A correction and other thoughtful ponderances of things...

First my minute detail, but to me very relevant since my triglycerides had been over two hundred and most recently around 197, bad when normal is supposed to be below 150!
I had stated that mine had gone down to a respectable 143, but I was mistaken it had actually gone down to 138! No applause please, but boy what a BIG difference all due to that Fenofibrate 160mg. 1X a day. The woman doctor in the hospital noticed that my triglycerides were high and so she put me on it in the hospital and Voila I was pronounced being in the normal range!
I had been eating healthy and before I became less mobile I was a very active person with just that triglyceride issue, since it was discovered over ten years ago!
I take that now with my Simvastatin 40 mg. for years and years when healthy eating and exercise could not get them resolved, and now they both are!
Instead of all those newer combo ones with too many side effects.
Simvastatin is the generic of Zocor, Fenofibrate is Tricor and has side effects like all medicines, but so far not too difficult on me to adjust to.
And truthfully I just now read about them, and they could be responsible for a few of my complaints, tummy and backache ones...hmm.

Any-who, we all have to give and take in life and balance with realizations can make one feel the weight of those decisions.
Health is something no one should mess with and as with anything in life we should all ask a professional when we have no way else to know.
But... research in the way of the internet can be helpful too.
An odd thing happened yesterday at my internist's office when I mentioned about my arm hurting probably from the weights I was using in PT she suggested using Tylenol and I said yes that is a pain reliever, but not an anti-inflammatory medication and she said that it was, an anti-inflammatory.
I told her all those years I worked with the Arthritis Foundation that I had been told that it wasn't and that aspirin is. I agreed reluctantly with her, since she is a M.D. trained at Harvard Medical, so she must know more than me, but... a very BIG BUT, and so I Googled it this morning wondering if I had told people all those years ago the wrong thing and I was feeling guilty and bad about that... but you know what?
I was right, Tylenol is NOT an anti-inflammatory, so sometimes when Hubby teases me asking me for my M.D. degree plaque or what-have-you, sometimes, just sometimes we must trust ourselves our knowledge or instincts or whatever we got to know for ourselves what is right.
My dilemma is because she is about ten years younger than myself should I say anything next visit or let it go... I have six months to decide and is this a bigger deal than it should be?
Or do I have one of those docs who is forgetting her stuff?
We all forget, but with doctors couldn't that be dangerous?
Anyway something to ponder, but not too long... I am leaning towards letting it go.

Now I will let you all go too and allow me to be the very first to wish all of you a very happy good night and ask you all to kindly count all your blessings and share all your overages with you know whom and we will too!

And next time please be here or be square, ya hear!




  

Go here, go there, at times it seemed as if we were everywhere!

Talk about cutting it close, moments of concern, of being somewhere on time!
Some days going anywhere on the Tamiami Trail/route 41, named for its being the original route from Tampa to Miami, can take as short as ten minutes locally to a half an hour for the same distance, "in-season", "snowbird season", that is.
Today, I had my internist six month check up appointment that is approximately five miles from home.
Logically, it should take less than ten minutes with every light in you favor and no accidents and no heavy traffic, and on any summer day it can.
Today we made every other light, and the traffic was moderate and it took nearly twenty minutes!
We arrived in the parking lot on time, but then tried to find a handicapped spot at the doctors' offices and there are only about eight spread throughout! This place is not just several doctors offices, but also has tests from blood work to x-rays are done there, as well as prescriptions filled, a mini hospital!
Hubby thought he saw one right up front by the entrance that we would be using. I hadn't seen it and was concerned, since over the last year or so they had made their driveway in a one way direction, and so I was pointing to another around the corner that was free now, but Hubby was sure that he was correct, and he was right, YAY!

My visit was to find out my cholesterol and triglycerides and A1c and they all went down beautifully!
Cholesterol total 168, triglycerides 143 and my A1c 5.7 a little bit to go, but down from 6.1, so by July, I hope I will be out of that threat of a pre-diabetic, my goal is 5.3 A1c, not too farfetched I did go down .4 in the last six months! Dr. Nord was very happy about my weight loss and hugged me twice!

