A life in progress

I haven't posted anything in quite some time.  But, it turns out I have some free time these days. Like everyone else in America - and it seems the world - we are affected by the COVID-19 (Coronavirus) outbreak.  Last night, Nevada followed the examples of New York, New Jersey, Washington, and other states announcing immediate closure of all non-essential businesses for the next 30 days .  Prior to that, some businesses had voluntarily closed or reduced hours, including some of the largest casinos in the world - all MGM properties on the Las Vegas Strip . So, this is weird.  I mean, it is weird everywhere, but it particularly weird in Las Vegas.  We are literally the city that never closes.  Before today (or maybe more accurately, before Sunday when things started shutting down), I could go out at any time of the day or night and find someone to serve me a five-star meal, find a shop that would sell me a Rolex, or purchase a luxury car.  Some might...

Every year, October really irritates me... for a number of reasons.  Partially because of all of the pumpkin spice nonsense... Seriously.  I think they are terrible.  So terrible.  They taste like sugar and regret.  A little bit like coffee. Anyway, that's not what this is about.  There's another reason that I don't like October. (Sexy Twizzlers, in case you didn't catch it) <sigh>  Make that a two reasons...  Yup -- the pink ribbon.  I HATE the pink ribbon.  And I hear you all screaming right now.  "What?!  Breast Cancer is BAD.  How can you be against breast cancer awareness?!  Are you FOR breast cancer?  Are you a MONSTER??" Short answer - no.  Not a monster, not pro-cancer.  Cancer = bad.  That's a pretty easy side of the fence to be on. As a matter of fact, I have a personal history of breast cancer.  One day about 10 years ago I was attempting ...

About a year ago, I was a hot mess.  That is a clinical term.  I'm pretty sure they use it in the American Medical Association Journals.  I was incredibly overweight and amazingly out of shape - embarrassingly so.  And to make things worse, I was in kind of a downhill spiral of bad habits.  Since I was out of shape, I didn't exercise, which just made things worse.  My clothes didn't fit, I had zero motivation to look attractive. One night, I believe it was Bastille Day (French Independence Day), my husband and I got into an argument.  I won't get into the details, but let's just say, some not-so-kind words were said by both parties.  And while it was incredibly hurtful (and I was no angel), there was also more truth to it than I cared to face at the time.  And on that day, I said "enough".  I need to take control of my life back. It was a few more weeks before we got back to the States (for those that don't know, I was actually IN...

After watching Fed Up, which I outlined in my last post, Mike and I decided to do a 30 day clean eating challenge.  Part of which is Dr. Mark Hymann's  10 Day Blood Sugar Detox . Essentially, this is a slightly more severe version of the first week - there seems to be less fruit involved - which makes me sad because I like fruit.  I'll outline the basics for you in case you're interested at all. Breakfast:  Protein shake.  He offers a few recipes, but a lot of them include bananas, which I'm allergic to.  Also, I use Shakeology, which I'm pretty sure is the healthiest substance on the planet.  The idea is to have a filling, nutrient dense, low-glycemic index breakfast that will get you through until lunch. Lunch:  Salad (He gives a big list of mix and match stuff and says eat whatever you want, as long as its on these lists), or if you get tired of salad, there are some soup and grilled meat recipes to use to mix it up. Dinner:  Meat,...

Last week, Mike had some dental work, which resulted in an extraction, which resulted in some nerve damage and some terrible pain.  He's anxiously awaiting a root canal, which I believe is happening sometime next week.  He had a rough time scheduling with his endontist.  In the meantime, while he was trying out different combinations of pain killers and antibiotics, he had a number of sleepless nights. On one of those sleepless nights, he stayed up watching various Netflix documentaries, including " Fed Up ".  This is a documentary outlining the physical and mental issues that stem from eating processed foods, and specifically foods with processed sugars.  The movie is fairly long (about 1 hour 40 minutes) and deals with a number of different issues, so I won't go into everything.  However, in the end, it does challenge individuals to try a 30 day "cleanse" or "detox".  I'm always very hesitant to use both of these words because it makes...