Double Light

As I have mentioned my husband has made an amazing transformation of his body in the past year. I am so proud of him. He has been so sweet and respectful to me, not pushing or making me feel bad about my lack of motivation or recent success. I know without a doubt that he loves me for who I am...it is a good feeling.

I have decided to "hire" him as my own personal trainer.  He is so excited to share what he has learned and has worked for him. The day I mentioned that I was ready for him to help me, he went right to work on my program.

It is loosely based on a workout program he has been doing for the last couple of months. It combines strength training, core work and HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training). Obviously, I am in a completely different place from him physically, so my program has been affectionately dubbed "Double Light."

I have completed the first two days. It is challenging, but so far doable. I pretty much have the upper body strength of an infant, so I have some work to do there. The cone drill involved three cones spaced 5 yards apart. I had to run between cones then squat down to touch them. I was ridiculously out of breath after about 3 of my 10.  I seriously didn't think I could finish after 5 - I thought I was going to throw up. And that is when a personal trainer comes in handy...he gently yet firmly encouraged (pushed) me. I didn't want to let him down.

As a "reward" I got to watch him do push ups...and now you get to too :)  For the record, I am using the "ask for forgiveness later" method of permission to post.

This past weekend we had some relaxing family time.  My husband put up my hammock Friday night. Not much beats the view from a hammock.

Millie had to be coaxed back into the house. I don't know what her obsession was with sitting under it. Maybe she was hoping to try it??

Saturday morning we went on a farmers' market adventure. My niece is trying to eat more locally this summer. We visited the markets in two different towns. I picked up a few things for the Mother's Day breakfast we hosted. One of these days I need to plant some peonies - they are one of my favorites.

Roasted Asparagus and Mushroom Quiche.  I added some leeks to the recipe and ended up using a white cheddar because I couldn't find Gruyere. It was delicious!  I am hoping there is asparagus at the market again Saturday because I have enough of everything else to make another quiche this weekend.

Citrus scones and strawberries from the market. I could not resist these beautiful berries even though they were more expensive than Aldi - the smell was incredible.

This drink is our latest obsession - Cilantro Jalapeno Limeade.  I know it sounds bizarre, but it is our new signature drink. It is very refreshing and has a hint of heat in the back of your throat. I might have to get a juicer because hand juicing 14 limes is quite a task!

Mother's Day breakfast was made a little more special by using my grandma's dishes. They are Red Wing's Bob White pattern...I always loved them as a child and was thrilled when my aunt asked me if I wanted them when she downsized.

I keep the appetizer holder (there are holes in the big bird's back that hold skewers for cheese cubes and such) and salt and pepper shaker from the collection on display.

The blue pitcher with the flowers and the pitcher with the limeade (above) were also my grandma's.  I am super sentimental so I love this...and I love the blue color.

A couple pictures from a visit to my in-laws farm. This horse unfortunately is not theirs (he lives down the road), but he is a beauty and I couldn't resist a few pictures of him in the evening sunlight.

Sun sets into the timber.

This week I am working on drinking more water again. I got a bit overzealous filling this cup. Good thing I was alone in the office when I had to put my head down and slurp it up :)

This morning Millie found a "big scary toad" in the yard. She jumped about 4 feet in the air. She wouldn't go back over to that part of the yard.  Awhile later, I took her outside again and she tiptoed over that direction. The toad was still there so we had a repeat performance from my big tough dog. Hope she has some courage if we are ever in actual danger!!

Happy Half-way Through the Week Day! 

Recharging

Saturday our office hosted an event for K-8 grade authors. Winners are chosen from their schools. Then the winners all come together to be honored at the county level. Without a doubt, my favorite part of the morning is sneaking away for a few minutes to peek at the books.

This book reminded me of so many friends who have adopted their dogs or volunteer with humane societies and rescue groups.

 Stories like this are the payoff for those efforts.

 I LOVED the artwork in this book. What a great idea to use the black paper.

Look closely and you might see my niece's eyeball peeking out of Clifford's eye. She was a great sport wearing the costume and interacting with the students.  I am not sure why Clifford looks so gloomy though.

We spent a nice evening at the farm just relaxing with the dogs and a fire. It was an excellent way to unwind after a crazy work week.

 

I didn't do too much with the garden, but I did take a little peek. My chives are blooming. I probably shouldn't let them do that, but they are pretty and how many chives am I going to eat anyway?

 I noticed a couple little volunteer dill plants coming up (oh, and some weeds too).

There was some grilling, of course. I need to work on veggie variety. I tend to grill the same things over and over again. I would love any suggestions for mixing up my grill.

In the meantime, here is what has been on my plate recently. (Yeah, there has been lots of other things going in my beak, but I am trying to focus on the "good" at the moment.)

