Never judge a book by it's cover..........

 and all that, right?

We were in a high end plastic surgeon's office on Monday.  No, we're not getting plastic surgery 🤣 This guy does regular surgery as well.  Super nice guy by the way.

Anyway, I had never been before but went with hubby this time, as two set's of ears are better than one I find when you're getting older....just saying!!  While we were sat in his office waiting for him we saw these pictures on the wall.

We were laughing at the one on the left; saying how even I could paint something like that and goodness knows how much he paid for it!!

I finally decided to take a closer look:

Turns out it's wrapping paper covering a frame of some sort.

I know when we used to go to the art show/auction for charity there were a number of things that honestly I thought were done by a child.  People were going mad over them, while hubby and I hated them.  So we figured this blue "painting" was one of those!!!

What suits one doesn't suit another I guess.

Update

 I got into the walk-in clinic on Tuesday afternoon.  

"Luckily," I have diabetes and high blood pressure otherwise I would be *hit out of luck getting any antibiotics, as I have a viral thing that's going around and there is really nothing much wrong with me.  My throat is fine, my ears are fine, my nose is fine and my chest is clear; as per the doctor.

Now I beg to differ on all of this,  and believe me when I say I have never felt as sick as I have been these past 10 days.  It's been a long while since I have been this sick.

All I can think is that I am on my way to getting better; thank goodness.  I left the clinic thinking this is why I do not like going to the doctors.  I have waited 10 days to make sure I was "good and sick," before I bothered them.

Anyway, I have antibiotics for the next 10 days; so hoping by the weekend I will be feeling a bit better and can get back into the swing of things.

Daughter ordered me some pink eye meds from Amazon, so I have got that under control, so that's positive.

Thanks to everyone for your good wishes.

Doctor's appointment

I had my telephone appointment with the doctor yesterday to go over my blood work that I had done last week.  The one thing about getting blood work done through Life Labs here in Canada is that you can look up your results online, so technically you don't need the doctor to tell you the actual results.

So I already knew my blood sugar results were a lot better; so much so, that they are more or less in the normal rate.  The doctor was very pleased about that.  He did say my cholesterol levels are still a little high, so need to work on that.  At the end of the day getting my blood sugar levels back to normal is the whole end goal of all this.

I achieved my weight loss goal of 25lbs, I have actually lost 26lbs.  Now he was surprised about that and even more surprised when I told him that dh has lost 24lbs.  He did tell me that you should only lose 10% of your body weight at a time, then take six months off and not gain any weight.  Then lose another 10% of your body weight, then take six months off and maintain that weight, then repeat.  That way you will not gain the weight back. 

I am on a roll at the moment with the weight loss, so I do not want to lose momentum and lose interest in doing it.  So I am going to carry on doing what I am doing for the time being, as I am quite content with how I am doing it.

BUT....I have gone and pulled my hamstring and it is flipping well painful.  It was my own fault, I did not warm up properly while on the treadmill and with the incline I was doing the back of my knee is killing me.  I am hobbling around like an old women.  So as far as exercise is concerned one short walk after supper is about as much as I can handle at the moment.  It's been over a week or more now and is ever so slightly better, but this is going to take time to heal.

I keep meaning to tell you what I eat in a day as it is pretty much similar most days.  So for today I will be eating the following:

Breakfast: 1 cup multigrain Cheerio's with 1/2 cup 1% milk, cup of herbal tea (no milk)

Mid morning snack: Banana, large cup coffee with 1% milk

Lunch: hummus, rice crackers,  a pot of Motts Fruitsations unsweetened apple sauce, large coffee with 1 % milk

Mid Afternoon snack: Cup of herbal tea (no milk), mini package of cookies, click here to see them

Supper: Turkey Pasta stew/soup, (ground turkey with veggies, left over kraft dinner mixed in it, it will be my own recipe and will last a couple of days), sugar free jello with fruit in it and a fat free yogurt (40 calories) on the top.

After supper snack: 2 fat free yogurts and a granola/protein bar.

I also drink at least 32 oz of water.

Is my diet perfect, absolutely not!  However it is what is working for me.  I do make a lot of veggie soups.  Made a cauliflower one that I had for supper for the past couple of nights.  Cauliflower makes the most creamy of soups without using any cream or milk.  I have cut out a big chunk of carbs and a lot of sweet stuff like cakes and biscuits/cookies.

