Do As I Say, Not As I Do

Do as I say, not as I do. How many times have we heard that? Did you ever hear it from your parents? Well hear it from me!! Only, I think I will change it up somewhat.. do as I say, and what I aspire to do... I have been harping on this blog for two years now about exercise and healthy eating. Do I follow this? Well... off and on. I have gone through periods of lots of exercise ( for a 50+ person) to very little exercise. Retirement has certainly been an obstacle in my routine. .. or should I say what routine? That's right, I lost my routine when I quit working. I have never been a person to sit around though. Just because I don't have a routine, I won't say that I have been lazy. I have indeed accomplished alot in a year, just not concerning my exercise goals. Also, my weight loss went the other way- yes, instead of losing, I have gained. I have read about probably every exercise manual and diet book and new recipes you can think of. Some I have tried, some I have dismissed. So I thought I would list some of my conclusions. They may not be your conclusions or some statistician. I have no experiments or data to have them set in stone. But here goes.

1. Every diet, be it low fat, low carb, etc. does not work on every person. Some of it is related to their hormones or how they metabolize food. My dh has been on the miracle metabolism eating plan- in a week he had lost 15 lbs, I lost 5. After 8 weeks, he had continued to lose as I gained mine back. Eating the same things!! This is low carb. The same thing happened with South Beach. My best way of losing weight is counting calories- essentially weight watchers.

2. The three main objectives in a diet are quality food, quantity of food, and frequency of food intake.
Quality-Forget all those processed low fat or low calorie foods that are not really food. If the food you eat did not have a mother, or did not grow in the ground, don't eat it. (there goes my Dr. Pepper). Eat organic if you can. Buy locally if you can. Fruits, vegetables, whole grains, lean meats, free range eggs
Quantity- portion control does matter. A menopausal woman cannot eat as much as her husband who has more muscle mass. He will lose, she will gain.
Frequency- eat those "smaller" meals several times a day instead of larger 3 square meals

3. Drink your water. You really should be drinking 1/2 your body weight in ounces. If you weigh 150, drink 75 ounces of water. Your body works the best at metabolizing food when you drink water.

4. Exercise!! I often thought that the exercise I did was not that beneficial. After all, I was not getting thin from doing it. But now after a year, of very little exercise- a hit and miss of walking and maybe doing some weight lifting here and there I know that I was wrong. Exercise is so important for health. I have had bronchitis probably 4x in a year, I have been sluggish, tired, developed arthritis. I probably could think of more.
Do aerobic exercise- to help your heart, increase your stamina.
Do anaerobic exercise- working with weights to increase your muscle mass and working your core so that when you reach, bend, pull, push, lift, etc. in your daily activities your body is able to do these things.
Stretching- do yoga or pilates for all of the above reasons.
Exercise is going to be what keeps you young.. or should I say lack of exercise is what is going to make you old- you will look old, and you will walk and move like an older person. When I was working seeing patients I could most of the time tell which 70 and 80 year olds exercised. I knew before they ever answered my question of "do you exercise?" what they were going to tell me. They either told me that they walked routinely or that they worked in the yard.

5. Destress. This to me is one of the most important areas of keeping your body fit because your mind and emotions are not separate from you body. This world and circumstances in life can certainly cause stress. Some of our stress can be avoided, but certainly some cannot. Spend time with God with prayer and reading His Word, meditate, relax, take a hot bubble bath, get a massage, spend time with friends, write in a journal, write each day something you are grateful for, write notes of encouragement to others, laugh, laugh, laugh, tell others how you love them, think positive and throw out negative thoughts, speak positively, be creative with sewing or crafts, spend time outside listening to nature, turn off your TV, phone and computer, listen to good music, do something you remembered doing as a child.

So, in conclusion... let me repeat.. do as I say.. and as I aspire to do. All of this I share with you because all of this is what I need to hear!

The Core Program.

