Parker's Pad

[Parker]

Ok, since the missing hard hat pic was disappointing, here it is -- the left pic is with the piece that zips on and wraps around your head to cover your ears and neck and buttons in the front (like a little neck sweater lol) and the right pic is without it.





ps - Jack did not like me walking around with a hard hat on ... he didnt know what the hell it was or what was going on, but he did not like it one little bit! He dropped low to the ground and backed away from me, his eyes never leaving the hat. lol, poor little scaredy-dog.

[Parker]

This morning when I was weighing myself for my morning VA Move! call, I noticed that I am remaining steady at 240 these past few days - usually I bounce up to 243 then hit 240 then drop to 236 then back up to 240 and so on. Anyway, I was thinking that I may have hit a plateau and each time I weigh myself and I am still at or around 240, I say out loud to myself that it's better to maintain than to gain.

Then it kind of hit me after I did that post about the jacket and I weighed myself this morning - I dont just weigh less now then I did at my heaviest (which the VA has down as 285 but now that I know that my boots, clothing, stuff I carry, etc is 10+ lbs, that was probably always a little closer to 275), I weigh less than I did when I first moved here 7 years ago (which was 265 - a weight I maintained for almost 5 years).

I have lost approx 13% of what my total body weight was when I started this and while I am not quitting and I dont want to stop here (I'd still like to lose another 65-90 lbs), if I *have* hit a plateau, 240 is a nicer place to be than 285.

[Parker]

Ok, these are those 2 jars of honey-lemon-ginger tea that I made a couple of months ago - remember? I sliced up some lemons and ginger and added them to a jar then filled it with honey and stuck both jars into the fridge. I was supposed to wait until they turned into a gel then use a heaping tablespoon of the mixture in a cup of boiling water as a tea to soothe sore throats, etc.

Even though I made them at the same time with the same ingredients, the one on the left "gelled" better and faster than the one on the right, which is still mostly liquid with some of it gelled at the bottom of the jar.

Now, this isnt gelled like jelly or jello, which is what I was expecting - it is more the consistency of mayo or mustard - a very thick substance. I fished some of the lemons out of the one on the left because I didnt want to have to deal with them when I was drinking.

So tonight I boiled some water and added a heaping tablespoon of the mixture (I didnt use a measuring spoon, just a large eating spoon) and then I added another because the mug of water I used was large. It's pretty good - it's really lemon-y so make sure that (a) you like lemon and (b) you can ingest lemon or (c) use less lemon.

I forgot that my cholesterol meds dont mix well with citrus, so drinking this may give me a tummy ache, but it also has ginger in it, so maybe not. lol, who knows - we'll see!

Oh, but it isnt so lemon-y that it isnt drinkable - it is a nice mixture of lemon and honey to make it tart but not pucker-up-your-face-and-suck-down-your-lips tart.

As I said, it's pretty good and would be great on a cold winter's night if I had the beginnings of a cold or a sore throat - or just wanted something warm and good for me - especially if I added a little whiskey - then it would kinda be like a hot toddy.

I will definitely make more of this in IL - but I think I should use smaller jars - and I will use more honey and/or fewer lemons. To avoid spending money on jars, I just used old pasta sauce jars, so these are large and I think a smaller (4 oz or so) would work better because it would probably gel faster, be easier to work wish, spoon stuff out, transport, give away, etc. So yeah - smaller jars next time.

I recommend this.

[Parker]

The friend of mine who was going to come here with her hubby to pick up some stuff that I was going to donate to her because I couldnt take it with me contacted me today with an offer I couldnt refuse and that will change how much I can take with me when I move.

Apparently, her hubby is traveling with a friend to OH and back in mid-May by way of an RV and they offered to take a bunch of my stuff with them to OH and then drop it off in IL on their way back here!

All I have to do is either set things up with my sister to store my stuff with her for a few weeks or, if she doesnt have room for it, find someplace for them to store the stuff until I can move it all into my new place.

This way, when I leave in May, half +/- of my stuff will already be in IL so when I load up my trailer with the rest of it, I can bring some things I wasnt going to be able to bring like my recliner, my kitchen stuff, my grill, etc. The recliner was the big thing - that's what she was thinking about when she made the offer because she knew that I just got that thing a couple of years ago and it's quite comfy - and would be one less thing to replace when I move into my new place.

