They’re baaaaaack

We had a theory about the frogs: we weren’t running the pool pump at night and we wondered if maybe they were attracted because the water was still. So a few nights ago we began running the pool pump at night rather than during the day and we enjoyed several frog free nights. Unfortunately, last night we discovered that given enough rain, frogs still came despite the pump. Sigh.

We had a lovely weekend! We went to the German restaurant for our anniversary dinner (which was awesome of course). On the way we stopped and checked on my great-grandparents’ graves. That was nice. They had a lot of flags up on the graves of veterans.

I remember going one Memorial day to the Presidio in San Francisco and visiting the cemetery. It was when I was stationed in Monterey. When I was on active duty, it was always comforting is a strange way to go to a military cemetery and to know that those places are there if that’s what you want. I doubt that makes any sense, but I honestly can’t explain it very well. It’s just a visible symbol that (while imperfect) we do try to take care of our own.

Saturday we enjoyed some quality pool time, the only down side of which is that afterward you are sapped of all will to get stuff done! Something about lazing around in the sun and water mid afternoon, totally sets you up for a siesta and then all of a sudden it’s dinner and the day is nearly done but your chores aren’t! ;-O

Sunday we went to the beach. Now, my husband has never been a big fan of the beach. When we go to Edisto Island, he loves it but he rarely walks on the beach with me & mom. So I was very surprised when he agreed to go to the beach with me. We headed out early Sunday morning to the oh so famous Ft. Lauderdale beach. The weather and the water were awesome!

We swam & sat in the sun and talked. It’s very easy to take 95 to Sunset, hang a left on A1A and there’s beachfront parking right there, very convenient. And just a half a block down is a Primanti Brothers (a Pittsburg mainstay) right across from the beach. We didn’t go, but it would be a good place to grab a bite to eat after the beach if you wanted. Anyway, it was really nice and we are going back soon! I’ve tried several beaches while we’ve been down here and Ft. L is my favorite – and not just because of childhood memories.

We bought ourselves a digital camera for our anniversary gift, so no more excuses about posting pictures (once I’ve learned to use it!) I took a bunch of the house on my mom’s camera and never got them posted before she left!

Presuming Luke is available to come over & feed the dogs their supper Saturday, I plan to ride to Port Charlotte with the hub to visit some of his friends.
I had a terrific workout yesterday at the fitness center even though Jeff had the day off. I did a riff of Norma’s tank top workout and mixed in a couple hundred kettlebell swings for a fun and hard workout. I didn’t see a soul the whole time I was there. It’s nice having my own personal huge gym!

Terrier 2 – lizards 0

I decided to work at home today – it’s been quite an exciting afternoon. Jordan has caught and partially eaten TWO lizards. One I took care of, but the other I got Luke (who was out mowing) to come over and handle. It was big and still alive. Ewwwww!

It is a beautiful sunny day in south Florida and I took my lunch break in the pool. I had to pick up a prescription for someone, so I took advantage and picked up an anniversary card while I was at Target. I also bought a lounge chair for lounging by the pool.

I am working Monday since we have no plans other than going to the German place for dinner.

Have a good one!

The secret ingredient is crack (just kidding!)

Can I tell you how good the chicken was last night? We agreed next time we’d do 2 roasted jalapenos per stuffed breast instead of one, but it was awesome. And it tasted like homemade jalapeno poppers! It got me thinking and I said we could use the idea to recreate other flavors (I miss pizza!). I suggested pizza and the response I got was “How about fettuccine alfredo?” Yes, it’s on hub’s “most missed” list. If you stuff the breast with broccoli and mushrooms and put alfredo sauce on top I bet it would be awesome! So not only a good meal, but a concept for more really good meals!

I have been disappointed with my weight loss this week – only half a pound. Since everything is the same, I find that a little frustrating. Oh well, consistent behavior leads to a trend of consistent results, there are always blips up and down of that trend line. I’ll just stay on course and things will even out.

Have a great weekend!

mid week

This morning I helped hub get his lunch packed. After that I made juice (carrot, apple, cucumber) as well as a green drink. The green drink contained: 1 banana, mixed frozen berries, bee pollen, VitaMineral green powder, chia and flax seeds, spinach, and water. Now that my mom isn’t here, I will probably stop with the juice once we use up the carrots & stuff – we are both eating so many veggies it feels a little redundant. OTOH, the dogs love the carrot pulp in their food, so I may still juice periodically. I think the green drink feels more important for us these days. Any excuse to get extra greens.