One of my favorite things to do is find new diet/health/exercise books. I probably read more about exercising than I do exercising. LOL... So I was in Goodwill the other day, and I picked this book up for $1.99 simply because it was a hardback book instead of a softbound one. I already had other books about core training, Pilates, yoga, but this one interested me because it was written by a physical therapist. If any of you have back trouble, you know that you have had to have some kind of treatment for it- core training, Pilates, physical therapy, chiropractic care, or extreme- surgery. Probably for the last 8 years or so, every now and then I will strain my back or what I refer to as "pulling my back out". Sometimes I do this after working in the yard. Sometimes it is from doing some heavy lifting. But sometimes, I can just reach to pick up a piece of paper off the floor, and WHAM! There it goes. This book really explains about muscle elongating and muscle contraction and the reasons you can not only pull your back out, but so many other issues that come from poor muscle quality. So I have only done the beginning 15 minutes a day program two times, but I must say... omg... my back feels so much better after the stretching and conditioning in those minutes. Of course right now it is taking me longer because I am trying to familiarize myself with each exercise. Core training is not a substitute for aerobic or anaerobic exercise. But core training is what we all need as we age. Your core includes the muscles in your shoulders, back, chest, abdomen, and hips. We do so much reaching, bending, pulling, pushing, and twisting that all comes from our core. The title of the book is The Core Program and the author is Peggy W. Brill, P.T. This book is available on half.com or Amazon.com. I hope to make this a habit of working my core with these stretches. The exercises do progress to more strength training which I think I could do now since I have done core training before. However, I just decided to start from the beginning. Check it out, and let me know what you think.

Being Hearing Impaired

So today I had to take my mother to the doctor's office for a follow-up visit. Now I know there are levels of educated employees in a doctor's office- the doctor, the LVN, the RN, the receptionist, etc. And I know that some of these are highly educated, and some may be trained there from off the street. This has nothing to do with who is smart and who is not... because I want to pass on some education RIGHT NOW!! This was at the heart institute- and at this facility the patients can be all ages- children up to senior adults. But I would say that 90% of the patients that I see in this office are over 65 years old. And with age comes infirmities besides just the heart. That being said.. here is the gist of what this post is about- hearing loss. This assistant continued to ask a question when her back was turned or mumbled a reply to my mother. Why are so many people so ignorant about hearing loss? My mother has profound hearing loss. Yes, she has tried just about every hearing aid you can imagine. She was told she was not a candidate for the implants. So she lives in a world where she does not hear very well. This is the main reason I must accompany her to her appointments. So if you will let me enlighten you on how you can help someone with hearing loss then keep reading. The photo is of three generations- this is my mother, me, and two of my kids. Who else will inherit this condition in my family?

When you are speaking to someone that is hearing impaired:

1. Speak clearly- most people especially young adults rattle off words very fast. And someone in a dr's office should know... hmm... old person... probably has some hearing loss. Enunciate your words.

2. Face that person- most hearing impaired people can read lips very well from all the practice. So don't turn your face away from them when you talk to them. In fact, when you go to dinner, etc. try to arrange yourself across the table so that they can always see your lips.

3. Invite this person to go with you one on one- big groups and noisy restaurants are murder to a hearing impaired person-it is like a bunch of people are shouting garble.

4. No need to scream... you can talk louder than normal, but don't shout- they hear sound, it is just mufflled.

5. NEVER, EVER, NEVER... I repeat NEVER laugh at a hearing impaired person when they misunderstood what you said and answered the complete opposite of what you said, or if they just repeated what you were just talking about with someone else. Just repeat what you want to say.

Being unable to hear is a sad situation. But it does not have to be when you have considerate family and friends and people in the community that know how to help. I love to see how some of my mother's friends will gently nudge her when they want to get her attention to tell her something. I remember seeing a man on some show interviewed one time. This man had been a famous doctor or something, and he had gone blind and deaf. He was asked which one do you miss the most? He said , " oh that is easy to answer, losing my hearing. You see, losing your sight isolates you from things, but losing your hearing isolates you from people." I just never forgot that from so many years ago.

We do not want to see people that cannot hear to withdraw from the world. Only by being educated on helping a hearing impaired person, and being considerate of them can we make them not want to do that. And who knows... it may just be you that will need others to know this...

