RedJen’s Musings 2.0

Happy New Year!

So we’ve moved out of 2008 and begun 2009. One tradition I’d like to see retired is Dick Clark’s participation in New York New Year’s Eve event. He just looks plastic. His face last night looked more like someone was wearing a mask of him. To see such a parity of his iconic just seems wrong.

My goals for 2009:

• Continue to work on my health in conjunction with my doctor (focusing on lifestyle, diet & exercise).
• Take risks in my personal life.
• Be mindful of the environments that surround me.

It seems like I’ve again managed to hold out the longest, but still come down with the current bug. If it runs true to course, my voice will be croaking soon and feeling better in time to head back to work on Monday. I hate losing a weekend feeling ill.

An interesting discussion on addressing the subject of unacceptable actions.

I really don’t want to pay for checked baggage on my trip to/from Ohio, so please think small or ship large gifts. Honestly, I’d prefer small portable gifts from family. For those needing gift ideas, I’ve updated my Wish List. Video games, DVDs & CDs are very portable. =)

To those who didn’t get the last minute message, I spent last week in Orlando, Florida at Disney World. You can’t get much more last minute, but I had a lot of fun and was spared all the planning. It doesn’t get much easier than stepping into a group vacation where how, where and when are already decided.

I need to remember to send my mom the list I use for grocery shopping. One thing I learned from my vacation is that my body likes the new diet, even if restaurants aren’t too fond of it. I plan on sticking to it while visiting for Christmas. I can handle small deviations, but I feel so much better when I stay true to low G.I. foods.

Thanks to a kind soul who took the time to mention how, it looks like I’ll be able to post some of my more random thoughts.

For those who may follow - the Opera Mini browser works well without needing any additional plugin(s) for WordPress or software on a BlackBerry. Bookmark yourblog/wp-admin and you are good to go.

Let the panic cease. I try to assume that after 12 years, if I say I’m planning on coming up for Christmas, that unless I say otherwise my mom will expect me to be around for 3-6 days. Apparently it will take a few more years before that will work.

Oh well, one delusion shot down (again). Anyway, the tickets are booked.

It isn’t anywhere near my end goal, but I had a nice surprise getting ready for work. My small win on Monday was fitting into a pair of jeans that I couldn’t get on last week. Yeah, they’re a little snug, but no heroic measures were needed to put them on.

So a short week of work and another pair of jeans fit. Sounds good to me.

Best wishes on your big test today.

Nothing to special, but in food news:

• Cow dairy products - my body does NOT like them. A little bit sneaking into my diet isn’t too bad, but I had about half a cup of frozen yogurt mid last week and four days later my sinuses are still getting rid of the resulting slime.
• Yogurt - My issue with yogurt isn’t the taste or texture, it is the smell. I picked up some soy yogurt to try, but I couldn’t seem to get it off the spoon and into my mouth. I popped it in the freezer and I can handle eating it frozen. In fact, it is pretty good. I’m not sure what it is about the smell, but I’ll take what I can get. I have some goat milk based yogurt that I’ll try later this week.
• G.I. (Glycemic Index) Diet - I’ve gone a full week now using the G.I. Diet. It is flexible enough to handle my avoidance of cow dairy products. The food is regular food that I could feed anyone and except for my replacement dairy products (goat & sheep milk based dairy) available at the local chain grocery stores. I picked up 3 books on the diet (The G.I. Diet, Living the G.I. Diet (cookbook) & G.I. Diet Express). The recipes in G.I. Diet Express are great for a single person. The recipes are set up to yield 2 servings each, which is perfect for me. All I have to do is cut the results in half, then I have dinner for tonight and lunch for tomorrow. No eating the same food for a week. I made chili last night and was only able to eat half of what they called a serving. This is definitely not a go hungry program.

Talking about chili, the cats decided that a big bowl of chili was just what the living room carpet needed last night. Thank goodness for Charlie’s Soap. I don’t know what they put in that stuff, but dang it works.