My blood pressure again was normal without any medication for over two months!
I forgot to ask about my thyroid, who knows...
I also was given scheduled appointments for my mammogram and July yearly appointment as well as my two year appointment for my bone density test, and scheduled blood work for that July appointment the week before.

After Hubby and I also let them know that we both needed our prescriptions called in/faxed to our pharmacies we had no refills left, we ate lunch at Panera's. Hubby had their Italian sub, and I had their Thai chicken wonton soup, only 290 calories and quite filling, half came home with us in the iced cooler we brought, we both had ice water. They were both new choices for us there.

Our last stop was PT, Amy the 3rd year grad student did my whole forty-five minutes with me, Jaye, not Raye, ( I think I had called her Raye the last time I mentioned her.) who is a woman by the way and a has a PhD. in physical therapy allowed Amy this time all by herself and she did great! Both women are very nice and understanding too.
Anyway, I did those mat exercises, but a bit different with pelvic tilts and an enormous ball to roll from side to side placed under my knees, and a smaller one between my knees to tighten and release. I did get to use that all body equipment machine for fifteen minutes this time, Yay!
My right shoulder of my two is the worse, so we did not do any arm exercises today. In fact I was told to rest it.
It seems to have decided to cause severe pain when operating the right sided controller on my motorized wheel chair, Hubby had to steer me out!
Getting out of the car too, pulling on that strap.
Going in its my left side arm is used, so not too bad.

We arrived home after three, and I crawled into bed, and only came out for dinner.

On that note trying hard as I can, allow me to be the very first to wish all of you a very happy good night and ask you all to kindly count all your blessings and share all your overages with you know whom and we will too!

And next time please be here or be square, ya hear!


 

Did you ever start to look for something in your home and...

... realized that maybe, just maybe if that drawer or closet was better organized that you might have not wasted so much time?
Nah?
Oh well, I found another needy to be refreshed and organized area and that was my craft's drawer in the laundry room, used to be where the cat litter was stored and Casey our long haired orange Tabby with amber eyes who passed away about seven years ago had a circular entrance with his name on his door. After we waited for a while of mourning and did not get another cat I suggested ordering another closed door that matched the raised panels of the custom laundry room cabinet closet company that had installed them, the doors and so we did. Hubby had made a slide out drawer to make it easier access.
PS we still have the circular door if for any reason we changed our minds, an easy reversal of the cubby can be done.
Anyway...I was looking for a couple of specific colors in my acrylics that I knew I had but couldn't seem to locate, gold and teal.
The object of my search or reasoning was I was tired of my plain white candlestick wooden lamps on our night stands that needed some oomph or dazzling, what-have-you.
At first I was thinking the two tone look would jazz things up a bit and blend with our décor.
But in reality when I examined the lamps again to me they looked like typical candlesticks in shape... so why not just go with one color, the gold metallic!
We had a partial can and a full can of metallic gold spray left.
While digging for the acrylics I tore through the mess and gathered like items together like stencils, hot glue gun and glue sticks, little color pods and larger color plastic bottles of all colors of acrylics including the two I was looking for, even my plastic sheeting I use to protect the work surface that I work on.  I also collected a major portion of garbage, paper envelopes that had contained wooden letters, my kit from a mosaic pot that has been outside for years, an empty box, Gorilla glue and spray glue, colored pencils, I added one of my small tape measurers, the rest of my marble contact paper, rub-on botanic prints, paint brushes of all sizes, modge podge for my decoupage, etc. all that good stuff. And so now that is clean and organized too! Hubby offered to tape off and spray the two lamps and they look great and new!

We had made a H-O-M-E sign with five inch gold sprayed letters glued onto marine quality manila rope curled at either end with the letters spaced well and hot glued on, the whole thing cost less than six dollars to make for the Walmart letters; we had the paint and rope already, and we have gotten compliments on it several times since it went up. Glitzy, but not too over the top and hanging just over the entrance to our hallway; it was our home's 18th anniversary gift, since it is the longest we have lived anywhere in all the years that we have been married, forty-six next month, and our fifth home, and yes the word HOME does mean so much.