So my next goal is to lose another 25 lbs by the end of March, as that is when I am getting more blood work done and will go in and see the doctor in person (covid permitting).

I am in this for the long run, and I am of the mind set that slow and steady win's the race.  We shall see!

Oh I forgot for the month of December, I have been having my one chocolate a night from my Lindt advent calendar as well......I could murder a full size chocolate bar though..LOL  That will be my treat when I get my next 25 lbs off!!

(I will post a photo of my turkey pasta veggie stew/soup when I get it made)

The art of distraction.......

I was at the dermatologist's the other day.  He's a tiny little man and a chatterbox.  One of the reasons he's a chatterbox is that it distracts you from what he is actually doing.  This is how it went with me!

Doctor had to take another mole off my body this time on my rib cage.

I mentioned we lived in the "snow belt" area; which means we get bloody snow whether we like it or not😕

Doctor getting ready for procedure........

Doctor: "are the ski hills open yet?"

Me: "I don't know?"

Doctor: "Do you snowboard."

Now this is where a video of this conversation would have made me millions on YouTube.....

Me: "The only bloody snow I have any contact with is when I shovel it!!"

Now what you don't hear me say to myself is:

"Is he a doofus or what, do I LOOK like I snowboard?????  I am a woman the wrong side of 50, with not at athletic bone in my body.........I have the grace of a fairy elephant.  Put me on a snowboard and I may as well have the ambulance all ready and waiting to put me in at the bottom of the ski hill.......that's if I can actually make it up the hill in the first place!!"

By the time I had processed all of this he had taken the mole off.............perfect art of distraction.......well done Dr. Chang!!

Random thoughts and things......

I am going to do one of these blog posts each week, because sometimes things you want to say don't justify a full blog post.

This is what I wrote on my chalk board for January (all  my own words):

Friday was one of those days when you go outside and if you have any moisture in your nose it freezes; today will not be much better.  You have to warm up your car before going anywhere.  We are lucky here in Southern Ontario that we don't have to plug in our cars at night, like they do in the Prairies and Northern Ontario, as it's even colder there.

Due to the extreme cold temperatures my walking has been very little this week.........me and the treadmill must get better acquainted!!

Cutting things out of your diet which you love sucks...........just saying.........which in turn makes grocery shopping a pain in the butt........it'll get easier I guess?

Roll on the end of the month when I see the specialist and I can have a colonoscopy and get a good clean out😎  Not many people say that I'm sure!!!

Saw this post over at Lazy Daisy Jones where other bloggers give you their blogging tips, well worth the read.

Need to devote an afternoon to going through this, as I am a bit like what that image is at the moment😏

(image credit)

Flu Shot

(image credit)

For the first time ever DH and I got our flu shots.  Last time I was at the doctor's he said that DH really should have a flu shot because as he put it; 

"he is the poster boy of the people who really should have a flu shot."

His chest is so bad when he gets a cold, and unlike normal/regular people it takes him months to get rid of a cold.

As with most things in life it seems, he won't do these sort of things unless I do it.  The only thing I have refused point blank to do before him is get a colonoscopy..........no point in asking me why not!!!

We went to our local Wal-Mart where our pharmacy is and one of the pharmacists did it.  Very painless, quick and easy.  We even got a bandaid/plaster on our "wound," which I proudly showed Nora via Facetime.  She has a bandaid/plaster fetish!!  However she had a nicer bandaid on her knee (AGAIN!) which she had to show me.  No point in competing with a four year old as to who has the most and or better bandaids, it seems.

Do you get a flu shot?

Senior moments.......

(photo credit)

I would love to say it only happens now and then, but recently they have been arriving fast and furious.  Now I am putting it down to being so tired, but even dh is a tad concerned..........what was I saying?😉

So I guess it will be one more thing too ask the doctor this week, when I see him.  I suppose the wise thing to do is write a list of things I need to ask him!!  Am I a wise one though???

Do you write down a list of things you need to ask when you visit the doctor, or just wing it?  Are you having senior moments?