Breakfast in bed - does it count as breakfast in bed if you have to get out of bed to get it and then get back in bed to eat it? I couldn't decide which jelly - grape and orange marmalade? My egg muffins have some of the veggies from the night before and some leftover Easter ham I froze.

Buffalo chicken tacos for dinner. I added a bit of fresh pineapple to mine. Then I ate a bunch of pineapple on the side.

 Mini turkey meatloaf and veggies.

Yesterday we had a lots of rain and wind....the trees dropped a bunch of debris on Pearl. Thankfully, not harmful debris.

The problem with spring as much as I love it unfolding after a long winter, the changing seasons sets me back physically (that coupled with stress of a super busy time at work). My MS flared up and I have spent the past three days pretty much in bed trying to rest. Tomorrow I am heading back to work. There is only so long I can stay in bed with this wackiness beside you.

I actually think they were very happy to lounge with me. This little monster has a birthday coming up - she will be 15 on Sunday.

I am hoping to be back on track after my rest. I am tentatively planning a nice walk and to finish planting my garden this weekend if this body cooperates :)

Half a Weekend

That was a crazy busy weekend, but yet oddly relaxing.

Friday night we started our weekend by attending a lecture by Jim Lovell, Apollo 13 Commander. We were able to score free tickets to the sold out event :) 

Lovell started the presentation with a little anecdote about meeting Tom Hanks who played him in the movie Apollo 13. Hanks had come to Austin to get background on the story and Lovell invited him to his home near Austin to talk more and watch videos from the mission.  The following is a clip of Lovell talking about flying Hanks to his home. (I didn't try to get video because we were too far back).

The flight was almost 50 years ago and Lovell is now 88 years old. He did a great job walking us through the flight from liftoff to return.He didn't talk much about the emotional side of it - maybe that has been dulled by the passing of time and all the lectures he has given. In this clip he talks about the watching the oxygen escape.

I never thought about this, but he mentioned that greater than the fear of dying on return to earth was the thought of being caught in an endless orbit as a permanent space monument. What a strange thing to contemplate.

He wrapped up the talk with a final piece of advice - keep a positive attitude. We all are going to have rough times and a positive attitude is essential to getting through it. You just have to put your head down and get through it. Incidentally, I could have used his pep talk this morning when I got on the scale - it was not what I had hoped for, but mostly what I deserved.  


I have been on the campus many times, but had never seen the dome at night. It was a fun surprise when we came out to our car after the lecture.

Saturday morning I met up with a friend to go to a Vintage Market. There were so many people and things to look at - complete sensory overload.  I am a sucker for glasses and if there had been an open spot in my cabinet these would have come home with me.

I was intrigued by this little glass canoe, but not sure if it has a particular use. Any ideas?

This lampshade isn't exactly my style but it did remind me it would be pretty easy to update a lampshade with a beautiful fabric.

I have a bunch of Scrabble tiles. Seeing these sell for 6 dollars makes me wonder about the fortune I am sitting on.

There was no part of me that was tempted to buy creepy aresol can baby. I wonder if anyone did.

I do enjoy personification of inanimate objects, but not so sure if this would fit in my life.

I could picture Zommie in this little doggie bed under a coffee table.

This a pretty fancy dog crate...Millie?

Arrows seemed to be a trend. We saw them in all sizes, materials and colors. I think these were my favorite.

The base of this table was a little more rustic than I like, but I loved the top.

I am also a sucker for license plate art, even though I don't have any yet. If I had a source of old license plates I would love to make something like this.

Or this one. I think it would be cool on a patio.

A cool light for a family room?

I found these goodies. I have actually had their bread and butter jalapenos before - so good. This vendor had samples of all their products - I tasted way too many.The strawberry/pepper jelly was so good on cream cheese with crackers.

When I got home my husband and I ran (and by ran I mean drove) to our new favorite Cuban Cafe for lunch. The owner was chatting with us while we were deciding what to order. He recommended these tacos and they did NOT disappoint. The pork is placed on a creamy spicy spread, topped with a bit of queso and a citrus veggie slaw. We both agreed we must have them again.

We also ordered the traditional Cuban sandwich - super flavorful.

After lunch my husband was working on a project for work, so I decided to take Millie and Zommie to the farm to play. We were enthusiastically greeted by Buddy.

His enthusiasm made it a little difficult to get out of the car. He was bouncing up and down as though he were on springs.

Millie and Buddy had a great time in the creek.

I am always amazed at their cooperation on retrieving sticks - although it does look like Millie is trying to push him out.

All we need to do is attach a cart to that stick and put those dogs to work.

A happy tired pup.

Two friends heading back up the trail to the house.

Of course, there was begging for ice cream on the porch

It was a fun afternoon - perfect spring weather. 

So that is Friday and Saturday...Sunday was a whole other day that I will share tomorrow. But for now it is Monday and time to get back to work. What's on your agenda this week?