This changes everything and removes a lot of stress and anxiety over what I cant/cannot take with me and what to do with what I thought I couldnt take with me -- I even had a large 20 +/- lb box of stuff that she was going to hold onto and ship to me when I get settled, but now that can go with her hubby instead of being shipped.

[Parker]

Ran out of store bought dog cookies so I decided to sit down and mix together some of the last of my whole wheat flour and oats to make them some cookies myself - I also added a little baking powder and enough water to turn it into a dough I could work with.

I didnt want to add anything like milk, eggs, or peanut butter because the cookies go bad too fast - so just those 3 dry ingredients (4 cups whole wheat flour, 3 cups oats, and 2 TBSP baking powder) and some water.

I used little bone cookie cutters - large for Zeke and medium for Sally and Jack - and baked them at 375 for about 30 minutes - using those cookie cutters, I was able to make 18 cookies for each dog.

Even without all the frills of peanut butter or whatever, the babies LOVED them.

[Parker]

Got a lot done -- took another load of stuff to Goodwill and took an even larger load of stuff to the dump.

I also got a couple of totes for the clothes & bedding that is in the luggage I have right now so I could re-use that luggage for last minute bed/bath stuff and clothes when I move ... so I spent $15 on totes now instead of $40 on duffle bags later.

I did this because the stuff that was in my luggage now is stuff that will go with my friend's husband when he goes to IL in May .... of course, now I know that I didnt have to get rid of my other sheet sets and all of my towels several weeks ago, but they were all kind of old and could stand to be replaced anyway -- and I am considering a king size bed this time instead of a queen, so I would have had to buy more sheets anyway - and I may not want my bathroom colors to be plum anymore anyway, who knows. We'll see

Now that I have cleaned more stuff out of that storage room, I have some more organizing to do out there: stuff that will go with me vs. going to friends vs. staying with the house - and I have a few totes to clean out and use for other stuff.

But first - I feel like a turkey sammich and some potato salad while I catch up on my shows from last night.

[Parker]

I hate those commercials or ads that try to sell you more dog food by telling you that humans dont eat the same thing everyday, so why should your dog??

Because, seriously, 2 of my dogs get upset stomachs and bad gas when I feed them something different, no matter how slowly I introduce it, and the third is very finicky and doesnt like change.

Case in point: I tried to get cute this month by buying a small 15 lb bag of fish flavored kibble to mix with the 30 lb lamb flavored kibble that they normally eat because I didnt want to afford the fish oil I sometimes buy to add to their food (I still need a few things for my trip, so I was trying to keep from spending the extra $35 this month) ...

Well, 2 of my dogs have not stopped with the gas, even with gas meds; and my finicky eater will, literally, pick out the lamb kibble and leave the fish kibble in his bowl. lol

Consider my lesson officially learned - from now on, I buy the lamb kibble and only the lamb kibble so my dogs (and my nose) never has to go through this again!

[Parker]

I filled in all of (my almost 1 yr old FMD puppy) Sally's excavation sites in the backyard yesterday, but she started another archaeological dig today ... I was kicking dirt back into the hole and saw that she dug up a rock.

Usually, I just pick up the rocks she finds and toss them to the side of the yard by the fence so I dont run over them with the mower, but even in the dark and caked with dirt, I could tell this one was different.

So I took it into the house and let warm water run over it in the sink while I went back out to pick up their after-dinner-presents and when I came back, I saw that it was some sort of crystal. I took a couple of pics of it, but my phone camera isnt great, so I took a video as well. I have no idea what Sally found, but this is one excavation of hers that I would call successful.











Video bonus - you can hear the traffic outside of my house in this video; and no, my windows and doors are not open. Even with all windows and doors closed, that is honestly how loud the traffic outside is.

After living on this very busy road for 4 years, I am seriously looking forward to living in a quiet rural area.

[Gemme]

Saw this and thought you'd like.

Wolf Symphony

[Parker]

Originally Posted by Gemme

Saw this and thought you'd like.

Wolf Symphony

I LOVE this - thank you for sharing it!

I love how one of them starts howling at the end, but the others dont join in so s/he looks around and turns it into a softer howl. lol

I confess that sometimes I will visit the Wolf Haven (sanctuary here in WA) website just to listen to their wolves howling.