More Books to Be Read

So here are two more books to be read to earn some of my merit badges. The Worms Eat My Garbage is about growing your own worms for your compost pile to put in your garden. My friend Tamisha has been doing this for awhile. I have my compost pile, but no worms yet.

The other book, Bees: Nature's Little Wonders is just that.. telling all about the way God made bees to do their job. I don't know yet how indepth this book is. Both of these books have come from interlibrary loan. I am working furiously trying to get them read before I have to return them.

Final Photos of Bathroom Redo

The part of the bath that opens to the hallway.

You can see the wall art on the adjacent wall. I hung the valances too high. They need to come down about 1 1/2 inches.

Here is where I made my boo-boo. The side panels are mirror images of each other. This valance was to be just like the other valance. I messed up and did two of the sides just alike( DUH); therefore, I had to cut them off to get them right, so I added this paisley since I bought them together. I originally painted this mirror from brass-looking to silver to match the newly painted light fixtures. I did not like this, so I repainted it white.

Here is a close-up of the fabrics. I got a fantastic deal on the two fabrics for the valances- only $11.90. If they had been $50, I think I still would have bought them. But what a deal I got!! They look so good up against the dark wood, and the gold walls.

Here is the chocolate brown shower curtain.

So I am finally finished with this project.... A project that I thought would take about 4 days turned into 3 weeks. I did not work every single day of those three weeks. I would have gone absolutely crazy if I did. However; this was a very BIG project. My friend and neighbor helped me the last two days do the touch-up painting. She is a much better painter than me. Her husband came and helped us rehang the doors. That bathroom had 4 doors! One I did not have to remove, and one of them I was able to put back on myself. But the last two would not fit. He had to remove the screws on the brackets to give the door more mobility and make it fit. Now, I never would have thought of that!! He also helped me drill the holes for the boards for the valances. I did get them too high, and I hope that either he or my OWN dh will assist me in moving them down a little. All in all, I am pleased with this bathroom remodel. My ds needs to have the kitchen updated also.. but I just do not know when I will be up to that.

Right now there is a bunch of sewing projects that I want to do. I do love learning new things. It sure does stretch a person, and can also get quite unnerving!! Now is the time for me to get myself back to my healthy eating and exercise program. I have used this project for an excuse for TOO long!!

Going Green

Cut around the neck and the sleeves and then cut the bottom off according to how deep you want the bag. The shoulders of the T shirt will be your handles.

Snip off the corners at the bottom of the T shirt.

Now you will make a gusset so that the bag will have a bottom to it. This one is 2 1/4 inches. Spread your seam allowance, measure 2 1/4 inches from the corner.

Pin in place and draw a line that you will stitch.

Stitch this line and snip off the seam allowance.

Here is what the bottom of your bag now looks like.

And here is your finished, recycled, repurposed shopping bag.

So one of the badges I am in the process of earning on Mary Jane's farmgirls is "Going green". I think this falls into "Shopping green." Now I have not been a big advocate of going green. This does not mean I am opposed to it. I am rethinking alot of the waste and footprints I am leaving behind. I do still have some plastic water bottles, but it is mainly just for convenience because I have a water purifier, and I have used it for over 10 years. I must say though that if I still had babies in diapers, I don't know if I could make the switch to cloth diapers. I tried that and did not like it. However, I have heard that major improvements have been made since I was diapering my children. But back to shopping green. I saw on the Mary Jane website a farmgirl sister (Ruby Slider) had made several grocery bags out of T-shirts. When I was working on my ds's bathroom, I noticed that he had cleaned out his closet. I took the good shirts to either Goodwill or the resale shop (let me get some of my money back for all the paint I bought). But the T-shirts were to be cut up and used as rags. Yes... I am continually trying to recycle, reuse, and repurpose. So thank you Ruby for this excellent tutorial on making these shopping bags. Ruby says that they work well even with canned goods. I just cut out my first one and I am going to make it all the way through before I "tweak" it... you know.... how deep I want it, if my T shirts are too big, etc. How about you? I know you all have those old T shirts lying around. Also... in weeks to come I will show you the T shirt quilt I am presently working on for my ds.