Breakfast (for both of us) this week is a hamburger with baked beans. Lunch is a salad the size of Montana with grilled chicken. My snack is 12 almonds (if I feel hungry mid morning) – hub is taking a couple of boiled eggs, sardines, apple, and almonds for him to nibble on as needed during the day.

Last night’s dinner was awesome – I have a recipe for doing a chicken in the crock pot with just spices and a diced onion that is so simple and tastes amazing! Tonight we had “jalapeno popper stuffed chicken breast” – I beat chicken breasts until they were thin then covered them in a mixture of cream and shredded cheddar cheese (not too much) then added a roasted jalapeno (hub did them on the grill and I pulled the skin off and took the seeds etc. out) and a slice of bacon. Then I rolled it up. When I got home I baked them - amazing. We had sweet potato and roasted brussel sprouts on the side.

Last night I had a good workout at the gym – 45 minutes on the arc trainer. Today was AMP class with Jeff. Woot!

I must figure out why the frogs love our back yard and figure out how to make it inhospitable.

Das boy wants me to drive up and pick him & Katy up after her mom’s birthday July 6. Mom told him she didn’t think that would work. Uh, no. Unless death, birth, or marriage of someone every important is involved, I do NOT travel in July. Two reasons: Pennsic prep and Tour de France. Sorry. Coverage is anywhere from 2-6 hours per day. (The only really long airtime is on days of critical mountain stages – usually only 2 of those, one each from the Pyrenees and the Alps). Still, miss a day or two and you are totally lost on what is going on. Also, watching the Tour is my Pennsic prep – sewing, mending, cooking, packing – it all goes on this month, with the Tour as the backdrop. I become a recluse.

I guess that makes me sound terribly selfish, but I’m tired of being accommodating for everyone but me. I need my prep time darnit!

For the curious - Overhauling your food

I am fortunate in that for years now I have planned and cooked most of our food. I thought we ate pretty healthy (and we did eat healthier than a lot of folks) but when hub got diagnosed with diabetes, we had to take a hard look at the menus and cupboards.

I threw away open boxes of pasta, crackers, etc. It was just easier not to have it around. We have eliminated bread, pasta, and all grains except quinoa and I have some sprouted wild rice mixed with quinoa. I know that sounds hard.

We eat a lot of stuff that anyone following a paleo diet would turn their nose up at: some cheese, an occasional diet soda or popsicle, last night we had a couple of corn tortillas each with dinner. We simply chose what we were willing to give up in order to achieve the goals of weight reduction and hub’s blood sugar reduction. The processed carbs had to get the boot, no question. We opted to leave some things that aren’t healthy (sugar free popsicles are nothing but chemicals), but that would make the transition easier. In time those things may go as well, or we may just accept a certain amount of crap in our diet – I don’t know.

But I will say this: it gets easier. Some meals are so easy to adapt it requires no thought: tonight we had a chicken in the crock pot with baked organic sweet potatoes and steamed artichokes. Other things were tougher (lasagna). Some things I’ve adapted (like lasagna) and others have simply fallen by the wayside (homemade chicken and dumplings are gone with the white flour).

Here’s the thing: 1) it’s not like we can never eat those things again, ever. We can, but right now it is simply too important to mess around with “moderation.” Define a moderate amount of cyanide, for example. If something is pure poison, how much is it okay to ingest? My body treats a chemical like a toxin and processes it as such (like a popsicle) but it doesn’t do the kind of active damage that pasta will to the hub. That’s where we drew our line in the sand. Your line may be somewhere else.

But overall it hasn’t been too hard. We eat meat, vegetables, fruit, nuts & seeds mostly, with a little bit of other stuff to smooth the path. Our allergies and allergy headaches have improved dramatically, so has sleep, and other bodily functions. We are seeing the payoff in terms of our health – and not just on the scale or in hub’s blood sugar readings (which were again out of the diabetic range this morning).

Because I am a list making fool, I made a list of menu ideas. I was able to come up with 31 dinners out of what we used to eat that I can make without processed carbs. Since we eat out once a week that means we could go about 5 weeks without ever having the same dinner twice!

It has required some planning, but the payoff has been well worth the investment of time.

