End of Season Tasks

Last week and this, Paul and I have been tidying up the garden in preparation for winter.  Paul took down our birdhouse for winter storage, we gathered up the tomato cages, and covered some of our perennials.  Paul will run the mulching lawnmower over the grass to collect up the leaves on Monday, when the weather is predicted to be "warm".  We also arranged for Sears to come do routine maintenance on our snowblower. 

Paul and I also went through our canned goods, purging any expired ones, cleaning and sorting.  This was not planned; the upper shelf of our Lazy Susan base cabinet shifted down, needing an adjustment, which Paul took care of.  But I have been meaning to go through it, so all was good.  The trick is to use up all of the duplicates I found and didn't realize I had - how much coconut milk can one person accumulate?!  I see Thai food in our future, maybe some Indian or Caribbean as well.  We are well stocked in vegetable soup for the winter.  It feels good to have that done. 

Sadly, there is a frost predicted for tonight.  So I went out and collected the last of the herbs before they are frozen.  Surprisingly, in spite of some pretty cold and awful weather in the past month, three herbs survived: rosemary, oregano, and parsley.  In keeping with my international cooking, I will also need to make some recipes that use parsley and oregano (Italian, anyone?!).  The rosemary I plan on using to make a rosemary hair rinse (link to holistichabits video/prep instructions here).  Rosemary is great for the hair, and has aromatherapy benefits as well, which apparently one will smell while prepping the hair rinse.

Left to right: rosemary, parsley, oregano

Workouts With Personal Trainer/Sugar Addiction

I was going to title this, "The Elephant in the Room", tongue-in-cheek, but I am trying to bring more positivity into my life, especially around body image.  It has recently dawned on me, in a BIG way (no pun intended) that I really need to take the difficult steps involved in promoting my own health.

My winter and spring consisted of: feeling unmotivated, not exercising, getting sick at least three times between November 2016 and now (some related to CIRS, but more on that later), and eating horribly, but with sporadic attempts to set myself right.  I would get on a good path, but then feel deflated and unmotivated.  Some of this may be due to feeling depressed.  I have been taking supplements to help this, but the whole exercise piece was missing.  So I stumbled along, knew I was gaining weight, knew I wasn't feeling well even when I wasn't officially sick.  And let's just say that my approach to sugar, ice cream, and candy bars is (and hopefully - was), like that of an addict.

I finally had the courage to step on the scale - shocking.  I know my clothes weren't fitting well, but, you know, tomorrow. I had been thinking of booking some sessions with a personal trainer months ago, but wanted to wait until after Portland.  Then I got super sick, and did nothing.  But eat.

Recently, I watched some YouTube videos on fitness and lifestyle.  I became motivated to try once again to get a handle on this.  In a stroke of luck, I received a free trainer session from the health club since it is my birthday month.  I signed up, was able to choose my trainer online (which was hard, but thankfully I picked one I match well with), and set up the first session.

The first session was mostly evaluation of my strength, flexibility, diet, etc.  Then she had me stand on this diagnostic fitness tool called "In Body":

The In Body told us my weight, which I already knew was up there, my total body fat percentage, my muscle mass, and some other stuff that I wasn't really tuned into (too focused on the first three).  In a nutshell, my fat percentage is too high, and my muscle mass is too low.  It was a lot worse than I thought it would be.  We talked about diet and sugar, and a lot of other stuff.  Ultimately in the end I signed up for a series of sessions.  

I have been exercising every day, even if it is just a walk throughout the neighborhood.  I figured out a .75 mile distance and do that when I don't go to the health club.  And I have stopped treats for now, with the exception of a little bit of nice, dark chocolate (Wei of Chocolate Dark Creamy, sweetened with coconut blossom sugar), and I had a little bit of Tyler's chocolate cake the other night at a restaurant.  I also had ordered some prepped meals from Meez Meals (Mise en Place).  That helped so much with cooking - most of the prep is all done.  I also saw a product on YouTube to add to my smoothies in the morning that seems to help with the cravings.  I am going to go through the fridge, freezer, and pantry over the next few days, and get all set up to promote proper diet. 

So I think I am on the right track.  My trainer worked me very hard today, but I felt great afterwards.  And it is easier to feel positive when one is doing positive things!

Mini-Pantry Remodel (Phase 10) Completed!

Paul has really outdone himself on this one.  He took a small pantry area that had been constructed of painted, roughly cut pine pieces and constructed what is (at least, to me!) a fine piece of furniture.  Our mini-pantry is a bookshelf-sized area just off the kitchen, just before you traverse the basement steps.  Silly me, I did not get a before picture, although I do have one after I painted the backboard and before installation.  It is wonderful to begin to put everything back and organize.

The raw space with old structure removed, after I painted the backboard

While painting that, I was inspired to paint the basement stairwell 

(trim along that edge to follow later)

Paul, using the new gizmo he got from Rockler 

(a "Jig-It") to make the holes for the shelf support nuggies

Tyler "helping"

Paul made a total of 204 little holes, so I have optimum choice of shelf placement

Glorious: putting stuff back (lower shelves)

Upper shelves, including a gluten-free specific shelf up top, 

and a nice space for my cookbooks, 

and a little more room next to them for something else

Kitchen Remodel Stages Update

It's time for a progress update on the stages of our kitchen remodel.  For Phase 6, the old sink is long gone, donated to someone who likes that sort of thing.  Paul is, at this very moment, roughing in the plumbing for the sink.  When done, he will wallboard and goop.  One that is done and painted, the bases can go in.  Phase 7 has the new upper cabinets hung with the exception of one.  We traded that one in for a slightly larger one, and Paul is tweaking the design so that we have a few more inches of counter space in the corner next to the fridge.  Phase 8 is mostly done.  That section just needs some more goop on the walls, and prime and paint.  Phase 9 - complete!  The floor is done and beautiful. And I am adding Phase 10 - Mini-pantry remodel.  We have a small pantry area, the size of a narrow, not-so-deep bookshelf, located as you head to the basement stairs (just inside the doorway in the photo below).  It was sort of made up of old, repurposed materials by a former owner, but Paul is going to replace the wood with nicer wood, so that will be divine!

   

The Phases (a √ indicates completion):

1. Make it livable (completed in 1988): remove "island", place south wall base cabinets and cheap countertop) √
2. 2011-2012: New kitchen windows √
3. 2012: North wall gutting, insulating, initial electrical, wallboard, and upper cabinets, west wall uppers √
4. 2015: New basement laundry sink √
5. Knotty pine removal, wallboard, and electrical for east and south walls √
6. New base cabinets for north and west walls (including a blind corner cabinet with pull-out hardware for easy access), new sink (buh-bye old metallic monstrosity), built-in 18" dishwasher, adjustment of stove on north wall to accommodate new bases, new countertop
7. New cabinets and countertop for east and south walls
8. Knotty pine removal, electrical, and wallboard for last portion of south wall (no cabinets here)
9. New Floor √
10. Mini-pantry remodel