Following Up

This guy.... just starting his molt, by the way....

 

is shortly going to have two new girlfriends.  This year's hatch, one poult is a purebred Bourbon Red, and the other, a half.  As we are not breeders, we don't mind the mixes. 

 

He is so lonely, he is following the chickens around, and now roosting in the henhouse, for his own safety (and not to the chicken's liking!)

 

The new little girls will start out in the henhouse, as well.

 

Keith and I did a lot of talking tonight.... over a supper of a simple salad of some of those carrots I pictured last night, lettuce, bacon, tomato, and cheese.... and homemade croutons, which I cook in butter (Yum) and then dry a little in the oven...

 

One of the things I have noticed since retiring is that I am paying for more things with cash now.  I used to pull out the debit card and swipe it, and it was not "real" money.  Yes, the balance went down... but it was not like spending "real" money.  For 2 1/2 months, I have been trying to pay with cash, until my first Social Security check comes this week.  Yes, I have bill payments to make... but I am going to continue to use cash.  I stop and think EVERY time, before buying something.  It has been a good reminder that we don't really need all the "stuff" we see.  I'm even cutting down on my magazine addiction, and believe me... it was hard the first few times that I passed them up, and now I realize that when my subscriptions are up, more than half won't be renewed again. 

 

The other thing we notice is that my diabetes A1C is down again, very much so.  I have gotten weight off and maintained the loss... and my jeans that I wear everyday now are flapping on me.   Yes, I'm diabetic.... I don't mention it often, but I am controlled with medicine, thank heavens.  That medicine was cut in half last week, because my primary care, who is a nurse practitioner, told me I was doing so well that it was time.  What do I attribute this to?  You see, we are eating MUCH better... I put thought into the menus now, and decide several days in advance what we will be eating.  I hope to get that up to a full two weeks at a time.  We are eating lots of different things, casseroles, salads, etc. and things that we didn't eat while I was still working.  I bake every other day... some goodie.  I don't bake bread, as we don't eat enough of it to use up a loaf with no preservatives, but we have had an array of cookies, apple dishes, etc.  Keith even bought me a new stove because of this, and it's a DREAM stove!

 

I am also getting regular excercise, getting up and going out in the yard, puttering around in the garden, taking care of the chickens. 

 

But Stress is the real thing, I think.  As Keith has told me over and over... I'm the most relaxed I have ever been in the ten years we have been married!   Life is fun, and even after the death of my sister this year, I am so happy to be here in our little house, taking care of the pugs... taking care of Keith.... doing the laundry, baking, cooking... it's no wonder things have changed.

 

 

Big De-Stressing Help above.

 

I know better than to try to diet around the holidays, but in the spring, we're going to make a conscious effort to start walking together as much as we can (Keith is still working, remember) and get in good shape to enjoy our years together.  How blessed I've been!