I finally gave in........

and went to the doctors.  It got to the point that breathing was/is painful.  Took him all of two seconds to announce I have bronchitis.  So hopefully the horse pills he gave me work wonders and I will be feeling as right as rain in a couple of days.

It was spring maintenance time for the shopping carts in Wal-Mart today when I stopped in to fill my prescription:

It looked as though all the dodgy wheels were being changed......Hallelujah!  Don't you hate it when you pick a cart with those horrible dodgy wheels, that go every other way than the way you want to go?

I updated and have closed out my grocery totals for April.  Quite surprised on how well I did considering.  Spent: $353.01 and had coupon savings of $61.37.  Hoping for better numbers in May.

Chalkboard and lost for words for a change.....

Chalkboards are all the decorating rage at the moment.  Dd has had one for a while now, she made it herself and it looks great.  You can see more of hers in this post.

I wanted one, more for the fact I could write things down on it, in the hopes it would help me remember things.  Dd made hers by buying a picture frame from Ikea and painting it with chalkboard paint.  I bought mine ready made at Michael's on sale for under $30.

Underneath it you can see I have hung a bar with a couple of pots on it.  All that is from Ikea  The bar is here, the hooks come separate here.  The two tubs and the plant is also from Ikea.

A close up of the faux plant.  It is quite realistic.

 I got the chalkboard markers from Michael's.  They are around $20 but I got mine on sale.

 Here is a close up of the detail on the frame, it is a weathered look.  Dd was up and wrote on it.

All in all very pleased with it all.  I have one spare hook on the rail, I want to get a small heart sign for there.  I have seen something I like on someone else blog, so just need to source one over here.

Now why was I lost for words.  I am not well; it's all in the head, ears, nose and throat.  I was up for nearly three hours through the night on Monday night.  My right ear is killing me, and I have a silly cough and moisture in my nose.  So I decided to go to the walk in clinic in town.  Believe this was not undertaken lightly, as I personally have better things to do than sit in a room for hours with sick people!!

It is a three hour round trip to go to our doctors office and see him; and as I don't have the energy to do that trip off I went to the walk in.  Will say it's a lovely office, super staff and very clean.  It is in our local Wal-Mart store.  Didn't have to wait too long probably around 1 1/2 hours.

The doctor came in told her what was wrong.  She looked in my ears and said they are nice and clear.  Looked in my throat and said that was fine and told me there was nothing wrong with me.  I said are you sure there is nothing wrong with my ear as it's really sore.  Nope, it was fine and take Sudafed to clear any congestion.  I said I am on blood pressure pills and was told not to take them.  Again, she said they would be fine for a couple of days.  And that was it......

Believe me when I say, my ears feel awful, my throat is on fire and this tickly cough is bloody annoying.  Something is going on.  So Sudafed it is, not sure for how long.  I'll give it three days and if I am no better, I will try and get into see my own doctor.

Bit of a sad morning this morning...........

and not because I had to have a "cavity" filled..........it was questionable at best {SIGH}  We have parted company with not only our dentist but our pharmacist as well.
  
Both were hard goodbye's on our part.  We have been with our dentist for probably 24 years, and had the same pharmacist for at least 20 years.  As I was saying to both, we have watched one another's kids grow up, shared in one another's lives and gave one another hope when things were looking down.

Since moving house we have moved another 20 minutes east of where we used to live.  So today I left the house just after 9 am.  Called in at the pharmacist to pills up some pills and then went to the dentist and had my cavity filled and came home.  I got back in the house around 12 : 45 pm.

Now it's not only the distance we have to travel, but the gas/petrol that is to put in the vehicle.  In the winter we then have to deal with the bad weather as well.  Then to add to everything, we have to dental offices that are actually walking distance from our new home, so I can be in and out of an appointment and be home in less than an hour.

We still have our doctor down there and cannot get a doctor up here, until we part way with our doctor and go on a government list for people without doctors.  Now as everyone knows as soon as you are put on a government list, you may linger there for many a year!!  So that is up in the air at the moment as to what we plan on doing with that situation.

We will also be parting ways with our optician.  That won't be a hard thing to do, as they are the most disorganized bunch in that office, so no tears will be shed there.  I did shed a tear or two though this morning.

Onwards and upwards as they say.........