Well, we left the dogs today. Luke (the kid next door) came over a couple of times during the day to check on the pups while we are both at work. Butch has been doing better, so hopefully things will be okay between him & Jordan. (Hub is working a temp job the next few days.)

Speaking of pups, did you catch the news about the pet treats? http://vitals.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/05/22/11798368-nearly-1000-dogs-now-sick-from-jerky-treats-fda-reports-say?lite

I have a very good recipe for dog treats that the dogs LOVE and they are easy and cheap. I buy organic kibble (Blue Buffalo or Wellness) and make their wet food and dog treats. I bought a cookbook for dogs. That’s just how I roll.

Today was yoga at lunch and gym after work.

Friday is our 10 year anniversary. By marrying each other we’ve saved two sane people from a life of misery. Ha!

And I am spent!

It was a very busy weekend. The usual meal planning, shopping, and food prep on top of which we organized all our craft stuff! Two closets stuffed full of jewelry making supplies, garb accessories, sewing supplies, etc. I still need to organize my sewing stuff, but it’s at least all together on the shelves next to my sewing table. I also need to go through my patterns, but that can be post vacation since the only garb I’m making beforehand is a pair or two of fighting pants for hub.

We also enjoyed pool time both days and went to the gym for a good workout yesterday. I also bought a new MP3 player – my one I had for years died and I bought a cheap replacement which was a pain in the butt. So I sucked it up, went to Best Buy, and bought one which seems like it will be pretty easy to use for $45. I’ll find out tonight when I attempt to load music on it!

Well, it’s happened. In a little over a month my husband has caught up to me in the weight loss department, and I’ve been at it for months! I call justifiable homicide! Ha ha ha. Seriously though, I am proud of him!

I pestered Jeff to lift weights with me this afternoon. My own free personal trainer! How lucky am I?

Ugh

Ugh.


I left work yesterday missing NC very much, wondering just what the heck kind of life I want to create for myself – here, after here, for forever…. (Mid life crisis???) I was looking forward to a serious workout, but it just wasn’t meant to be.

Hub called while I was on the way home – the plumbing under the sink broke (“fell apart” was the phrase he used) – he was on his way to Home Dept for new pipe and couldn’t make the gym. Okay, so I go alone.

When I got home the noy called to let me know N was on his way over (his best friend in Florida). His dad had kicked him out (this happens regularly.) They’d gotten into a fight and the boy said N was crying. The child lives a mile or so from us, so I finished changing, got in the car, and headed out to find him. I picked him up, let him in, and headed for the gym.

It wasn’t much of a workout, but I got there and did something.

He stayed for dinner and hung out until his grandma came to get him.

All in all, not much of an evening.

In good news, Hub is going to be working at a temp job most of next week. In bad news, I don’t know what we’re going to do with Butchie.

Thank heavens it’s the weekend. I need it!

Down another half a pound!

Dinner last night was awesome. The pork chops were really good, but they were so big that we ended up splitting a small sweet potato because neither of us could eat a whole one! I made 4 pork chops so there are plenty of leftovers. Actually, we are just having leftovers for dinner tonight because there is enough to feed the two of us tonight, Saunooke’s lunch today, and probably still be leftovers. I’m not very good at cooking for 2 apparently.

We got to the dog park last night so that was good. It was a little wet but not too bad. The dogs had a great time.

I brought leftovers for lunch today. It’s yucky and rainy and I decided that a hot lunch sounded pretty good. I generally eat salad every day. Now, I change up the ingredients and dressings a lot, and in my world lettuce isn’t even required (nor is any leafy green), but it’s nice to have something different every once in a while.

AMP class yesterday was awesome, as usual. I left feeling slightly woozy and mucho sweaty. Win!

Donna Summer passed away today. When I was 11 or 12 I really wanted to be just like her when I grew up. (Yes, I loved disco!)

Quick Wednesday

The shepherd’s pie last night was awesome. Hub couldn’t believe that it was made with mashed cauliflower. I think it was that good and had nothing to do with the tough workout at the gym prior to eating. Hee hee hee!


On the vet’s advice, we tried getting a muzzle for Butch, thinking that would be a way to keep Jordan safe during the day. (They make them so the dog can drink so they are humane.) Uh, no. Hub took him to the store for a fitting and he busted out immediately. They tried 2 stores with no luck. We can’t crate him – he was very close to destroying the crate we have – and really, he’s 13. It just seems cruel to lock him up for hours every day when he’s always had free run of the house and yard.

