal with our not-quite-traditional family was just fine with me.
