Life is Healthy

Each new year I like to clear out clutter both in my house and on my computer. Make way for the new or at least an improved version of the old, I say.

I spent six hours taking down Christmas decorations on Friday and tweaking the décor of the living and dining rooms. I decided to keep the tree up, sans decorations, because it’s not really a traditional Christmas tree. It’s a tall, narrow fake pine with lights that I picked up cheap at a bargain-basement kind of place around Thanksgiving and it makes me happier than any fake tree I’ve ever had. I decided I’d decorate it throughout the year with holiday-appropriate decorations starting with Valentines Day.

I also took out a bookshelf, moved an antique desk, swapped out a chair for a table, and moved a few plants. Nothing major, but the rooms look just different enough to not feel like 2009. I would be the pessimist in this quote: “An optimist stays up until midnight to see the new year in. A pessimist stays up to make sure the old year leaves.” – Bill Vaughan

Buh-bye 2009.

Same kind of clean-out applies to my computer clutter. I had duplicate files of this and that, and several unfinished mini-blogs and accompanying photos littering my folders so I decided to combine them into one big blog.

Let’s start with this photo:

These carrots look like deformed outcomes of atomic testing. I bought them from a local organic farmer back in August. Makes me wonder what animal's manure he’s using.

If the second one from the left was a person, I’d want that ass. See how perfectly round it is? A far cry from my flat ass, which leads me to the carrot on the far right, which I’m sure is what my real butt muscles look like after a day of hiking.

So much for squid-looking carrots. On to the next photo:

We spent Christmas, as always, with the kids in Pittsburgh. In preparation, I asked Cassie to buy cinnamon rolls – a traditional opening-presents fare. If I don’t make them from scratch, we buy the frozen Rhodes’ cinnamon rolls (nutritional facts: 200 calories, 5g fat, 230mg sodium, 35g carbs which equals 4 WW Points). While they aren’t something I’d eat regularly, I’m OK making for the family on Christmas and eating a few bites while we open gifts.

This year, while shopping, Cass had the kids with her and was in a hurry and instead of Rhodes, picked up the mother of all instant cinnamon rolls: Pillsbury Grands (nutritional facts: 310 calories, 11 g fat of which 2.5 are trans fat, 650mg sodium, 54g carbs which equals 7 WW Points). Yikes!

Here’s what Pillsbury says its “homey” rolls:

“There is one thing we all as families have in common: our hectic schedules. A leisurely weekday breakfast with your kids and family dinners seem to happen less and less. Sundays are a perfect opportunity to reconnect and spend quality time together. Why not take time out to create a sweet moment with your family with our cinnamon rolls and turn Sunday into Funday?”

Sounds like a Sunday morning gastrointestinally arteriosclerotic nightmare to me. I know life can be hectic, but let’s not equate hectic with “Toss something nutritionally shitty in the oven.” Why does sugar and white flour always get associated with warmth and family? What’s wrong with fruit, oatmeal, eggs, and whole wheat toast? Food companies have the ability to change public perception of what constitutes “homey” foods. Oh, but wait, Pillsbury Grands rolls probably cost a fraction of a penny to manufacture. Fruit and other healthy breakfast food would cut into the company profits. Silly me. When will I learn?

Stepping off the soap box….

I like this photo:

They look like potato chips, but they’re rutabagas. Thinly sliced, roasted rutabagas. My new favorite roasted veggie.

My favorite photo and not-long-enough-for-a-blog topic is this one:

My office doubles as my workout space. In one corner is my computer desk, another is my elliptical (actually, that takes up an entire wall) and another is my recumbent bike (which is a fold-up type so it takes up very little space). A workout bench and assorted hand weights line another wall. Grandbaby Claire loves to rearrange my workout space. She picks up every hand weight - not including the 10-, 15-, or 25-pounders, although she tries - and places them in the middle of the room. She decorates the elliptical with Thera-Bands and plays with the exercise ball pump because it squeaks and blows air on her face.

Claire also loves stickers. She puts stickers everywhere: my face, my hands, my shoes, her face, her hands, her shoes, on Christmas cards, the refrigerator, her little brother and, as you can see, the exercise ball.

My new year hair:

I was beginning to look a little like Andrew from “Family Ties” (specifically, the young Brian Bonsall, not the now Brian Bonsall with the tattooed neck and criminal record). Between the holidays and time constraints…you know the routine…I couldn’t fit in a trim.

I didn’t think I could go shorter, but apparently I can. This style is something I’d never have considered at 300 pounds when I didn’t care much about me, let alone my hair. Cared as in I stopped taking it to a stylist. Salon chairs didn’t comfortably accommodate my 54-inch hips, and I didn’t like looking at myself in the mirror for very long. Most of the time I trimmed my hair when necessary and threw it back in a scrunchie.

Now…well...I’m all about flat irons and “product.” My hair is even easier to style this way, physically and emotionally. Hair comes with its own baggage, just like weight.

Goodbye 2009. Hello clean computer and a partially redone living room and a partially renewed doo. Hope this finds you all ready to tackle 2010.