The Specialist Visit

I had an appointment with a specialist a couple of days ago, checking up on some women's issues. I get stressed leading up to these appointments although I wasn't expecting any problems. The friendly receptionist greeted me politely and took my information, as I hadn't been there before. She asked me to jump on the scale. I was ok with the reading, then she said, we can subtract a pound, maybe two, due to the weight of my clothing. The experience was turning positive!

I didn't wait long, I was led into one of the doctor's rooms. She was a tall, slim, attractive young woman, I'd say early thirties. She took my blood pressure reading and it was 110/83...normal... I must have been relaxed, it's often a bit high in my regular doctor's office. She said maybe he makes me nervous. She gave me excellent advice on my issues and I'm impressed at the knowledge and competence of these young people. They can do major surgery on people for goodness' sake! I decided I'd trust her to work on me if and when the time came, and left feeling that I had a rapport with her.

The positive appointment seemed to set my mood for the rest of the day. And it was a blustery day with no sun until the afternoon. I thought 'winter is wearing spring's coat', sort of like a big, bad wolf. Did I really just say that? Lol.

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Any Dream Will Do

Donny and Marie are bringing their live show to Toronto in July and a girlfriend called and asked if I'd be interested in tickets. I said yes, because I'd like to see them. It's her sister's birthday so I'll be going with her sister, because my friend already saw them in Las Vegas and the tickets aren't cheap. There are two other ladies going with us, I think it will be fun, both the show and the company.

I like Donny Osmond, I was able to see him at Casino Rama a few years ago. I also saw him in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat awhile back. Remember the song 'Any Dream Will Do?'...I loved it.

Marie is about my age, and I've always liked her as well.


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A Worthwhile Test

I have a routine colonoscopy coming up so I went to the drug store to purchase the necessary laxatives for the procedure. The cashier noticed my purchase and we got talking on the subject. She said it's a worthwhile procedure because her poor husband died from colon cancer at 59. He had flu-like symptoms for 2 years but never suspected what might be wrong with him. I told her I was sorry, but she said it was ok, that was 5 years ago. She reassured me by saying the procedure is less stressful than childbirth. Another lady joined the line and declared she had already had 5 colonoscopies and agreed with it being a worthwhile thing to have done. It seems the worst part is having to be on clear fluids only starting the day before the test.

To change the subject, I learned from the Paint Party Friday hosts that you can just use the Google translate button when browsing blogs written in another language. This is a useful piece of information and I started using this feature immediately. What a world Google has opened up for us!

Baked Kale Chips and other Healthy Recipes

A friend told me about this recipe for Baked Kale Chips from Allrecipes.com. M LOVES them. For me, they are okay, but no doubt they are healthy. It's worth a try. I'll be adding it to my regular menu. Thanks Kristin for letting me know the link wasn't working:

Baked Kale Chips by Lucy DelRey (Allrecipes.com)

Ingredients
1 bunch kale
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon seasoned salt

Directions

1. Preheat an oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
Line a non insulated cookie sheet with parchment paper.
2. With a knife or kitchen shears carefully remove the leaves from
the thick stems and tear into bite size pieces. Wash and thoroughly
dry kale with a salad spinner. Drizzle kale with olive oil and sprinkle
with seasoning salt.
3. Bake until the edges brown but are not burnt, 10 to 15 minutes.


I got this Homemade macaroni and cheese recipe from the Heart and Stroke foundation and tried it yesterday. It uses a sweet potato and it was a bit hit with M and K.



And how about some Chocolate Carrot Cupcakes? This recipe is also from the Heart and Stroke foundation. It uses cocoa instead of chocolate, a neat trick to cut the fat without any of the taste. Also I've never made yogurt icing, it sounds like a good idea. I suspect it uses egg whites to be heart healthy, so if you are in a hurry and not watching your cholesterol, it's probably ok to use the complete eggs.


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Sunday Sketches - Butterfly

This is a Monarch Butterfly, an endangered species. I drew the image from a WWF (World Wildlife Fund) photo. You have to marvel at the wonder of nature when you sketch these creatures. The intricate pattern on the wings was so inspiring.

Please visit the other Sunday Sketches contributors to see what they did today.

Sweet Saturdays and Masada

Diana has just started Sweet Saturdays and I think it's a wonderful idea. It's easy to participate as you can see, I just got her note this morning. I happened to make buttermilk pancakes this morning and took this photo to share long distance with my daughter . I decided to share with you as well today. Here is the simple recipe that I hope you'll try. I don't add oil to the pan by the way.

Hope you'll join us for Sweet Saturdays!




One of my sisters is currently on vacation with a couple of girlfriends. The husbands have been left behind. I have another girlfriend who does the same thing. It must be a middle-aged trend! Anyway, they are visiting Israel, Jordan and Spain I think. My sister is fortunate to have a couple of friends in Israel and they have helped her plan what seems to be the vacation of a lifetime. Apparently the food there is really delicious and fresh tasting. Their host refused to let them eat anything at McDonald's there, tempted as they were.

They visited the Dead Sea (where they had mud baths), then to a place called Masada. According to my sister's friend, "It is a flat topped mountain on the shores of the Dead Sea where King Herod built a winter palace. Then during the Jewish revolt against the Roman occupation, over 900 Jews fled there from Jerusalem and held out for 3 years against a Roman siege. The night before the Romans finally finished building a ramp up the mountain to burn down down the gates, they committed mass suicide in order not to be taken as slaves of the Romans. As you can imagine, it occupies a pretty important place in Jewish history and hearts, as well as being a World Heritage site and an awesome archaeological site."

What a story!



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Paint Party Friday - Infinity Pool

Happy April Fool's Day!

I know, I'm jumping ahead to Summer for Kristin and Eva's Paint Party Friday! Why not?

Please stop by the other participants to see what they did today.