Wednesday, March 27, 2019

DH was up every half hour last night. Arghh... Today he goes to daycare again while the SILs and I go to the Ford and Edison winter estates in Fort Myers. DH and I went years ago and it was really interesting.

So great that Diane and Shel got together. And maybe some of you will meet Shirl in a few months. Maybe when I can be more mobile I'll come to the west coast for a visit on my own?

Nothing much else I can think of this early in the morning. I hate how dark it is at 7 am post-daylight savings time change.

Have a wonderous Wednesday!

139.4

Shel! How wonderful to meet your sweet face in (cyber) person!! How fun it must be to be in the real here and now with one of this here fun bunch! Jealous me.

Today looks to be the best day of spring yet- sunny and 70-

I echo Liz---

Have a wonderous, wonderful, winsome Wednesday!

1. Within Range: yes
2. General Wellbeing: 9 on SS
3. 10,000+ Steps: 7699
4. Fitness: walking
5. Self-Care:
6. Play/Leisure: playing in yard with dogs
7. Intentions: Seek balance & relax, rejuvenate, & recalibrate !!

Readjusting to the great NE. Low twenties in the AM, fifties by mid-afternoon. Our RV, Seeking Serenity (SS), is still at the dealers for de-winterization and replacement of the ice maker. Don't have any trips planned until May, as that is when places around here open. We're going to have to take a look at a home in Pawley's Island v. the RV, because we can't do both.

This trip, I really dug into the Gullah (African origins, living in Lowcountry) history, culture, and beliefs. I initially became intrigued by bottle bushes/trees, which frequent Lowcountry gardens and yards. It is a metal tree/bush structure that holds bottles, usually cobalt blue, upside down and is believed to ward off evil/negative spirits. One is on the way, from Amazon !

BB... I really felt your food struggles with Becca. As someone who endured many a battle of wills as a child and two daughters of my own... here's my two cents. It sounds like you are already doing this, but everyone will come out further ahead if you can make your response to food refusal as neutral as possible. Kids learn to push buttons for any response at a very early age. They feel the power of wills struggling for supremacy. As matter of fact and neutral as you can keep it. This is dinner. If you chose not to eat it, your other choice is toast. You decide. If she is hungry, she will eat. I agree, the parents who make two meals, and bribe kids to eat often are the ones who visited me in the principal's office when their child's entitled personas were in full bloom.

Peps...yesterday's session sounded like significant progress ! For me, sugar is also at the top of the heap. I actually considered changing my weigh ins to once a week, after maintaining on vacation worked out. I heard my old WW thinking chime in..."If I weigh in on Friday's, I can be more lax on the weekends and make it up." Disordered/ostrich thinking...nope. If it's not broken, don't fix it !!

186.4? or 186.6 Up a little but still pretty content with that

Liz-I feel your pain. I'm not even up that often with a baby or with pregnancy. I really love the light evenings, but dark mornings are tough. Thankfully it won't last too long.

Diane O.-thank you so much for your words. Ugh it's so hard to practice that! It's insane that I want to have a battle of willpower with a 12 month old! What really irks me is that if she's not in the right mood, she refuses to even taste it. But at this point in time, I think you're right the best thing to do is to try not to get my blood pressure up. It does no good and it only seems to make both of us more unhappy. Plus, this is all so changing so quickly. Yesterday? she ate happily! Two dinners. We fed her before going with friends, anticipating a total meltdown. They had ordered pizza and she literally pulled me arm over to her to take a bite--and then went nuts! Not that I'm stoked that it's pizza that she's willing to eat, but just anything "foreign" in general. One thing I think I'll continue to do is to try and put out there foods, even knowing she won't eat them. For example: broccoli. I put it on her plate and she kind of looked at it and touched it. I think she even tasted it. I'd like to think there's some value in increasing her familiarity with foods that look "different" or feel different. Even if she doesn't eat them...yet.

Hmmmm. So I was a very good, non-picky eater. So was my sister. So are my cousin's kids. All overweight. My nieces (the aforementioned picky eaters who want specific shapes of nuggets and pasta) are all skinny as rails. Same with my stepkids. Could these things be related? How strange that the kids who dutifully eat their brussels sprouts turn out with the weight problem.

Diane S. and Shel-so glad you could meet! Was this in California?