After the gym and dinner I did pretty much nothing last night – it was lovely. I’ve been going to bed at 9 and reading a few minutes. I have a book from the library “The Blood Sugar Solution” by Dr. Mark Hyman that I need to start. I just finished “A World Lit Only by Fire” by William Manchester and I was in that mood so I picked up Book 4 of Durant’s “Story of Civilization”, “The Age of Faith”.

We are both down another pound (yay!).

We plan to take the dogs to the park today even though it rains every evening these days. I would like to go to the park, but not in a thunderstorm – hopefully it’ll be okay!

Today was AMP class. I had a meeting up until class time so no time to swing kettlebells beforehand. Which is okay because class is hard enough on its own!

Dinner tonight was pork chops, baked sweet potatoes, and sautéed zucchini. Yum-o.

There is a crossfit gym near my house, and there is one a little farther away that offers the first 2 classes for free. I can’t afford to join another gym right now, but I’m keeping that in the back of my head for later.

Interesting article on why we have become overweight:

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/15/science/a-mathematical-challenge-to-obesity.html?_r=2

I’ve read a lot of articles along similar lines. Any time I get into a serious discussion about nutrition (which isn’t often, it’s as bad as talking about religion or politics) I feel like I should be wearing a tin foil hat to protect myself from the MIB or something. A discussion of agribusiness and government food policy quickly begins to sound like some X-Files induced paranoid conspiracy theory. I don’t think it’s that complex – I just think that humans are that greedy.

Link courtesy of Norma. http://www.notnormajean.blogspot.com/

There are times it’s very helpful to have your mom or a close girlfriend around. I’m talking clothes advice. I’ve lost about 25 pounds and I think some of my clothes are too big and probably look dumb, but I hate wearing tight clothing so honestly I can’t really tell. I really don’t have anyone I can ask down here. Sigh.

Tuesday - no lizards

More evidence that the end of civilization is near: my husband is drinking UNSWEET tea! And judging by the sounds last night, I do believe it must’ve been raining frogs.


Last night’s dinner was shrimp diavolo over quinoa with a big salad. It was very good and since I had extra sauce already made up in the freezer, it was very simple. Tonight I have a shepherd’s pie I made over the weekend with mashed cauliflower in place of the mashed potatoes. I also have a bag of organic sugar snap peas from the CSA box. Since we are going to the gym it will be nice to have a meal that only involves heating stuff up.

I stopped buying store bought salad dressing years ago. It’s expensive and not very good IMO, not to mention full of chemicals. Making my own is easy and cheap. Also, the one good thing the 1970s gave us was green goddess dressing. (Love the 50s, but the 70s were just plain weird.) Yes, Kraft does sell a chemical faux green version, but homemade is so good. Apparently its popularity died with the 1970s as well because you never see it in restaurants or anything (I guess ranch killed it) except that one lone bottle of Kraft lurking amongst 1000 varieties of ranch. Being a big eater of salads, I demand variety, and I expect my dressings to be tasty and healthy. Hub, OTOH, eats the same French dressing I’ve been making him for years.

Yesterday was a kettlebell workout at the fitness center at work and an AM walk in the hood. Today was yoga at lunch and gym after work.

Last night was odd in that we had so little to do. We sorted through some stuff to send to Goodwill, worked on our project list for what we want to get done around the house and watched a couple of “Star Trek: DS9” episodes. We had planned to go to the dog park, but an evening thunderstorm nixed that idea. Lifestyles of the rich and famous down here in south Florida, I tell ya.

Uber productive weekend

First of all, I saw an amazing lizard on the fence last night. He was a knight anole – a foot or so long and bright green with bright yellow markings on his face. We were inside and he sat there for a long time.

Hub has lost 18 pounds in just under a month and his fasting blood sugar was below the diabetic level yesterday. He’s doing great. We went to the gym yesterday and had a really good workout. We love our gym. It’s so convenient and has enough equipment that it’s not crowded at all – of course, we’ve generally gone in the morning. Tomorrow we’ll be going after work, but there should still be plenty of equipment.

