An alex chee essay

I just love how his writing.  You can read Annie Dillard and The Writing Life here.

Good morning!

Numbers addendum

Popped over to the Mayo Clinic website and was encouraged by what I read.

My triglycerides drop moved me into the "optimal" (and best) category according to the American Heart Association.

My "good" cholesterol rise pushed me from the "better" category into the "best".  My number is good enough to lower my risk of heart disease.

My "bad" cholesterol rise was not significant enough to move me into a worse category.  So I remain, as I was in 2007, at "borderline high".

Off to e-mail my doctor to see what she thinks.

Stretching

A couple of months ago, Vinny made some therapeutic recommendations for the kids.

Both kids are generally healthy...but.  They both have trouble settling down for bed/night time.  Fears rear up.  "Bad thoughts" invade.  Stomachs start to ache.

Our household is generally healthy...but.  Dustiness and clutter persist.  Time together, as a family, is very limited.  Tension happens.

On top of that, we have one boy who entered double digits recently and one who is firmly now a tween.  They are experiencing changes, daily, that are at times exciting and at times discomfiting.

So, these days of quiet rest-of-Winter beckon to me as an opportunity.  We have a chance now to slow down.  To pay attention.  To nest and nurture.  To play, to learn, to move...to rest, rest, rest.

The kids have been practicing their form of Qigong since the new year.  Today, I brought them outside to incorporate a new exercise: hanging from a bar.

I tried it, too.  I am not very strong.  The brief stretch, however, was potent.  I am convinced that is what finally got my stagnated period to flow.

Peace.

A funny thing happened

While I was frying up a package of bacon for the 12 egg frittata I was making, our family doctor's office called to tell me my cholesterol was high.  I had to laugh.  (I only used 1/3 of the bacon for the frittata, the kids ate the rest for lunch.)

Isn't it pretty?  You can find the recipe here.  I wasn't hungry so I haven't tucked into it yet.

So, the numbers.  I don't really understand them.  I know there's a standard way of reading the numbers, I know that there are ways of reading between the lines...other ways of understanding the numbers.

I'm going to discuss with our family doc, discuss with Vinny, maybe do some research.  I am at a definite plateau in terms of weight loss and energy gaining.  So I have been pondering change anyway.  Whether this will include a change in food, I do not know.

For now, I plan on eating this sun dried tomato-bacon-thyme-Parmesan frittata with much joy.

Jan. 2012:

(total cholesterol: 247.  "bad" cholesterol: 153.  "good" cholesterol: 76.  triglycerides: 88.)

Dec. 2007: 

(total cholesterol: 216.  LDL: 137.  HDL: 52.  VLDL: 27.  triglycerides: 134.)

I did not ask for the specific numbers for blood sugar and iron levels.  I was told both those were good and improved from 2007.

Warmth time light mood

Someone posted this on Facebook today and, man, I would love something like this...  We would all sleep so much better.

This morning I arrived early to the library.  Silke's birthday macarons were in my hands and the winter light crossed wires with the balmy Springish air.

We had a lovely chat, long overdue.  Birthday gifts were exchanged.  Warm bevvies were consumed.

After we parted ways, it was a string of busy-ness for me.  One thing after another after another.  I sipped a mango kombucha along the way.

I think my Turkish entree the other night probably had white flour in it.  I've been reacting, but not like a couple of weeks ago when I had the intense stomach pain.  I also had sugar that night, I tried Turkish coffee, which turned out to be presweetened.

The skin on my legs (between my ankels up to mid-calf) has been unbearably itchy at times, I have woken up overheated from deep slumber the past two nights, I have bright pink patches of skin on my cheeks and on my palms.  These issues used to be very prevalent and all but the itchy skin on the legs had completely ceased since going sugar- and grain-free.  The itchy skin had decreased dramatically, but still popped up every now and again.

My period is late, which I think is unrelated to the gluten ingestion.  But, it could totally be yet another manifestation of the general stagnation which seems to be the flavor of the month.

Anyway, my mental/ADDish stuff seems to be clearing up some.  This afternoon I unexpectedly had about an hour to myself and I made a bunch of phone calls that needed to be made (earlier in the day I had made a "to do" list to organize myself).

The second episode of this season's Downton Abbey finally recorded.  I restrained myself to watching just the one last night.  Off to watch the third episode (which recorded about a week ago).  The new episode, episode five, airs on Friday, I think.

Peace and love.

Updated 2012 book list

The list currently stands at 28.  Hmm.  I suppose that's what happens when there are so many books out there.  Some of these I've wanted to read for years.  Some of these have been living on my bookshelf partially read for years.  Some of these were deemed "best books" at the end of 2011.  Some are new works by favorite authors.  Some have been enthusiastically mentioned by friends.  Some have been enthusiastically mentioned by bloggers.

One Four Five down, twenty-four one (or more!) to go.

*finished Feb. 15, 2012

* #26.  can borrow from a friend and I think it will be a quickish read.

*finished Feb. 23, 2012

* finished March 3, 2012

* finished Jan. 19, 2012

* #28. season 2 starts April 1. but the Rothfuss book comes highly recommended.

both bigass tomes in same genre.

* finished February 3, 2012

*#27. not calling me to as much as the other 25.  but I already own it (thanks Barbra)

and it has a special appeal.