Books I Am Reading

I am reading some books that were recommended on the Mary Jane's Farmgirl site about our food. I have not read all of them. Two of them I picked up at the local library, and one of them is from interlibrary loan. I need to get busy so I can get them all read in time. The one that I am currently reading is Animal, Vegetable, Miracle. This book is about a family that moved from California back to the husband's hometown in Virginia. They have vowed to try to eat only things that they either grow themselves or are locally grown and can be purchased at the Farmer's Market. She talks about knowing where your food came from. She also talks about the freshness because it did not take days for it to reach her. She emphasizes the importance of supporting your local farmers and of the benefits of organically grown food. So far, this book is really having an effect on me. I don't know if I can go to this extreme, but I could sure try.

Aprons

So Monday I took a break from my bathroom remodel job and got to work to make these aprons for my sister and my two nieces. I had planned on giving these to them as an extra gift for Christmas. But I had that relapse of bronchitis before Christmas and that hampered me from getting everything done. So I love love love these fabrics! Of course I love designer fabrics. I forgot the name of this fabric line, but it came from Hobby Lobby. I am just crazy now about contemporary fabrics, and these coordinating fabrics looks so cute together. I bought the fabric thinking I was just going to make my own apron from out of my head. But I found this Amy Butler pattern at a local quilt shop. I love this designer! Check out her website and see some of her bags and apparel. She is sooooo talented. I made the first apron all the way through. After I knew exactly how to do it and the steps to take, I made the other two assembly line style. Hope this inspires you to dust off that sewing machine and do something creative!

Finished... well .... almost

So here is the photo of the wall art and the two fabrics that I got on sale in the remnant stack for only $11. I chose to use the stripe and not the paisley.

Here is the tub/shower combination that shows the newly textured sheetrock over previous wallpaper. The beaded board was stained. After multiple coats of white oil base paint and caulking, it looks great.

Here is a view of the part of the bath that opens from the hallway. I spray painted the light fixture, and used a mirror that my son had somewhere else. You cannot see the cabinet very well, but I stained it a darker color. The contrast of the dark cabinet and white beaded board had a nice touch.

So I am almost finished with the bathroom redo. The job I thought would take me 4 days turned into 3 weeks. Of course that was not working every single day though. I have had interruptions as well as just needed a break from the work and breathing the paint fumes. I have a friend who helped me the last two days do the finish work. We did the touchup painting, repainted the mirror again(not the one shown in the photos), hung the outlet covers, the towel racks, the toilet paper holders, the shower curtain, the wall art....whew... and got the brackets mounted for the valances. We even got my friend's husband to help out. For the life of us we could not get the doors back on the door frames. This bathroom has 4 doors and everyone thought I got them mixed up. But I knew I didn't. I do not know why they would not fit, but my friend's husband had to loosen the screws on the brackets to get the doors to slip into the door jams. He also drilled the holes to mount my "L" brackets on the wall that will be holding the boards that my valances are attached to. But after looking at them, I see I got them too high. I will have to get either my friend's husband or gosh... my own husband who does not like doing handiwork to come and redo them. So besides that the only other thing will be cleaning the paint off the floor that I stupidly let get there!! But today... I am not going over there. I am blogging, cooking some homemade stew, and about to go lie down and read a book.

First Photo From Bathroom Makeover

Here is some "wall art" that I made for the bathroom wall. The walls are a khaki/gold. I love this fabric. I stretched it over a canvas. I got the canvas for 30% off because they forgot to remove the sign that was supposed to come down on January 1. I got the 3/4 yard of fabric for 40% with a coupon. Both came from Hobby Lobby. I am still debating on what fabric I am going to do the window valances in. I just want to hurry up and finish this project! My A.D.D. is making it tough. I don't like staying on a project for a lonnnnnnnnnnnnnng time!!

Some of My New Books

Oh my gosh.. this magazine.. I love it! But I just am not gonna tell you how much I paid for it. I had to pay full price for it. But it had three of my favorite cooks- Ree Drummond from the Pioneer Woman Cooks, Serena Thompson from the Farm Chicks, and Mary Jane Butters from Mary Jane's Farm. This was the premier magazine, and I will just have to cut back somewhere else. My books are my therapy!!