Speaking of California, I think I've mentioned my aunt occasionally. She's been in California now for probably 25 years and she just decided to take the plunge and move back. She's the one who found out on Christmas 4 years ago that her husband of 31 years had been cheating and then this year her boyfriend of 2 years died unexpectedly. As of her birthday, she's able to be fully vested in her retirement, found a job in Oklahoma that (makes considerably less but hey...cost of living!!) is exactly what she's always wanted to do! Of course now she's second guessing this decision--which who doesn't doubt any big life decisions. But I'm excited for her. She's single and all of her nieces, nephews, great nieces and nephews, brothers, and mother are all here and because of all her family being here, she has maintained a strong friend base. Still, she's sad to leave the beach. I promise her that it's only a flight away ;)

Last night was fun--on my way home DH called to say that friends of ours were staying in a hotel while their house is getting fixed up for sale and they'd invited us to come and play in the splash pad pool and eat pizza. I had things to do, this would mean disrupting Becca's bedtime routine and keeping her up late, putting off our dinner plans and eating the less than healthy pizza meal. We totally did it! Becca went from timid to curious to playful. She even ate pizza, joyfully! And then zonked out in the car. That was definitely a sweet spot. I hope you all find your sweet spots.

BB, we had lunch in Arcata. I am staying in Trinidad which is just up the road. DianeS lives in-between the two. DianeS's two galleries are in Arcata and Trinidad. I went into the Arcata gallery and the person running the counter was talking about computer woes on the phone! I felt like such an insider.

I saw tons of families yesterday. The Redwood hikes are mostly very short because (sadly) the Redwoods have been mostly cut down so there aren't a lot of long stretches of trees. They are also flat trails. Come on out!

I'm glad you seized spontaneity yesterday! I agree with DianeO about trying to be as neutral as possible about food. I also agree about exposing Becca to different foods.

I have mixed feeling about picky eating kids - I have seen more than one eventually end up fat and then people (my mom) shake their (her) head and recall how they used to be thin. The ones I am thinking of rely heavily on processed foods and/or restaurant foods. (The people who make processed foods know how to convert picky eaters to can't-get-enough eaters) There are many paths to obesity, I suppose.

I think I read somewhere that little kids are "super tasters" with more taste buds than they will ever have later on. So a lot of it is controlling her environment and pushing your buttons, but some like refusing cruciferous veggies might be because they don't taste good to her right now, but they likely will later as she grows and her tastes change. Maybe bland veggies like green beans, carrots, peas might be easiest right now? But she might refuse those for button pushing reasons! Babies are surprisingly complex!

I am and have always been a picky eater. I am evidence that picky eater does not equate to staying thin.

While I have no children, I can say that after working with children for 27 years and dogs for 40+ years, that dogs and young children have many similarities. I have had many picky eaters in my dog family. Long ago I learned that the best way to treat a picky eater was to let him/her be a picky eater. When he is truly hungry and needs to eat, he will eat. I have found the same with kids. Forcing the issue when it comes to food is pointless. It's a power thing for the infant/toddlers. They will eat when they are hungry. When you react to the child not eating and try to get him/her to eat, the child has gained the upper hand and is in possession of the power for the moment. Meal time can then become a time when the baby knows she is in charge. If you don't acknowledge the behavior, she can't usurp your power. Just my thoughts as a teacher, dog trainer, non parent....

Good morning, all, from Land Of DianeS (LODS)

Poor DianeS, she got the full force of my hiker self, yesterday. I arrived at lunch physically stinky but with a freshly cleansed aura, thanks to giant Redwoods.

Honestly, the air in Redwood forests is just different. (No offense to my dear trees of the Cascades.) You walk in, feeling all stressed, you walk out feeling fab even tho you know you are officially late to lunch.

I didn't get a picture of DianeS because honestly I was hoping to avoid pics altogether and didn't want to encourage her. She had trouble taking a pic of me and my food because I had ordered so damn much! Is that really what I want our founder member to witness? No. But my aura demanded it.

Yesterday was beach day since it was sunny. Today will be a rainy forest hike. The trees will act as (leaky) umbrellas but I am still delaying my start because this earliest deluge will likely lighten.

Ok, a few pics, mightily uploaded thru data since I have no wifi.

First two pics, a cave from the outside and then from the inside:

I climbed a big rock on a beach to try to get a pic of the ocean. Instead, I became intrigued because the rock was bejeweled with succulents worthy of a bridal bouquet (hen and chick? -- is that the name?) I took a pic of the ocean but it was boring in comparison so I didn't even upload.

Yesterday's morning hike was thru a forest and down to the beach. Below are some creatures of the woodlands

Ha! I am so funny!!!! DianeS, by the time I dragged my sorry azz the 1/4 block to the Trinidad gallery they just flicked off the open sign. I'll catch them this evening.

Below is obligatory pic of a bridge in the woods. I just love finding beautifully crafted structures deep in the wood. Even in the age of battery powered tools, you know this was built with sweat and love.

Beautiful pics!

You are right about the air in a redwood forest. I grew up near a redwood forest which we frequently visited. Then as a teen I would ride my horses through the forest. Such a perfect smell. It is always a bit damp and fresh, but never any moldy smell. It's super clean and composty.

Now, a smell I HATE is a eucalyptus grove in summer. Hot, dry, eucalyptus smell makes me feel like I'm breathing in menthol dust and dirt. Blech!!!!!!