On this note of something... allow me to be the very first to wish all of you a very happy good night and ask all of you to kindly count all your blessings and share all your overages with you know whom and we will too!

And next time please be here or be square, ya hear!

PT, other stops, and thoughts about...

Physical therapy today with Bryan, the youngest of the group that works at the Fawcett Sports Rehab. where I go for my therapies, celebrating my twentieth year there!
He made a mistake and asked me what exercises I have been doing and I told him and he was determined to change it up and so we did.
The mat which is like a raised extra wide table/bed, about the width of a full sized bed, with a thin mat cover and pillows is where I did a majority of my exercises today.
One and half pound wrap weights for each hand and up and down motioned movements and back and forth and another pushing downward direction, each with twenty reps.
Leg lifts with weights five pounds separately lifting, my right leg knee, supported by a wedge, righty is stronger than my left with the same weight, and the left weight felt way too heavy, got a back spasm, tried breathing deeply for a while, it eventually helped, and I did accomplish the reps of twenty too for both!
Bent knees up and in and out, again twenty reps.
Then over to my favorite machine that does the whole body arms and legs moving this time for twelve minutes last week, Wednesday during my evaluation, just ten minutes with Raye and third year grad. PT student Amy.
Maybe this Wednesday fifteen minutes on that machine?

Afterwards I rode my ride BIG BLUE over to Bealls Outlet in the same shopping center, the Promenades, as the rehab., to try to find a blouse for our outing to Versanis comedy club for our anniversary dinner and show, a red one with gold glitzy embossing would be nice and that is what I would like. Although, my black slacks that I was going to wear are already too large for me, so I may have to rethink that whole outfit. I have three weeks left...
Next we stopped at Winn Dixie for rolls and hormone free Bryers ice cream, as well as hot prepared choices for dinner, we arrived home right at dinner time!
Hubby had moved the car over by the grocery while I rode over.

Moving on...

Shocking to me with the new administration's reaction to the Women's March on Saturday, Hubby told me that VP Pence insists that we are all equal already so the March wasn't necessary!
Guess I shouldn't be shocked, par for this, "new" administration with frightening lack of what's what in true America.
They have been living in a bubble it appears.
Love the fact the Josh Kushner and his girlfriend were at the D.C. March, he is a Democrat and she voted for Hilary, as you must know Josh is Jared's brother and Ivanka's brother-in-law, DJs kids.

Love that Chelsea Clinton is such a decent grown woman taking a protective attitude toward Baron T's being a kid so leave him alone, and she speaks from experience! Politics be damned! Brava lady! Classy act!
Good friend still to her pal Ivanka's littlest brother.

On that note of hope we can all accept our differences, but aim to change what we can, yes we can, I know we can, then allow me to be the very first to wish all of you a very happy good night and ask all of you to kindly count all your blessings and share all those overages with you know whom and we will too!

And next time please be here or be square, ya hear!



   

Stuffed cabbage the easy way!

The recipe is for four servings with each being only 288 calories or less, two rolls each.
Preheat oven to 350. 1 hour prep and one hour cooking time.
Ingredients that you will need below:
12 0z of lean chop meat
1/2 cup of uncooked brown rice, long grain if preferred (quick rice works, I actually opened my Success brown rice bag and measured.)
7 1/2 oz. of tomatoes with tomato juice about a half a cup of the juice that is, and eight cherry or grape tomatoes, and I used low sodium V8 instead of tomato juice, canned tomatoes work well too.
1/2 cup of finely chopped onion
1 large or two small cloves of garlic.
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon of dried basil
salt and pepper  a wee bit, but can be omitted or added later
1/4 cup of Worchester sauce
8 leaves of Savoy cabbage
15 oz. of Heart Smart or light tomato sauce
1 teaspoon of sugar or Stevia that is what I used

Blanch spines removed cabbage leaves for three minutes in boiling water let dry on paper towels
While browning the meat and sautéing the onions and garlic altogether in a skillet, when done drain the fat, not any from our lean beef and then add 1 1/4 cups water and 1/2 cup brown rice to the meat mixture, cover all when it comes to a boil and lower the heat and let simmer for twenty minutes.

