Practical Application 2

Number One

• Coconut oil (read this article if interested in a sampling of benefits) is being used more and more

I've been using coconut oil for six years now, but just recently started applying it after my showers. This morning, since I'm watching the Spud today and he loves me even without makeup, I have put it on my face.

If that doesn't interest you (I am a little slick right now - I'm certain Pup will not kiss me goodbye when he leaves for The Firm - well not my lips anyway) try using it the next time you cook something in a pan. You know - cooking? I'm actually saying this to myself as very little cooking gets done around here - especially during the tax season. 

One of my favorite things to do in a quick pinch is sauté shredded cabbage in coconut oil and pour any saucy thing you were conjuring up on top of the cabbage. Totally delicious substitute for pasta - the devil. Pasta, that is.

Number Two

• Lemon water. I've read several studies lauding the wonders of drinking a glass or mug of warmish lemon water first thing in the morning. Said to help rid the poor, abused liver of toxins and venom. Any help I can give my liver is aces in my book.

It really is refreshing in the morning. I've been cutting up lemons and leaving in the fridge here at home and the fridge at The Firm so I can squeeze them randomly. Hmm . . . doesn't that sound lovely? Being squeezed randomly?

Number Three

• Checking out the Keto way of eating. Click on this article and this article if interested. 

The gist of Keto is to eat dark green leafy vegetables, fatty red meats, chicken with the skin left on, fish, offal (organ meat), eggs, seeds and nuts, full-fat dairy, or anything else you can find rich in nutrition, fat, protein, and fiber.

Recommended fats are olive oil, grass fed butter, and coconut oil.

If you're shuddering and worried about the amount of fat, let me gently remind all of us that this obesity epidemic started when we removed fat from our diets. We replaced the fat with sugar sugar sugar.

All that sugar with no fat to offset its effects played havoc with our insulin responses and has led to all of these thickening bellys, aging skin, and frankly, diabetes.

Do any of you remember what it was like back when the fat-scare first started? I had a family member that strictly took out all fat from her family's diet because she was so frightened of heart disease. My Wasband could hardly look at this person without wincing because her skin started looking strange. It was kinda stretched across her face like dried paper. It didn't look good. And she was a young woman at the time!

I remember quietly keeping fat in my kids diets (whole milk for one), but I totally used margarine. I really regret knuckling under and believing that butter was BAD.

I also remember having a drawn-out argument with my kid's pediatrician about keeping them on whole milk. He said I was setting them up to be fat adults. I just kept repeating that developing brains need fat. I don't even remember how I knew that! I was a total pain in his ass. He did not like me.

I refused to stop giving them eggs as well. He nearly blew a gasket on that one. Oh well. Lots of people don't like me! Heh!

Long story short - now we know that we need this good fat to keep all of our stuff working and more and more docs are believing that sugar feeds cancers! That one blows my mind.

It's not an easy way to eat. I'm struggling with the percentages. It's hard to get the fat in and the carbs down. But I feel fantastic when I do.

Number Four

• The detox bath.

I am trying to squeeze these into my weekly routine. Tub full of beautiful, warm water, 2 cups of epsom salts, 1 cup of baking soda. Soak and relax. Helps with your sleep quality as well.

The Spud Club

15 weeks

Quote

Would you look good?

. . . in a potato sack?

I said pour yourself a drink, put on some lipstick, and pull yourself together.
~Marilyn Monroe

It's a Little Bit Me, It's a Little Bit You

Pup and I live in a mostly sweet little neighborhood of 1960s housing in a part of Minneapolis that is neither totally the hood, nor very swanky. Just a middle-class neighborhood full of diversity and hope. Growing younger all the time which is fantastic!

Our neighbors are great. I wouldn't call our street the kind of street that is in each other's faces all the time, but we're a fairly friendly bunch.

Then the Hillbillys moved in. A motley crew. I wouldn't have thought much about them except the youngish man that owns the house made certain to come over and introduce himself. A talker - letting me know how "people come and go" a lot because he's so generous to all his friends. And how he's on disability for some physical thing so he's home most of the time. A little alarm went off at the time for me, but I did squash it down a bit.

My schedule is rather fluid and since our office window faces the street the Hillbilly's house is in full view when I'm working or goofin'. I noticed a lot of traffic coming and going. You know - car pulls up, a guy (usually) hops out, goes into the house, is out in about five minutes. Yep.

We even witnessed the police do an early morning raid complete with battering rams. But, as I've said, it was back to business in a day or so. Blech!

Last week Pup got stuck just off the street while plowing (I kvetched charmingly about it in a post) and two of the Hillbilly's came on the front stoop to watch and smoke.

So yesterday I'm innocently watching K-Spud in the afternoon. He's taking a little snooze on the couch in his little co-sleeper bed, I'm watching Ellen or lurking on Facebook - something totally useful I'm certain!

I text Pup a photo, but through the magic of Awesome Google Photos (or some such feature) it took my snaps and made this for me . . .

I think I laughed for a half hour. Had to hold the Spud so he could drift off back to sleep. In spite of Gigi still shaking with laughter. He'll get used to it. Poppy and I are so classy!

Is schadenfreude going to send me straight to hell? Will I see any of you smoochie-hoochies there? Please come visit me.

Feeling Grace

I don't have an interesting life.

It's fascinating to me, but on the whole - pretty tame stuff.