[Parker]

A friend of mine came over for a visit and lunch today - when my little 1yo FMD, Sally hopped into my lap, I joked that I was a "foster fail" because I was supposed to foster Sally (and Jack) and I failed at it by adopting her (Jack too). So she took this pic and posted it to FB with the title, "This is what "foster fail" looks like."

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We had Ezell's chicken - which is a kind of Seattle landmark, so I was glad to have that one last time before I leave next month - and while we were waiting for them to make her fried okra, I was telling her how I still havent been to The (Pike Place) Market or the Space Needle but that I really wanted to visit both before I leave.

She offered to go with me and make a day of it - even taking the light rail and monorail since I have never been on either of those rides.

So the Monday before I leave, I will drive to her house and we will get her hubby to take us to the near-by light rail station, then take that to downtown, play around in The Market first thing in the morning by visiting my friend at his little store and getting doughnuts at some famous doughnut place, then take the monorail to the Needle and go up that scary-ass thing (lord, dont let me pass out or toss my doughnuts!), then go back to her place for movie night and taco pie.

I cant wait.

[Parker]

Saw Sally sniffing something on one of the garden fences - doing that thing where she sniffs it and backs away quickly like she is afraid it might get her. lol

Instinctively, I tell her to back off and I go check it out - turns out it was a cicada - which, I often call locusts for some reason, not sure why - but if you hear me mention a locust, odds are good I am talking about cicada lol.

Anyway, I am automatically fearful because of all the horror stories I heard as a kid growing up with these things and how they can attach themselves to you, it's very painful, etc, etc - so I tapped my foot against the garden fence and it dropped to the ground a couple of feet away.

Then I remembered watching Lucas (back when Charlie Sheen was cool) - which always makes me think of my college friend, Janet (from the first time I was at ISU in the early 90s) because it was filmed at her school and she was an extra in the crowd - and I thought that this might be a little baby and there I am, kicking it away and leaving it in the weeds on the ground.

I felt bad, so I grabbed a stick and went back to get it - got it to crawl on the stick and pose for these picks (it literally kept turning like it was striking a pose lol) and then put the stick on the bottom 2x4 of the back fence (so away from the garden fence and dogs) and under some vines because a storm is coming and I didnt want to leave it out there without some cover.

Such a bleeding heart, tree hugging, hippie liberal, I swear. lol

Also, now I want to watch Lucas.

[Parker]

Getting the old VA run around lol - I went to Urgent Care on Saturday and when I registered with this VA back in June, I was told that if I call ahead to Urgent Care, I could get travel reimbursement for the round trip, but if I dont call, I would be reimbursed for just the return trip home.

What they actually meant was if I call ahead and talk to the triage nurse and find out that the visit is needed now and cant wait until a visit with my doctor then I will get reimbursed for the round trip.

That's not what they told me, but apparently, that's what they meant.

It isnt a huge deal - getting reimbursed for one way is still better than nothing, but it was a pain in the ass trying to get the correct information out of both eligibility (who basically called me a liar by saying no one there would say that) and travel this morning - as well as getting travel to agree to talk to eligibility so they dont keep telling patients that.

Of course, if travel talks to the same woman in eligibility that called me a liar, she will just tell the travel guy that no one there said any such thing and I was crazy, so it all may have been moot.

It just sucks that more patients will have to go through this when, if we are given the correct info to begin with, we could do things the right way and not be caught off guard with mixed info.

I love when everyone blames everyone else and refuses to take responsibility - I was going to crack a a joke about it being the government, but to be honest, I have seen private companies do this kind of passing the buck thing as well.

[Parker]

This is amazing!

You dont know how much I want to write more and do THIS - stand up in front of people with my words and ... *gulp* perform ... like I did with my Vet Art Project - only without having to hold the words in my hand.

Part of this hit home for me - the part about washing your hands after touching someone? Yeah, when I touch most people, I can still feel "it" on my hands and have a compulsive need to wipe or wash my hands (kinda like Howie Mandel) - it's the reason why I dont like shaking hands with people.

I dont have OCD, but with all my quirks and "issues," I've always said I am one tragedy away from becoming Monk!