This book I did get with the 40% off coupon at Hobby Lobby. It has patterns for babies, toddlers, and on up to about age 6.

These dresses and skirts are adorable! Like I said, I just have too many things going on. I am anxious to make some outfits from this book.

I bought this book at a quilt shop in Tyler, and I have not liked it as much as the other two. Still, it does have some cute items.

Photos of recent Sewing Efforts

T This is a set of towels that I bought for a child and I just added his name. I loved this font.

This is a pretty font that I monogrammed in a chocolate brown.

Here is the Christmas dress I made for my granddaughter. Again, I think this font is cute. She wore a white long sleeve onesy and white stockings with it.

I got these jeans for a couple of bucks at the thrift shop and added the ruffle to the hem. She wore the jeans with a Christmas shirt.

This was my recycled dress. I took a skirt that I bought at the thrift shop for about $4 and cut it by the jumper pattern and made this dress. I added the white silky ruffle and monogrammed it. I think this is a velveteen.

So, I said I would post the photos and there they are. I have so many projects I want to do. I have bought a few books at Hobby Lobby when I have a coupon. I get them 40% off. I wish I had seen that they had the Serendipity book before I paid full price for it. I will make another post with some of the books I have recently purchased.

The New Year

Gosh... it's a new year! And this past year... has simply flown by!! I have now officially been retired for over a year. Yes, I cannot believe it. I have people all the time asking me how I like retirement. Let me just say, it is good, and it is bad. I like it because there is nothing pending that I have to take care of and I can choose to plan my days with no thought of having to plan them around work. But.. I have done what so many others do, and that is I am not as disciplined on many things because I know there is no rush to get things done.
Now, don't get me wrong... I am no slouch. I have done lots and lots of projects. And oh my gosh.. I have so many projects that I want to do. Right now I am in the biggest one I have had in awhile. For a Christmas gift, I am giving my oldest son a bathroom uplift. And this has become much more than I thought. I paid a carpenter to mud and texture the sheetrock above the beaded board paneling. And then I thought I would have the room painted in 4 days. No..no..no.. I am painting the beaded board with oil base paint so it is taking awhile to let it dry between coats. And the beaded board was a dark color and is now white. It is taking lots of paint to cover over this paneling. The paint on the sheetrock went very fast. Also, I thought I would not be messy with the paint and did not have the floor covered. Can you say STUPID!!!
I spent all morning today just trying to remove paint off the floor. I am still not finished with the painting. I also stained the cabinets a darker color. This really turned out good. The contrast with the white beaded board, the gold/khaki walls, and the dark cabinets looks good. But I am not a good painter. It is just not looking perfect enough for me. And my arthritis is bothering me so bad that I cannot hold up but to about 4-5 hours a day. I now have about 30 hours invested in this room. I will post photos at another time- when I finish.. whenever that will be!!
I am really wanting to get to some of my sewing projects. I had started making my youngest son a tee shirt quilt. I was lacking one tee shirt. So, I stopped on this and have not returned to it because Christmas came along. I have found the cutest books for making little girls boutique dresses, skirts, and pants.
So back to the new year. Here it is January 5th, and I have only walked one day this year- January 1. I am also planning a major declutter of my house. Less is best!! I need to learn how to sell stuff on ebay. I think I might enjoy doing that more than having a booth at the antique mall. I think I might just make some plans and try to divide them up by the month on what I hope to accomplish this year. Do you think that will keep me more organized? I did have a great gardening year this past year. Lots and lots of salsa and rotel tomatoes, and pickled items, and jams.
I think I also need to make blogging one of my goals this year. Since it is called " Daily with Dee", by gosh, I need to blog whether I have anything to say or not. Right? I love reading blogs, but I have had to limit myself doing this. I could stay on the computer for hours!
Well of course another goal is to lose weight, but there again, that can be so frustrating! Dh and I have been doing the same eating program for about 2 weeks. I have lost 3-5 lbs, and he has lost 17!! What the heck??? Don't get me wrong, I am so thrilled for him- mainly that he is not just losing weight but eating like the doctor told him. But gosh... it is not helping me!!
So here's hoping that the new year will bring lots of happiness to all of you!