Who ever heard of a 200-lb sparrow?

Because of my shoulder impingement, my orthopedist has me going to physical therapy twice a week. When the PT gal took me into the big room where all the equipment is, I found it had an entire floor to ceiling mirrored wall. I was shocked and disgusted at what I looked like! I badly need to lose weight and Curves hasn't helped at all.

I have a terrible problem with my appetite after supper. I spend the entire evening prowling around in hunter mode..."Now, what can I eat?"  It's downright obsessive--if I watch a TV show, I keep mulling over what I'm going to eat during the next commercial break.

I decided that maybe it would help to eliminate carbohydrates from supper since they seem to trigger the eating binges. So last night, I only had a piece of salmon for supper (the No-Name brand marinated frozen portions). It tasted great and I didn't get hungry all evening! I had a bowl of cereal before bed but that was it--no ice cream, no popcorn or munchies, no crackers and cheese, nothing!

I think I might be onto something. I know this smacks of the Dr Atkins diet but I'm only doing this in the evening. I will eat my carbs during the day because I love carbs a lot.

My goal for now is to get the numbers on the scale under 200. Sometimes I wonder if the scale even goes under 200 as it has bounced around between 200 and 210 for years.

You can be sure that if this works for me, I'll be letting you know in the big red letters!

What you should know...

I enjoy reading a wide variety of blogs. All of them offer humor or sharing, different slants on the world and often provide real facts and knowledge.

Case in point:  The Equalizer/Frances Cerra Whittlesey

The writer is a consumer advocate and activist. She has written several recent articles on the scandal of unnecessary hysterectomies and the devastating after-effects it can have on women's health and happiness.

I was shocked at what she has to say.

Decompressing

I was away at the Celebrate Yourself arts retreat over the weekend. It's always a humbling experience to be around so many beautiful, talented women.  I'm not talking about appearance and glamorous clothes. I'm referring to those deeper resources of womanhood that, despite physical attributes or limitations, continue to give birth to wonderful, creative art.  It's in our bones--this need to create. We get together and paint, draw, write, dance, sing and celebrate. It's a gestalt of collective energy that defies explanation. 

I attended a writing class with the poet and author Wendy Brown-Baez. She is such a marvelous talent that I'm double humbled. Wendy is a fascinating woman who has lived in Israel and Oaxaca, Mexico and traveled the back roads of the world. Check out her blog for an entrancing read.

Follow-ups

Just in case you've been wondering:
(Yes, I am a Ms. Piggy fan!)

I called the Census Bureau and had them send me a form. It's going out in today's mail.

I finally found the lost pictures of my three great-granddaughters that I put away before Christmas. They were in a dresser drawer hidden under gift wrap and stuff. I felt like a dork for not finding them in such an obvious place, not to mention all the time I wasted looking!

I haven't gotten any more strange comments from Anonymous.

My computer continues to be balky. A computer-savvy friend suggested that I switch from Internet Explorer to Mozilla Firefox for better service. I'm in the throes of getting that done. It's really tough for computer-putzes like me!

My car still has the big dent, but a friend was able to get the passenger-side door to open almost all the way, so things are good.

My shoulder is still sore off and on, but the cortisone shots have helped. The orthopedist now has me going to Physical Therapy to strengthen that shoulder. I will see my other orthopedist for the sciatica on Thursday and find out where my spine "stands".

As I read back through my old posts, I realize that I complain waaay too much. I will try to do better--if only for my own sake!

Coexistance

Tuesday evening I went to a meeting. When I was driving home on I-94 afterwards, I was nearly sideswiped by a car in the next lane. It had a bumper sticker:

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I want to be meee...

Once upon a time I was a Girl Scout. I even had the green dress to prove it.

It was made out of heavy twill and had buttons all the way down the front.

I really liked Girl Scouts because we made interesting things. My friend, Geraldine, was in 4H (Head, Heart, Hands & Health) which was a group sponsored through the county extension office. She wanted me to join too. I didn't want to be in 4H because I didn't want to be a farm wife.

I had already made that decision in the 4th grade. In fact, I didn't even want to be called a "Mrs." I had already formed the opinion that a girl lost her identity because married women were always referred to by their husband's name. Even the church cookbook credited the recipes to a man's wife--eg. Mrs. George Good, not Mary Ann Good. (In other words, any woman who is married to George Good.)