. . . and February . . . can we talk about February? I need to find a way to love February. It could be Valentine's Day, but frankly, that little day kinda makes me yawn. Although I do love fresh flowers in the house. Lovely.

I seem to lose my joy in February. I'm going to think about that for more than a minute. This could change!

Feeling Grace:

1. The Firm is going better than Pup could have imagined I think. New clients have been pouring in. One directly from my efforts. Wha?? Marketing! No wonder every marketing department I've ever worked for was the first to be cut in hard times. The payoff never looks tangible. It is, but it's  hidden. Deeply hidden. 
2. Even when I'm bored with every damn thing in my house, if I clean it - it looks fantastic!
3. We had a little celebration here and all of that wine did NOT get drank. It's all mine still baby.
4. However, I made a huge dent in that carafe of Maker's Mark.
5. Coffee - I feel an infinity with coffee. Especially in February.
6. When the temperature is way below zero, it is always beautiful outside. Bright, snowy, bluest sky, quite lovely.
7. Even though I have not driven the Pilot yet, I do love seeing it in the garage knowing I will be driving it when Pup goes back to his little summer car. In the summer. Ha! Not that he wouldn't let me drive it now, but he hates my Ruby (Jeep Wrangler) and I love it so why would I make him suffer needlessly? He suffers enough let me tell you.
8. That's a lie - he's a pretty happy guy. Who wouldn't want to be married to me? (picture toe circling on the floor - perfect expression on my face - heh!).
9. I've been smoothing on coconut oil after my shower every morning. It smells divine and I'm as smooth as K-Spud, super baby. For real!
10. I've been getting manicures for a few months now and I have to say I feel happy when I look at my fingers. My nails are pretty. If that's shallow I'll have to live with it, because it's FEBRUARY!    :)

I know many parts of our country is having a WINTER! Many places are having snow when they usually get none, cold where they are not used it, and slippin' and sliddin' is NOT fun. Hang tight everyone. Seriously, stay home if you're not used to bad roads. Stay home and keep it warm if you can. Spring will get here. Sorry comfort I know, but we need to make February our favorite month yes?

Smooches to my sexy-ass hooches.

sorry, hard to not include this guy - love love love

Do a Little Dance

Make a little love.

I keep calling the grand-spud KD the Sunshine Boy. Then this song spring into my mind. Remember them? KC and the Sunshine Band?

Get down tonight.

I think I saw them in concert back back.

Little KD the Sunshine Boy

He looks a little bemused here yes? He had just woken up from a nice long sleepy-byes and I took this shot to send to his momma and I captioned it, "Momma, my pants are too small."

Sometimes he looks at me with his little eyes that look so much like his momma's little eyes when she was a baby. He looks at me and I can see he's thinking. I read a story to him yesterday and I swear he was listening intently.

February

My least favorite month. Which really means a change should come. Make the change!

Our loft bedroom has a wall of windows on the southern end. It gets warm and toasty up there and most days the three furry pets hang up there soaking in the sun. It makes you happy even if you fight it! Powerful thing the sun.

Baby, let's get together 
Honey hush, me and you 
And do the things 
Ah, do the things 
That we like to do 
Oh . . .

Do a little dance!

Overheard

Not my Jeep, but this made me laugh.

Again, by me and not a random (as my daughter used to call peripheral types) . . .

Picture Pup. Picture Pup out plowing with my Jeep Wrangler. Plowing snow.

Backstory - the plow used to be on our Liberty, but we bought a new SUV, a Honda Pilot, and the plow wouldn't fit so now it's on my Ruby. Imagine my whining and complaining. Oh yes, there you are.

The Wrangler is much lighter than the Liberty was so Pup is on a bit of a learning curve with this setup. So there he is, out plowing all our neighbors like he wants to do.

He pushes a large chunk to the side on the street. He gets stuck. He gets stuck in not much snow. He can't get out.

He comes in. Four letter words flying. Calling my beloved Ruby names! Heh!

I go out. Discover that Pup doesn't know anything about Wranglers. I quickly put it in low 4-wheel drive. (He's a BMW guy, that's okay he doesn't know about this crap.)

So, while we're out there. Trying to dig out Ruby. Trying to rock her out of the snowbank a Concerned Citizen pulls up.

"Oh! Aaaaahahaha! You have a Jeep with a plow and you're stuck??" He's laughing like a hyena.

"Really?" I say. "That's your helpful advice to me?" I slug at him with my voice. "WE'RE STUCK! Wranglers are light! They get stuck!"

He looks at me with new eyes. The kind of eyes that might be thinking, she may just be a tad cranky.

Oh ya think?

"So, do you have a phone?" he asks. This guy is helpful to the end.

I sigh. I say, "We live right here. Thanks for your concern."

Meanwhile, our friendly drug-dealing neighbors come out on their front step for a smoke (seriously, they have been raided by our bumbling police with battering rams - it was biz as usual a few hours later). They observe the fray. Not to lend their Jack Sprat-type bodies (one a chubby and one very thin) to helping or pushing.

Pup pushes again. I rock it successfully out of the snow bank.

Oh yes, I might be getting a little crabby! lolol

People are so nice. :/

I reach up to my head to feel for horns. I am feeling devilish and I am thinking I should take pity on anyone in my line of sight. Or not.

How you doin'?