Happy March!
I will be enjoying early spring weather here, for this week at least.
You can be a masterpiece AND a work in progress at the same time.
Yesterday I went for a walk at Red Butte Garden. The Garden had been closed in January, and I promised myself that I would visit it in February. I cut it close, but made it happen.
Yesterday was cold and snowy at times. The paths were clear, but there were some slick spots, so I had to pay attention where I put my feet. There weren't very many people: I saw a couple and three young women while I was walking. On my way out, I saw another couple and a mom with two kids. I could hear the birds twittering in the trees because it was so quiet. It was a wonderful afternoon of restoration.
The Garden is dear and familiar to me, and even though I know what is around every curve in the paths, each season gives those curves a different look. Here are some photos:
This chubby little bird greeted me when I first entered the Garden. He hopped along with me for a little way.
The unusual thing is that I cooked every night this week. Usually there is one night that is devoted to refrigerator clean-out, and we have leftovers, but we didn’t have many leftovers this week. Most of our meals were chicken-based.
We had teriyaki pineapple chicken meatballs one night. Have you ever had those? I get them from Costco. T really likes them. I bake them, then smother them in teriyaki sauce. If I’m feeling extra sassy, I’ll cut up chunks of onion and pepper and add a can of pineapple. I didn’t do that this week, mostly because I didn’t do a very good job of planning ahead. I served the meatballs over rice. There were leftovers, and T ate them the next day.
Another day I made chicken and rice. It was supposed to be paella-like, but was a poor imitation. Instead of saffron, I used turmeric, which does a great job of turning the rice yellow. The rice was Arborio, which is typically used to make risotto. I couldn’t find the traditional Bomba rice around here, even though I tried. The rice was paired with chicken and chicken chorizo. It was fine. I liked it for lunch because it was light and tasty enough.
We also had sloppy joes one night. No chicken in that dish! It’s a comfort food and very easy to make. Another comfort food, and what I fixed tonight, is eggs and potatoes.
All of the food was good, but the best thing I made this week, at least in my opinion, was chicken fajitas.
I never really ate chicken fajitas until Lizzie made them for us one day while she was visiting. I’m not a big fan of peppers, especially green peppers, but when the peppers are sautéed in a bit of oil, they soften and sweeten, like onions, and they taste pretty good. I don’t buy fajita seasoning; I create my own with seasonings I have in my spice rack. I use cumin, cayenne pepper, garlic powder, salt and pepper, and smoked paprika. I season the chicken liberally, cook it, remove it from the pan, add a bit more oil, then throw in the veg. When the veggies are soft and lovely, I add the chicken back and mix it all together. So good!
It’s rare, but if there is a bit of fajita left over, I will cook some rice and have chicken fajita fried rice for lunch the next day. Add a bit of avocado, maybe some black beans and corn, and you’ve got a hearty lunch taste sensation! There were no leftover fajitas last night. We gobbled them up because, if I say so myself, they were among the best fajitas I have ever made.
What did you eat that made your taste buds smile this week? I’m always looking for meal ideas!
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A quick follow up on Harley and her toenail. She is well on her way to recovering. Tonight she is feeling downright perky. The toenail is cut very short, and I think it will grow back.
I am having sympathy toe pain for Harley. Last night when I got in bed, I felt the toenail on my left pinky toe snag on my sheet. My toenail had a piece hanging off the toe. I snipped it, but I can still feel a wee nubbin of toenail there. Today the shoe and sock rubbed against the toe and it is uncomfortable. Sympathy toe.
Have a good weekend!
Last Thursday night/early Friday morning, after I picked T up from work, I climbed back into bed and snuggled up with the dogs, looking forward to getting back to sleep. As I was drifting off, I heard a persistent slurping noise. It was Harley, licking her right foot obsessivel . I shone the torch from my phone onto her foot to see what had her attention and noticed that the toenail on what would be the pinky toe of her right foot was cracked and split. It looked like she had two toenails. I gently touched it and she flinched, so I could tell she was in some pain.
I called the vet first thing on Friday morning, but they were unable to see her until noon on Wednesday (today). On Saturday morning I called to see if there were cancellations - there wasn’t. I called another vet but they were all booked. I called an emergency vet and was told that a split toenail didn’t qualify as an emergency. I did not call our vet on Monday: I did call on Tuesday, but no cancellations. I was worried because it looked terrible and seemed to be causing her discomfort. I could kind of see inside the toenail, to the tender part. That’s not right. She played and went for walks and acted normal, but when she settled down for the night, she would lick, lick, lick, that foot.
You may be wondering how the poor dog split her toenail. She might have snagged it on something. She might have been jumping and playing with Mac and cracked it on Mac’s tooth or on the concrete. Maybe she had a misstep on a walk. I don’t remember anything in particular that happened on Thursday and I don’t recall her licking the foot so persistently before that night, although MT says she was.