I ♥ my bookstore

As January comes to a close, February beckons with a smile.

Partly, it is this mild Winter we are having in the Northeast U.S.  The increasing light makes more of an impact when temperatures are comfortably above freezing.  There have even been Spring-like days in that climate change sort of way.

Partly, it is the winding down of our family's slew of celebrations which begin with Sag's birthday/Thanksgiving and continue through our anniversary, Winter Solstice, Christmas, New Year's, Cap's birthday and then, finally, my birthday.

There's always some unexpected excitement, in our case presently it is the prospect of buying a new car, but generally, the mood at the end of January is: let's get back to business.

One of my projects this year is to work through my 2012 Book List.  Before I had kids, I used to read a lot.  Mostly fiction.  I started reading for pleasure when I was about five or six and I was a voracious reader through college.  I slowed down after college, in part, because I was "free" to watch tv.  (My tv watching was seriously limited growing up and I never lived in a dorm/house that had a tv in college.)

I now have more flexibility to read, but my love of tv is strong.  Last year, I read ten books that I remember (thanks to Goodreads...which I haven't always been consistent about using but plan to this year)... and only two of them were adult fiction.  (The rest were non-fiction, memoirs, young adult fiction and graphic novels.)

I decided to make a book list to spur on my reading of fiction this year.  My cap is 25 and I now have 24 selections.  I completely reserve the right to switch books in and out as the year progresses.

Cap has been giving me books from my list...for our anniversary, Christmas and my birthday.  I have Xmas and birthday money from my mom and MIL that is earmarked for "future books".  Yesterday, Danielle gave me a gift card for one of our bookstores in town.

Today, I took some time for myself and went to the bookstore.  This bookstore that I love so much.  It is an incredibly inspiring space with warm booksellers at the ready to help you remember the title or author of a book, make recommendations and/or order something for you which usually takes 1-2 days to arrive.

It's also a space that invites you to browse and browse and browse.  Which is what I did today.

all photos pulled from web.

I will admit being struck anew by how expensive books are.  (All books in this shop are discounted 10% off cover.  Hardcover bestsellers receive a bigger discount.)  But, the silver lining for me was that my budget and the prices dictated that I become highly selective and more thoughtful about my process.

I flipped through five books I thought I might add to my 2012 list.  (I am very tactile...whether it's books or yarn, I derive a lot of joy in the holding.)  But, I only bought one (Swamplandia!) and I wrote the other titles down so I could research them later.  They didn't have a book I wanted so I ordered that (Going Bovine).

So my gift card will pay for Swamplandia! and Going Bovine.  Gratitude.  See my next post for the new and improved book list!

Delphinium

Fueled by Turkish coffee, I finished a Dolores Park Cowl.  The yarn is Misti Alpaca Handpainted Chunky in Delphinium (which looks like it may be a discontinued colorway).  I love alpaca wool.  This cowl is incredibly soft and wonderfully warm.  Yum.

(Not sure I am keeping it, however...)

My honey, my chef

Cap made us a lovely birthday dinner.  Sugar-, casein- and grain-free, of course.

 turkey kebabs.

 salmon patty cakes.

 roasted broccoli and bacon.

 coconut custard and dark chocolate truffles.

you rock, Cap.  thank you ♥

Happy happy

It's my birthday!  (I love my birthday.)

It has been a wonderful day and I am, indeed, very happy.

I have been enveloped in birthday greetings from near and far.  (One of my favorite things about Facebook is receiving so many sweet wishes from friends there.)

This morning we woke late, but opted to get dressed quickly and head over to Raymond's.  Sadly, there was no corned beef hash, but it was a pleasure hanging out there with the family.  I especially appreciated Gem's breakfast of two sides of bacon and a lemonade.

Then we zipped over to see Anthony at the Farmer's Market.  I was delighted he had eggs left.  I also picked up ground sirloin and ground lamb for the week.

I dropped the boy off at home and went to Vinny for a special birthday TCM session.  Sooooo good.  I was treated to my own private northern lights-behind-my-eyelids type of light show (purple figured prominently and influenced me later in the yarn shop).  The energy work was insane.  At one point I felt like I knew what it will feel like to die.  I was a little scared wondering if I was, indeed, dying, but overall it was amazing and insightful and peaceful.

I was home for a bit and then went out with Donna.  We went to Stix N Stitches (her first time).  It felt great to back there.  I can feel my knitting mojo coming back little by little.  I found a lovely and will search Ravelry for a hat pattern for myself.  This shop is great and has a very cool owner.  You get a onetime 20% discount during your birthday month.  She's starting a sale tomorrow so gave me that discount, too.  The balance of a gift certificate Danielle gave me for my birthday a couple of years ago covered today's purchase.

We went to a new cafe in town and I had a satisfyingly salty Cobb salad chock full of bacon bits and blue cheese (it's that time of the month).

I thought we might browse in the bookstore (the one with used books is in the vicinity of the yarn shop), but Cap and the kids gave me my gift right before I left and I didn't feel the need after that!

I've been relaxing with Lula as the day grew dark.  Cap's been cooking up a storm in the kitchen and the kids have been playing and blogging and watching Mythbusters.

Maybe a movie or some games after dinner.  It doesn't matter what we do, it has been a day overflowing with goodness and love.  I am utterly sated.