This weekend was all about giving the house a deep cleaning, picking up, decluttering, and doing a bit of rearranging in the kitchen. The house feels much better but we still had a good amount of time to just relax. If it weren’t for Mothers Day, it would have been an excellent weekend.

Hub texted The boy last night and reminded him to call me. He was crying the whole time he talked to me. He’d had a really lousy day at his grandpa’s house. His uncle and grandpa get along about as well as fire and gasoline (they both want to do things their way on their terms) and he feels caught in the middle. Add the fact that the whole reason his uncle is there is to help out since his grandpa can’t do the stuff due to his cancer, and you have an all around tense situation. Luckily today was better.

I think The boy thought it would somehow magically be okay since he would be closer to Katy (ugh!), who doesn’t get out of school for another month. Le drama. Thank god I’m not 17 – I don’t think humans are able to survive that more than once.

It was a nice day, but not much of a Mother’s Day. In any case, things are coming together around the house.

Up next weekend: organizing craft stuff. Be afraid. Be very afraid.

Weekend!

TGIF


The boy and mom left for NC yesterday. I know he’s worried about his grandpa, but I will say I’m very hurt and disappointed that he was in such a rush that Mother’s Day was pretty much blown off this year. I know that sounds horribly selfish (and I guess it is), but that’s how I feel. Please allow me a few moments to pout.

Thursday was tough. He had a math review, then the final, then the chemistry final. It was a very long day. I gave blood yesterday and felt awful after. I mean, I had to go to the nurse’s office and lay down for a while. I felt like I was in 4th grade or something. Giving blood is generally no big deal, so I really don’t know what happened. Weird. Fortunately (or unfortunately) I was leaving work early to go to the dentist. I still felt woozy, but Hub talked to me till I got home then he drove me.

My weight has stayed the same the past 2 weeks. Between the cold, the trip, and the crazy schedule at home, exercise levels have been down and some sub-optimal food has crept into the diet. One up side of it being just the 2 of us for a while is more time for exercise. We plan to hit the gym 3 days a week together. Hub’s commitment to losing weight and eating healthier is making my commitment easier to keep. The other morning his fasting blood sugar was in the 120s!

This weekend we are giving the house a thorough scrubbing and planning a schedule for operation “finally get everything in this damn house organized!” Because I am tired of never knowing where anything is! If we tackle a room a week we’ll be done just in time to pack for vacation. (Good thing there are no projects that need to be done!)

In sadder news, we are going to have to put Butch down soon. Have I written about this? He’s just gotten too snappy with the other dogs. He doesn’t seem to be in any pain, but he’s 13 years old and he’s always been a bit touchy. He’d been in the shelter a long time when we got him and I’m not sure he’s ever really gotten over his bad experiences early in life. But he’s had a good life with us for the past 11 years.

Our anniversary is coming up. Because our minds think alike (I won’t claim they are great) we both thought that the German restaurant would be the perfect place to go for dinner. We were thinking about a trip to Key West, but I think our plan will just be to chill out in the peace and quiet of our own house, in our own pool, with our own dogs.

Have you ever heard of the group “Friends of Alice Ivy”? Jango and Pandora are so cool – I’ve heard some awesome music that way.

When the mangoes fall off the tree into the yard, if we don’t spot them quickly Belews (“the puppy”) thinks they are balls and likes to play with them, which sort of ruins them for eating. Luckily they are a bright color and therefore pretty easy to spot, even on the other side of the pool fence. (We have one of those mesh pool fences which we now keep up at all times. It looks ugly, but keeps the dogs from accidentally falling in the pool while chasing each other.)


Last night The boy randomly decided to drag out the overhead projector and put a large sun on his wall. Since I put celtic knotwork all over the last kitchen, I can’t really say anything, can I? I think it’ll be pretty cool when he finishes.

Last night’s dinner was spaghetti squash, baked fish, and roasted green beans. I made a pot of chicken and dumplings for mom and The boy. We have been getting thunderstorms most days for at least a little while. It was pouring when I was driving home yesterday, which meant no pool time. Bummer.

In other exciting news, we have a dog sitter for vacation! It is hard to find someone to move into your house for 16 days. The kid next door (18) is very mature and responsible – not to mention just next door. We were planning to drive the dogs up to NC to stay with my mom, but this will be much easier, if more expensive. So that’s a good thing.

Today’s workout: AMP class. Jeff is back from surgery, and while he is limited in what he can do, he can boss us around. Hurray!