Finally, it was Wednesday. T barricaded Mac in his room so Harley and I could go to the vet. Mac hates to be left behind. Our vet office is not allowing people to bring their pets in; they come out to the car to get the critters. I showed the tech Harley’s toenail and she told me that Harley would probably have to be sedated so the vet could cut it back. She said it would take about half an hour. Since I live just a couple of miles from the vet’s office, I just came home. The vet called me about 20 minutes later and told me that she had to cut the nail way back because the quick was exposed (ouch!).
When I picked Harley up from the vet, she was still a little “drunk” from the sedation. I had to pick her up to put her in the car. She just sat there, her eyes all blurry, her tongue slipping out the side of her mouth, her right paw wrapped in a bright pink bandage.
Back at home, Mac was very curious about Harley’s paw and was extra curious about the cone of shame I had to put on Harley before I went back to work at the office. I actually gave Mac part of a sedative to keep her calm so she wouldn’t mess with Harley. I left work a little early because I was a bit concerned about the two of them. I didn’t need to worry. They were both mellow when I got home. I took Mac out for a walk - what a breeze to just walk the one! Harley can’t go out for walks for at least four days.
Harley has a few meds to take: an antibiotic, a pain reliever, and the above-mentioned mild sedative. She does have a cone, but she hasn’t had it on since I’ve been home. I put a little baggie over the bandage when she has to go outside. She does not like the baggie on the foot. Mac is intrigued by it.
I’m glad I get to work from home tomorrow so I can keep an eye on the doggos. T will be home on Friday, so he can watch them then. Mostly we want to be sure the toenail site doesn’t get infected.
Harley is such a sweet girl. Her eyes look kind of sad and she has an overall vibe of“what the hell happened?” We’ll be sure to treat her extra tenderly while she recovers.
This weekend I was listening to music while I was cleaning up the kitchen. This song, My Ex's Best Friend, came on and I was dancing and bobbing around the kitchen. The hook makes me jump around like I'm in the general admission section at a concert. Granted, I don't really go to the general admission section much anymore - I'm too old for that shit. Plus, I can't sustain the jumping through the whole hook like I used to. Again, I'm too old for that shit. But this song kinda makes me feel young again and I totally love it.
Here's the video. Give it a listen, if you want.
While I was thinking about what to write tonight, I found myself with a lot of questions about the day.
2. Mac's collar. When I got home yesterday afternoon, I planned to take the dogs for a walk. The sidewalks were clear and though it was cold, I have a warm coat and I'm good at layering my clothing. The thing was that Mac's collar was, and still is, missing. Mac and Harley play their faces off, and sometimes Harley manages to take Mac's collar right off her neck. (I keep it kind of loose so she's comfortable.) I looked all over the house and even out in the back yard, but I couldn't find the collar anywhere. Not having a collar could not stop us from taking a walk. Both dogs have harnesses that I have used to curb their extreme pulling. I bought Mac's harness when she was little. It still fits, but definitely now looks teeny-tiny on her nearly full-grown body.
3. Giving up on being down for Lent. In the past I have given things up for Lent, things like sweets or Diet Coke. Honestly, this does not make me a better person. I actually think it makes me a worse person to be around. I'm not a religious or even a particularly spiritual person, so I'm not really sure why I even thought it was a good idea to give up something I like for 40 days. There was a bit of conversation about it with the work group through Teams. One lady said she was going to focus on self-care for 40 days, and I really like that idea. Self-care is something that I have been focusing on throughout the pandemic. Women, especially, often put themselves last when it comes to taking care of themselves over their family, and I think that is flawed. If we don't take care of ourselves, how can we take care of others?
I was thinking about all of that and I googled self-care for Lent ideas and found this nice blogpost that had some cool ideas. What I'm going to do is name one non-scale victory (NSV) each day for 40 days. A non-scale victory is a WW term for finding a win that is not related to the number on the scale. For me, I still want my NSV to still be related to the weight loss wellness journey.
My first NSV of Lent was that I paired a couple of things that I want to turn into habits together. I want to finish my evening with a nice cup of tea after I clean up the kitchen. It's kind of a signal that the busy part of the day is over and it's time to relax and time to stop eating. I also find that I have been more successful in my weight loss when I plan what I'll eat the next day and write it down the night before (pre-track in the WW lingo). Last night, I fixed myself a wonderful, warm cup of blackberry/elderberry tea, grabbed my planner, and figured out what I would eat the next day (which is today). The bonus: I actually stuck to my meal plan today! Most of the time, when I have a plan, I will stick to it, even if it's just to prove to myself that I can. Heck, the fact that I followed my eating plan might be today's NSV!