Haven’t written for a while but, to be perfectly honest, I didn’t have much to say. Even now, I am struggling to find something to write about. Covid-19 is still here. The American Elections are still looming. The Canadian Government is still embroiled in a “scandal”. There are forest fires across the West Coast of the USA and they are bad; the smoke has drifted north and it is blanketing the Lower Mainland. If not for this pandemic, Alex and I would be in Europe right now having a great time (*sob).
So, what is there to write about that will hold the interest of my 11 (yes ELEVEN followers)? Not too much but, I will endeavour to write something witty, pithy and erudite (ewww…. big words!)
I am still walking every day. I have increased my number of steps. I was told that 10,000 steps is the benchmark to good health and weight loss. I found that 10,000 just wasn’t cutting it.
My doctor’s appointment in April was a wake up call. While I was proud of myself for doing all this walking, my doctor advised me that I was borderline diabetic! Yikes! So, I decided that I had to make some wholesale changes in my lifestyle. Okay, not wholesale. Maybe retail. I increased my walking distance by double. That seemed to have done the trick. I reduced my calorie intake – not by much, mind you. But, enough. I started walking 12 – 15 km a day.
I was stuck at around 107 kg (236 lbs) and it just wasn’t going anywhere. Then, once I hit the increase in my steps, the weight started coming off again. I weighed myself three days ago and I am now 102.1 kg. (225 lbs)! It is working. I need to lose another 7 kg (15 lbs) and I will be at an optimal weight. My doctor has also advised me that I am no longer in danger of diabetes and that all my other blood tests came back with excellent results (hooray, I don’t have tertiary syphyllis!!!!). I do have to go in for a colonoscopy, though. *sigh. Scheduling that for sometime in the next couple of weeks.
Alex and I are good, though. We have been keeping our distance, making sure that we wear masks whenever we go out in public, staying pretty close to home. I have been working just at IRIS. I miss the other part time gigs and gawd, I miss my stage managing gigs! Everything got cancelled for 2020! Hopefully, next year will bring everything back (fingers crossed).
In the meantime, we are getting ready to build a greenhouse in the backyard. Our neighbour, Dave has offered to help Alex construct it. That is a good thing because I dread helping Alex do this. I am not the best construction-based worker. Plus, Alex helped Dave construct Dave’s new decks (yes, decks), paint his house, landscape his yard and fix his driveway, so he owes us!
We have most of the wood already for the frame. Now, we just need to find the walls, roof, door and potentially a floor. I will start scrounging for those items in the next couple of weeks. Craigslist is gonna be a good resource, I suspect.
After that, we will look at replacing all our windows – the current ones are single pane and about 35 years old. We have gotten quote and they are rather reasonable for what we would get. Then comes the kitchen. I want to re-do the kitchen, dining room, laundry room. That is going to be the big expense. So, have to start saving for that quickly.
In the meantime, we will continue to try and come through this pandemic unscathed. Below are some recent pictures taken over the last couple of months. Enjoy!
Massive tomato. Looks tasty 
My hubby is a daredevil 
My three favourite boys 
They saw a skunk
My office is beginning 
to look like 
a greenhouse, but, I love it
Al Zylstra 