Have you seen this already?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qX9FSZJu448&feature=youtu.be

One step at a time

First of all: My cold is all gone. It was gone fairly quickly (3 or 4 days) but it was a doozy! I’m so glad it was gone before we went to Georgia.

Trip to Georgia: Did I mention this? Mom and I went to Georgia to visit my great aunt. We drove up on Friday (it took just over 9 hours) and drove back Sunday (just under 9 hours). We did the usual things – antique shops, eating out, visiting the cemetery for flower checking and grave cleaning, the obligatory trip to W-M for a few items for Alma, putting a little extra money in her bank account.

We did do something a bit different – we rode over to Warm Springs (home of President Roosevelt’s “Little White House”) for new antique shops and a new place to try for lunch. It was a nice ride over, but the GPS (her nickname is “Brunhilda”) took us through some serious back country. But it was just beautiful – so different from south Florida. Also, we ate at a good restaurant with excellent vegetables, which Alma thoroughly enjoyed. All in all it was a terrific trip.

The antique report: I bought a cute little painting of a chipmunk on a tree (he was so cute and it was only $3 so it had to come home) a couple of fat quarters of pretty fabric for MIL for Mother’s Day, and a 1974 hamburger cookbook (Betty Crocker, I believe). I actually did get a couple of good ideas and so many laughs that it was well worth $2! I’ve been eyeing a beautiful walnut lazy susan but couldn’t justify the expense at my fav antique shop. Maybe next time.

Not sure exactly when the boy and mom will be heading to NC – given the circumstances he is anxious to get going the second school is done. He may not even be here for Mother’s Day, which makes me very sad but I know how worried he is about his grandpa.

It’s rare you get to do something that your teenager thinks is cool, but I managed it. The boy decided to do a little rearranging in his room and wanted some new art. I had a bunch of old posters, so we decided to look through them. He was unimpressed with Garfield (high school) or Spuds Mackenzie (various barracks rooms), and he just laughed at Jean Claude van Damme (I don’t even remember owning that!). He was mildly impressed with the Marine Corps posters which were from the then senior chief petty officer of the MC (my friend Glenda’s dad), but what really blew him away was a large collection of Soviet propaganda posters purchased in 1991 in Moscow. He thought they were awesome (and they are!). He hung one in his room. I don’t think of myself as a packrat, but the Garfield poster from my high school dorm room? Really???

Hub continues to make progress, with the occasional lesson learned. The other night he went to a friend’s house and had a couple of slices of thin crust pizza. He also tried skipping his walk a couple of days. His blood sugar results and scale are keeping him on the straight and narrow – he is feeling better and seeing results, which helps.

We traded in the gas guzzling truck for a Honda CR-V – much better suited to what hub needs for work and we need as a family vehicle. So that’s good.

I’m looking forward to some nice quite routine and puttering around the house this summer. Let that commence – the summer weather already has! The pool yesterday afternoon felt fantastic. I love having a pool in the backyard.

Today’s workout: 560 kettlebell swings.

I am a germ bomb!

I have the worst cold I have had in years. I am tired and I am a coughing, sneezing, nose blowing germ factory on 2 feet. I can’t wait for this to be over. Especially since we are going to Georgia this weekend and I do not want to be sick and give this to my great aunt!

We are working very hard to get school wrapped up by Mother’s Day so mom and the boy can head to NC. The news on his grandpa keeps getting worse. They were hoping with aggressive treatment to knock his cancer into remission, but it has progressed farther than they thought based on the most recent tests. The boy just wants to be done with school (well, sometimes he doesn’t even care at all) and get up there. This is so hard.

Apparently it is now the rainy season (the down side to living in a sub-tropical climate). It has been raining since Friday. Since we live maybe 50 yards from a canal, the wild life tends to seek drier ground. Frogapalooza has gone on for 4 nights now. Thank goodness for child size ear plugs. There was the largest roach I’ve ever seen in my kitchen the other morning. (And remember, I lived in Texas!) Tough girl that I am, I jumped on the counter and screamed. I really, really, loathe bugs.

I went to the gym Sunday morning – the last day that I felt decent. Unless sneezing counts as exercise, I’m not getting any. Hub has it too – he’s the one that gave it to me, curse him. I have homemade soup and hot tea and medicine, but mostly I just want a nap.