9 Reasons why An Apple a Day Really Keeps the Doctor away

(Photo Credit)

I saw this article here and thought I would share it with you.

1-Apple contains Vitamin C. Vitamin C helps greatly your immune system. A lot of people who lack Vitamin C in their diet have poor healing, bruise easily and have bleeding gums.

2-Prevent Heart Diseases. The reason it can prevent both coronary heart disease and cardiovascular disease is because apples are rich in flavonoid. Flavonoids are also known for their antioxidant effects.

3-Low in calories. A regular size apple has between 70-100 calories. Eating an apple when craving for candy or chocolate can make the desire disappear since apple in itself contains sugar, but gives you only ? of the calories.

4-Prevent Cancers. Notice the plural. We all know that cancer comes in several forms and in different places. Apples target multiple cancers such as colon cancer, prostate cancer and breast cancer in women.

5-Apples contain phenols, which have a double effect on cholesterol. It reduces bad cholesterol and increases good cholesterol. They prevent LDL cholesterol from turning into oxidized LDL, a very dangerous form of bad cholesterol which can be deadly.

6-Prevent tooth decay. Tooth decay is an infection that seriously damages the structure of your teeth, which is caused primarily because of bacteria. The juice of the apples has properties that can kill up to 80% of bacteria. So there you have it, an apple a day also keeps the dentist away!

7-Protects your brain from brain disease. This is something many people don’t know, and when you consider that your brain makes the person you are, it gives a whole new perspective. Apple has substances called phytonutrients, and these phytonutrients prevents neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson's.

8-Healthier Lungs. A research at the University of Nottingham Research shows that people who eat 5 apples or more per week has lower respiratory problems, including asthma.

9-They taste great! And not only that, they also come in many flavors and colors. Not in a mood for a green apple? Why not get a red one, or a Macintosh! Their taste can vary greatly, but still give you all the apple benefits. Variety is an important element to maintaining your health.

Thanks to Succeed With This for the article, I am now craving an apple.........

Surgeon's, Optometrist's and Doctor's........

Been a busy week health wise for dh and I.  On Wednesday we had to be at the Toronto Western Hospital for 8:30 am, as he had an appointment with the Eye Surgeon at either 9 am or 9:30 am, no one could make up their mind which one it was?  Didn't matter as no one got in on time.  Dh had to have a Laser Iridotomy.

Laser iridotomy is a surgical procedure that is performed on the eye to treat angle closure glaucoma, a condition of increased pressure in the front chamber (anterior chamber) that is caused by sudden (acute) or slowly progressive (chronic) blockage of the normal circulation of fluid within the eye. The block occurs at the angle of the anterior chamber that is formed by the junction of the cornea with the iris. All one needs to do to see this angle is to look at a person's eye from the side. Angle closure of the eye occurs when the trabecular meshwork, the drainage site for ocular fluid, is blocked by the iris. Laser iridotomy was first used to treat angle closures in 1956. During this procedure, a hole is made in the iris of the eye, changing its configuration. When this occurs, the iris moves away from the trabecular meshwork, and proper drainage of the intraocular fluid is enabled.

Read more: http://www.surgeryencyclopedia.com/La-Pa/Laser-Iridotomy.html#ixzz2CETKCuxu

In layman's terms, there are channels around your eye ball's, that slowly close up.  If allowed to close up you can go blind.  So they make a hole in your iris and this allows the liquid to wander around the eye and releases the pressure.

It was very successful and he goes back in two weeks for a follow up appointment.  I couldn't even sit through the consultation and testing as it totally grossed me out.  We all should pray and hope that I NEVER EVER need anything done with my eyes as I am a total baby when it comes to eyes.  It was $28 to park for over two hours at the hospital, luckily I found a parking spot across the road for $10.  It took us two sodding hours to get to the hospital from our house.  How people commute to down town Toronto is beyond me!!!

On Tuesday morning I went to the Optometrist's to have an eye exam.  I would rather go to the dentist and have my teeth pulled than have my eye's tested.  I DO NOT DO DROPS what so ever, so he made me do a slew of tests on my eyes and charged me $60 for those and $90 for the actual eye test.  My prescription has gone up to 1.75 from 1.50, so I need to get new lenses for my eye glasses for reading and close up work.  Otherwise my eyes are fine, and I left the office telling him I was NEVER EVER having those tests done again!!!