I wonder how many generations of women felt as I did at the injustice of being an auxiliary person. I'm so lucky to have been born in an era when we were all becoming enlightened about human rights issues. I'm not an ardent feminist (I am a Minnesotan after all.) Nevertheless, I have arrived at a place where I'm just me--a whole person in my own right!

By the way, I saw Geraldine at our 50th class reunion last year and she's happily married to a farmer.

Ms. Sparrow moans and groans

It's been a full week since I last posted. I'm really disappointed in myself--I meant to do better but you know how life gets in the way. One reason is that I joined Curves two months ago under a program where my health insurance pays half of the fees if I go at least three times a week.

I had hopes that this would build up my muscle strength and relieve my creaky joints in the process. The program was carefully designed to prevent the exercises from making any conditions worse, but the only benefit so far is increased stamina. The joints are still giving me grief.

I've had sciatica for some years and I've been getting periodic spinal epicdurals to relieve the pain. I had planned to get another one last week but after the MRI and visit to the doctor who does the injection, I was told that the spinal changes are worse. I can't have another steroid injection until I go back to the orthopedic surgeon.

Now I must tell you that I have a cousin and a sister-in-law who were really loused up by having spinal surgery. They are both quite disabled and feel that the surgery only made them worse. I'm told the the laminectomy surgery for sciatica is 85% effective. I'm not yet disabled to any great extent and I'm not taking pain medication on a regular basis. So, it appears that I'm faced with risking the surgery or putting up with the pain and inconvenience from now on.

Besides running to the doctor, I went out of town for the weekend, I got my taxes done and had my son over for a few more odd jobs.

Plus, I read all of your blogs. That, my dear friends, keeps my life on track! You are a great bunch to follow!

Hershey's Better Basket Blog Hop

I posted recently about the wonderful chocolate-covered Peeps chicks I got at Candyland. I decided they couldn't too hard to make so I bought a bunch of Peeps and three large Hershey bars. I melted the chocolate in a double boiler and cut apart the rows of the Peeps. That's when I discovered that they are not all created equal. Some were skinny, some were lopsided and some were just plain funny-looking. Nevertheless, I proceeded and used a pair of tongs to dip each little pink Peep-type thing in chocolate up to the neck. I quickly plopped them onto waxed paper on a chilled cookie sheet.

The first ones looked pretty good but as I got farther down in the chocolate, it got more difficult to handle the tongs so they got sloppier and messier. Some wound up with chocolate splattered on their heads and some are swimming in puddles of chocolate. But darn, do they taste good!

I got the "Hershey's Easter Basket Blog Hop" from Cheryl K . This is to raise $7,000 for the Children's Miracle Network.

HERSHEY’S BETTER BASKET BLOG HOP RULES:

•Copy and paste these rules to your blog post.
•Create a blog post giving a virtual Easter Basket to another blogger – you can give as many Virtual Baskets as you want.
•Link back to person who gave you an Easter Basket
•Let each person you are giving a Virtual Easter Basket know you have given them a Basket.
•Leave your link at BetterBasket.info/BlogHop comment section.
You can also find the official rules of this betterbasket blog hop, and more information about Better Basket with Hershey’s there.

I'm giving a Better Basket to Gayle at Gramme's Blog and Buttercup in New York.

Have a nice Easter, everyone!

Who's got the census?

This will be the first Easter in memory that I haven't cooked a big dinner for my family and friends. This really didn't hit me until several days ago when I was reading through the grocery store ads. There were all the things that I was rarin' to shop for, and no reason to do it. It was the first time I fully realized how much I enjoy cooking for others.

This probably explains why I frequently have dreams where I'm frantically trying to get a meal together to feed a bunch of strangers. It's always a different setting and indistinct people who ignore me, yet I'm rushing around in my attempts to create order and feed the throng. It's kinda sad when you think about it--my deepest need is to cook!

I will be going out of town to spend Easter with my daughter and her family, including my three great-granddaughters. So, it will still be a very special Easter.

BTW: This morning's paper said that today is the deadline to mail back census forms. No forms ever came to my house, so now what? Will the Feds be coming after me?