Meanwhile combine the oregano, basil and Worchester sauce with the tomato sauce and sugar or stevia, and wait for it will be in the bottom and top of the rolled stuffed cabbage

Set up for filling cabbage leaves less than half a cup each roll like egg rolls, seam down into casserole or flat pan with Pam sprayed on the bottom and thin layer of sauce the reserve will go over the top.
Place each cabbage roll in casserole or pan then pour remainder of sauce over it and place uncovered in preheated 350 degree oven for one hour!

Two meals for us, quite filling and enjoyable hope you try it for a change of pace!
Wolfie's at the Bergen Mall in Paramus NJ adjacent to Ohrbach's where I worked while in high school, they also used to served it with mashed potatoes and so we had that too, but not necessary with the brown rice, but the tomato sauce gravy makes it oh so tasty and still not a dietary caloric failure, especially for dinner, still comes in lower than you might expect!

Try it if you haven't had it while vacationing in the Catskills, my Mom was not a great cook so for me to have these types Jewish style of meals they were usually out...sorry Mom, but I still love ya.
Fortunately, going to college in NYC with all those great delis I wanted for nothing, ahhhhhhhhhhh Tradition!

PS raisins can be added to the filling and make it that much more better as we used to say!

Good night to all!

And next time please be here or be square, ya hear! 

I am sooooo proud of all my sisters!

As far as I can tell the Women's March was a great success!
We are the fairer sex we have been told and yes we are! Our decisiveness is our mainstay!
Women consider all others and commiserate with compassion, love and understanding, and yet we will not be put down for our strengths of beliefs in what is right due to our uncanny ability to utilize our uncommon sense in the toughest of situations! We understand everyone's needs to be able to choose what is right for them and them alone without being judgmental, but with caring support.
We love profusely, we fight with our wits and care as much as we can to make things right for all people not ever just ourselves, so we unselfishly want to be there to help others succeed and pull them up with us, never push them down, we are equal to all, never better or worse.
We have succeeded in every profession from doctors to nurses and teachers, to engineers to astronauts to CEOs, from mothers to volunteers and on and on we go!
Our feelings can be tough or tender and neither is wrong, but just is when called on to be very, very necessary!
For we are W-O-M-A-N hear us ROAR! Or with a whisper...to make a point, but always, always here or there for you saying yeses more than nos.
And we are 52% of the population!
So we are very STRONG!
And that my dear friends is why we have the power to change things!

Sadly today we did not join the troops and opted to be supportive from afar.
The multitudes of our women of our countries i.e. worldwide that make me so in awe of us and being a part of this race called humans!
I am overwhelmed.

Be well and always do well as our history shows my sisters and carry-on, since there is much to still be done!

I proclaim this day of January 21st to be International Women's Day!

What say thee?



 

No luck for me today!

No additional organization with grants yet for my asthma medication although two said to continue to check back.

On the brighter side my Canadian prescription has been processed and shipped today!
At least it did show up on my credit card and that is what they had said they charge you when they ship, globalpharmacyplus.com
So YAY for that.

Bad luck with my right hand is now more swollen and bruised looking from my basilar arthritis that was actually ready for surgery 16 years ago!
I guess I temporarily have to stay off of it, ha!
Hubby is called for more kitchen jobs than before, like scooping my drop biscuits that were to go with our pot roasted dinner, unfortunately my pressure cooker about thirty year's old and stainless, my first was aluminum but when they came out with aluminum causing Alzheimer's I no longer used it and my mother-in-law bought us both of them as gifts and this newer one included, and ironically she was the one who ended up with dementia! Oh and this one leaked and burned and made quite a mess, and so Hubby went up to Bocca Lupas to pick up a sausage calzone to share!

Not all bad news...
Great luck and wellness for my FB friend Claire who has gotten a clean bill of health from her doctors that she has beaten cancer and is now cancer free, best news ever!

And sadly, I gave in to watching the news while writing and waiting for Hubby to return with dinner, this is the world news on PBS!
Why was there violence at the inauguration?
Those people give us liberals and Dump the Trump people a bad name!
Peaceful resistance is what we should have.

He's back with dinner, see ya!