I then went to the doctor's about my rotten hand.  I have arthritis in my thumb joint that is why it is so sore.  Anyone with arthritis in their hands what do you do/use to get some relief.  I am being sent for another nerve test in my hand to see if the nerves are pinched AGAIN.  I also need x-rays on my hand to see what else is going on.

I wish I had never let her touch my right hand.  I can only type for a certain length of time now.  Driving kills me, hoovering is not much better.  I have very limited strength now in the right hand.  Once I have had the nerve test done I can then book an appointment to see the hand surgeon again.  There is no point doing it now until I get all the test results back.  My mam has arthritis in both of her hands, so it is maybe a hereditary thing?

If anyone has first hand info on arthritis I would love to hear your story.

So there you are.  I am hoping that's it for doctors for the next week or two!!

Christmas Eve

I was out and about on Thursday.  Had a doctors appointment and dropped in to see a couple of people in the city.  Once again was thankful we don't live in the city anymore.  The traffic is too crazy, mind you they had no snow.  I had to snow blow again, as it had all drifted onto the driveway while I was out.  Should mention my appointment was the second one of the day at 9:10am, it was after 9:30am before I got too see him; he was busy doing paperwork!!!


Got this stunning Christmas arrangement,  dd best friend sent it too us for Christmas, wasn't that nice of her?

Now I may be a party pooper, but this would drive me crazy if I had to live next door to this house. However it is great to look at if I was passing!!

Burnout?

I knew it would happen and it all finally caught up with me on Wednesday.  I woke up with a headache, bad sign.  Plus my heels on my feet are just killing me; that started last Thursday night after being on my feet for three hours straight.


Anyhow, I decided I had better go to the doctors and see him about my feet.  I got an appointment for 3:10pm, and decided to potter around the house, doing some odds and ends.  Then after my 10 o'clock tea break, I figured I would cut some more of the lawn.  Got back in by 11:30am, and my poor head was pounding.  So I did some more tidying up, then decided that the 45 minute drive to and from the doctor's, plus the hour sitting in his office (as he's always an hour behind) with my head pounding wasn't a good thing.  So I cancelled that appointment.


Meanwhile the phone rang and it was the local town's health centre.  I had put our name on the waiting list for a doctor closer to where we lived.  Did we have a doctor, yes we do, so back on the list we went.  They were only taking patients with no family doctor.  However, when I put our name on the list in April we were five hundred and something, now we are three hundred and something, so we are moving up the list quite fast.


Anyhow, after I had something to eat I went to bed for an hour or so to try and sleep off the headache.  By 4pm we had a major thunderstorm pass through, which cleared the air a bit, thank goodness.  Luckily I had brought in my laundry from the line, and got it ironed when I got up.


Oh and I had a groan/flipping heck moment after lunch.  I am a taste tester for a company and today the courier brought me two packets of these new ice cream bars, covered in chocolate.  All I could think of, is I have a blasted headache, I shouldn't be eating chocolate!!

I managed to hold off from trying one until after supper.  I had one of the white chocolate ones, and it tasted like Milky Bar chocolate, so it got a big thumbs up for me!!  I can't tell you anymore as I am not allowed to disclose any information.


So all in all Wednesday wasn't as productive as I would have liked.


We pass this house on the way to one of the towns.  I have long admired it, I love the look of it; and now it has come up for sale.  Don't worry we're not moving, at the price they are putting it up for, I could probably only afford the garage!!  It's still a lovely house though.........

Interesting day on Tuesday............

I had the doctors appointment on Tuesday morning and a dentist appointment. What was interesting is that the dental hygienist's sister is a visual effects person in LA. She was telling me that she was working on promotional material, i.e. promotional video's for Michael Jackson's upcoming tour when he died.

When he died all production shut down, and what was done has been made into the movie "This Is It." She met Michael Jackson and although he looked very sickly and thin, he was very friendly and very, very creative.

I met a friend for lunch and she works as a buyer for a large grocery chain, that sells the PC brand.......

