Sunday Afternoon 11/6/2016

Can’t wait to be able to walk out to the Pineapple Dump again, especially to watch for whales this winter

Although I am feeling much better these days, I have entered what my therapist calls the “danger zone.” That is, I’m feeling good enough again to go back to doing more but running a high risk of putting myself right back where I started by doing too much too soon. So, while I’m encouraged to do more I also have to stay vigilant and know when to pull back and rest. I have been greatly looking forward to taking walks again, but the therapist warned me that I shouldn’t even think about walking for exercise until after the first of the year. BIG sigh. In the meantime, we sold our spin-style exercise bike to our landlord and are awaiting delivery of a recumbent exercise bike which will be easy on my back and allow me to get some much-needed exercise. The therapist has also started me on some Pilates exercises to help increase my core strength and take pressure off my back.

We learned this past week that the Samsung washing machine we bought this past year is part of a giant recall. 😦 We were given a choice of a rebate to purchase another machine or having it repaired, and chose the repair because we like the machine and haven’t had any problems, and the rebate wouldn’t cover the cost of a new machine. We have no idea when those repairs are going to happen though, and in the meantime will use the steps outlined by Samsung to prevent any problems. With just the three of us here these days, we’re only doing laundry one day a week, on Sunday afternoon, so the machine isn’t getting much of a workout as it is.

I’m so glad I’m not a teenager these days – YaYu’s schedule this fall wears me out, and it will become even busier next term. EVERY weekend brings some new volunteer activity that she’s signed up for as well as tutoring sessions both Saturday and Sunday afternoons. Besides her regular classes, she has 2+ hours of swim practice five afternoons a week, and she sometimes goes down to the pool on Sunday afternoons to get in some more swim time. She seems to be less tired from the practices though than she was in the past, so that’s a good thing. I don’t know why YaYu seems to find an activity to fill every day off, but she has big plans, pushes herself, and always seems to get everything done and done well. It makes me tired just thinking about it though.

This afternoon I am:

• Reading: I’m back into Truevine. It’s a very compelling book, especially the insights into what life was like for black in the Jim Crow south. As bad as I can imagine it was, the reality was far worse.
• Listening to: It’s very quiet here today except for lovely birdsongs, and for one rooster who will just not shut up! A whole bunch of them started crowing last night after midnight – crazy. Nothing is going on out in the neighborhood either. YaYu is still sleeping (she needs it), and Brett’s reading so it’s very peaceful around here, for the time being anyway.
• Watching: Brett and I finished up all the available episodes of Longmire last night – such a good series! And, what a cliffhanger of an ending – I hope we don’t have to wait too long for the next (and final) season. I’m not all that into “the West,” but this series has been well done, and the addition of so many Native American actors and storylines elevate the entire series to a different level, in my opinion. Tonight the three of us are going to start Season Three of The Fall, with Gillian Anderson. So excited there’s more of this show – the first two seasons were fantastic.
• Cooking/baking: We’re making kalua pork in the slow cooker today and even though I won’t be having any, it smells so good. I’m making macaroni salad later this afternoon, and we’ll also have rice and a cucumber salad for our dinner tonight. I made Meyer lemon bars yesterday – Brett mistakenly bought some of the lemons a couple of weeks ago at the farmers’ market thinking they were limes, and we wanted to use them up (they did look like big limes, but were definitely lemons when we cut them open).
• Happy I accomplished this past week: This was another uneventful week overall. Other than getting started on cleaning out the freezer, selling our old exercise bicycle and ordering the recumbent bike, I didn’t accomplish much of anything, but really had nothing on my agenda either.
• Looking forward to this week: Brett and I’ll be watching the election results live here beginning in the early afternoon on Tuesday, and we’ll have our special dinner when YaYu gets home from working at the polls here. I think the east coast polls start closing at 7:00 p.m. EST, which is five hours ahead of us. I am honestly looking forward to this whole election being over though – I’ve pretty much had enough, and I’m someone who enjoys following politics. On Thursday morning I’ll be meeting my friend Joy in the morning for our spa day. We’re both having massages and facials, and then will spend the rest of the day in the hot tubs or swimming pool at the resort, setting the world straight, and will have lunch while we’re there as well. I am really looking forward to this day!
• Thinking of good things that happened: We were able to get reservations for Thanksgiving dinner at one of our favorite local restaurants, for the last available table! The reservation is a bit later in the evening than we had hoped for but still, lucky us! When our landlord came to pick up the exercise bike last week, he told us we were “dream tenants” (he owns other rental properties) and we can stay in this house for as long as we like. Our rent didn’t increase this year, but he said it might go up a little next year as property taxes are going up (again). Our yard service guy, Eguardo, pruned the guava tree yesterday, and we now have a big bowl of fruit in the kitchen, which will make the whole house smell wonderful for a few days. We had no food waste again this week, and put $3.18 in the change/$1 bill jar.
• Grateful for: Once again, Amazon Prime has saved the day. We are so thankful their free shipping promise extends to us out here in Hawai’i. Without Prime, the shipping fee for the recumbent bike we just bought would have been astronomical and made the purchase completely unaffordable, the same for many other items we order through Amazon. We more than get our money back and then some every year on the annual Prime fee. We also give thanks to the other companies that do not charge any extra to ship to Hawai’i because so many do.
• Bonus question: Which do you prefer, mayonnaise or Miracle Whip? Miracle Whip is an abomination. Yes, I said it. I grew up in a house where only Miracle Whip was used (it and sweet pickle relish were my mom’s two favorite condiments), so until I was 18 it was all I knew. I had mayonnaise for the first time when I went to college, and instantly realized how truly deprived my life had been until then. I haven’t touched Miracle Whip since, and can’t even stand the smell of it now, let alone the thought of eating it. My children think it’s evil incarnate, and Brett doesn’t care for it either.

How was your week? What did you get done? What good things happened for you?