Anyhow, we had lunch in their head office (where she is based) cafeteria. What a lovely place it is, and so bright and modern. You can only eat there if you are with an employee. They had a super selection of items to choose from and of course they are all PC items. They were all well priced and everything looked so good. We had a BLT (bacon, lettuce, tomato) sandwiches, with veggies and chips (crisps), and I had a bottle of water and paid under $12. It was so good also to see "R" and catch up. I really miss her, and we don't see one another often enough. By the way there are 2,500 employees working in this location.

On the way home I called into Tim Hortons, and picked up half a dozen donuts. Anyone else loving the pumpkin spice donuts? They are so yummy I could eat them morning, noon and night.

I had some phone calls to make when I got home. I ordered oil for the heating. We have half a tank still, but I figured we may as well get it in now and then its done with hopefully until after Christmas.

The gasket has started to come off the wood burning stove door. I called in at the store last week, and they gave me some glue, but that didn't do the trick. So now I have to take the door into the store and they will replace the whole of the gasket. Fingers crossed it works then.

Finally, I got a referral to go and see an allergist. The date of my appointment, November 30th.....I think it's a long wait as he only works certain days every week.

Molly's allergies are still as bad. So I need to call the vet to see what she has to say, as I gave her an allergy pill on Tuesday night, to see if she would stop chewing.

So all in all a pretty interesting day. Oh and we had an envelope in the mail box from the local fire department, with their 2010 calendar and a letter and envelope looking for a donation. I am not sure how I feel about donating, or why I should donate.........any thoughts? By the way I donate on a monthly basis to the Canadian Cancer Society, so I am not against donating, I am just not sure WHY I should donate to the fire department?

Sprinkles/Hundreds and Thousands, another quilting store and on a hunt for a family doctor....

So on Tuesday I was looking in my fridge and discovered I had a carton of whipping cream that needed to be used up, so I made a trifle. I have a photo, but as I am writing this on Tuesday, I can't upload photos, AGAIN :0(
(Wednesday morning and it took seconds to upload this photo??)


Now the classic way of making a trifle in this house, is sponge cake, then jello, and fruit if I have it, on a special occasion I soak the sponge in sherry. Then custard on top of that, using Bird's custard powder, then whipped cream on top of that. No trifle is complete without sprinkles/hundreds and thousands sprinkled on the top of the whipped cream. However that is the only way I will eat sprinkles. When I go to the donut shop, a donut with sprinkles on would be the last one I would buy, however I always buy them for the kids as they are their favourite donut.

I know in Britain they call them hundred's and thousands, in Canada and probably the States we call them sprinkles. How do you make your trifle?

I had to go into town this morning to Shopper's Drug Mart they had a promo on when you spend $50 you get a $10 certificate to spend later at Shopper's so I stocked up on a couple of things. While in the store I got talking to a lady while I was looking at some of the quilting magazines and she told me about a quilting store, which was just around the corner. It's called Lilac Lane Quilts and is run by a super lady called Liz. She was so helpful and although I didn't have a good look around as I had a headache, I can see me going to that store on a regular basis. Plus Liz is a wealth of information on local things, which is always helpful!!

In the same plaza there were two doctors offices, so I figured I'd call in and see about registering. Went to the first office and managed to talk to a very helpful lady, and she said one lady doctor would be willing to see us in January 2010, but she only worked Monday to Thursday mornings, and Thursday afternoon, her last appointment being 4:45pm. She doesn't have hospital privileges though, and would only take us on if we had no major medical problems. Left there very unsure about all of that, and said I would get back to her. However she also gave me a phone number for the hospital where you can be put on the waiting list.

I then called in at the other office in the plaza and basically all she said was no they weren't taking anyone on. There was a third office on the main street on my way home, so I called in there and she gave me another number to call and register. The number is for Health Care Connect and is 1-800-445-1822. However this is for people who have NO FAMILY DOCTOR at all. You can't be registered with any doctor.

We are still registered with our family doctor in our old city, and don't want to give up that doctor until we get another one in the closest town to us. The only reason we want to change doctors is that it is a 45 minute drive from where we live, and he is constantly running an hour behind, so a visit to the doctor's office is a three hour experience!! Anyhow, I ended up leaving our name and number on the hot line with the local hospital, and when any doctor takes on new patients we will be notified. No idea when that will happen, but at least our names are now on the list.

As with many areas, family doctors are in such short supply in this area.