January turned out to be a terrific, and terrifically productive month, largely due to being gone for a good chunk of the month, and due to experiencing amazingly consistent energy upon our return due to making a long-overdue decision to give up processed sugar.
January In A Sentence A Month
1. Started off the day watching the Rose Parade on our new 65" TV (how sad that a float broke down and prevented the last few from being seen 🙁) while enjoying a New Years day brunch of blueberry pancakes, eggs and bacon, then a lovely five mile walk along the beach before returning home and plunking ourselves down to watch movies the rest of the day . . . possibly enjoying our new TV just a bit too much!
2. Booked a 33-day cruise around S. America(!) for early 2020, then off to our spiritual congregation's newly purchased building to assist with some move-in projects, plus lots of grocery shopping at Aldi's on the way home . . . I don't necessarily love everything Aldi's carries, but appreciate the great prices on those things I do.
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| So excited to visit all of these places! |
3. Morning dermatology appointment to get a squamous skin cancer lesion removed, spent the afternoon in the backyard reading and gazing out at the ocean under gloriously sunny skies, then my first time helping to bring and serve dinner to a homeless shelter in Laguna Beach that our spiritual congregation commits to one day a month - what a humbling experience.
4. Morning workout at the gym, then home to pack and get our travel trailer hooked up and ready for our annual trip to attend the Palm Springs International Film Festival.
5. Headed out early in order to get our travel trailer parked at the RV park in time to attend our first movie of the trip, Egypt's Yomeddin, a moving film about a leper colony, followed by set up, Happy Hour and dinner back at the RV park with our best friends, and fellow Film Festival attendees, David and Fran.
6. Walked to our films today, @ 4 miles round trip, Austria’s The Interpreter, and Israel’s Redemption, then Chianti and pizza afterward at always-delicious Bill’s Pizza, discussing what we liked (and didn’t!) about both films with our friends.
7. Morning hike up to the top of Lykken trail, a sack lunch in line while waiting to see Japan’s The Shoplifters (a disappointing 'eh' in my opinion, in spite of being a Best Foreign Picture nominee for this year's Oscar awards) dinner back at our travel trailer, then back in line yet again in order to see Denmark’s nail-biting thriller, The Guilty.
8. Morning hike up Lykken trail, then off to see what turned out to be our favorite film of the festival, Lebanon's outstanding, Oscar-nominated Capernaum, followed by dinner back at our trailer, before heading out again to see Spain's charming Champions, about a group of disabled basketball players.
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| I know this is a long shot for an Oscar, given powerhouse Roma, also nominated, but it is so worthy of receiving one! |
9. Took the day off from the Film Festival and headed to Sunnylands Estate for an almost-private tour (just 7 people permitted at a time) of the inside of this ah-maz-ing estate where seven U.S. Presidents have visited and stayed . . .
. . . then to Shield's Date Farm for luscious date shakes and Medjool date sampling, then topped off the day by enjoying dinner and a show at the cozy Purple Room Supper Club.
10. Headed out by foot to see Ethiopia's beautiful movie, Fig Tree, coffee and a split sandwich afterward at our favorite Palm Springs coffee house, Koffi, a fun afternoon shopping our way through downtown Palm Springs, including a stop for yummy blackberry mimosas, a visit to the Palm Springs Art Museum, dinner at Mexican food fav Las Casuelas, then the weekly Thursday night Village Fest along Palm Canyon, whew!
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| The day's purchases included this hat and blouse, both of which I couldn't wait to wear, literally! |
11. Morning hike up Lykken trail where we finally spotted a whole bunch of big horn sheep after just missing them earlier in the week,
then off to see our last films of the trip, the charming Swedish biopic Becoming Astrid (though I hated that they made the actress remove her blouse for no good reason . . . #timesup!) and the incredibly compelling Afghanistan war film, Jirga, which dealt with forgiveness in a manner most of us would never, ever have the courage to do!
12. Headed home from Palm Springs, then spent remainder of the day cleaning our travel trailer, unpacking, doing laundry, and making a mini-grocery run, in that we leave again in just a few days.
13. Attended first services at our spiritual congregation's new permanent home - so exciting! - then home to meet my girlfriend Mary, visiting from her temporary home in Singapore, taking her walking and shopping in San Clemente, then to dinner in always-beautiful Laguna Beach.
15. Up at 4:00 am to catch out early morning flight to DC, being extra nice to TSA as we went through security (third week of no paycheck due to gov't shutdown), then a fun evening playing with our two granddaughters once we arrived.
16. Immersed ourselves in granddaughter fun, including some very chilly outdoor snow fun!
17. Spent time attempting to help organize a preponderance of books and toys scattered throughout the house for my daughter . . . felt a bit like the little Dutch boy that stuck his fingers in the dyke, even as the water spilled out elsewhere!
18. At long last, enjoyed 'hotel night' with our four year old granddaughter, which she thoroughly, thoroughly enjoyed . . . the first of many, many more wonderful grandparent/grandchild experiences to come we hope!
19. Lot's of playtime fun with 'our girls' once back home to their place from hotel night - chase, hide n' go seek, tag, stickers, coloring, and book reading, phew!
20. Attended services at the Metro DC branch of our spiritual congregation, then finally managed to find time to stop by a movie theater in order to watch Bohemian Rhapsody where I, literally never stopped moving my feet . . . loooooooooved it!
21. Flew home from Metro DC, always sad to say goodbye to everyone, but did enjoy dinner at our oldest daughter's in Huntington Beach once we landed back at LAX . . . her boyfriend is such a wonderful cook!
22. Goodbye sugar . . . resolved to give it one more big try, and see if I could finally cut processed sugar out of my life in order to see if other aspects of my life might improve, primarily my energy.
23. Day One of mp sugar was hard people - an addiction to sugar is said to be akin to an addiction to cocaine - so I kept myself busy/distracted by meeting up with one of my hiking groups for a five mile hike along some early-spring-green hills above Ladera Ranch.
24. Woke up amazed at how solid my energy was yesterday - benefits of removing the processed sugar from my life already being realized - and caught up on my book club readings (Faulkner's The Sound And The Fury, and the uber-intersting non-fiction Sapiens, before heading out to work a shift at the cultural center I volunteer for.
25. Morning hike with hubby, home for a bit to do chores, then off to first meet friends for Happy Hour at Waterman's Harbor, then to Anaheim to meet up with our oldest daughter and her sweetie for craft beer tasting at Bottle Logic Brewing . . . my brown porter with cinnamon, nutmeg and black pepper was amazing!
26. Morning hike along the beach with my Saturday walking group on a gorgeously warm day, home to re-landscape a small planter in our front yard that just had a tree removed, then in to clean up and head out with hubby to Laguna Beach for a quick dinner at Urth Caffee, followed by seeing the play Driving Miss Daisy, starting Michael Learned.
27. Morning services at our spiritual congregation, then home to prepare for our quarterly book club meeting to discuss The Sound And The Fury, where we started off outside in order to enjoy wine and a gorgeous sunset, then headed indoors for a southern-themed dinner and book discussion - fried chicken, baked sweet potatoes, and a shaved Brussels sprout salad, plus homemade pecan pie (but none for me!).
29. Morning six mile hike with my Tuesday hiking group, then home to clean up and get photos taken for our Cambodia and Vietnam visas, which I then returned home and spent two full hours applying for online before finally finishing . . . the upload features for photos we needed to submit was cumbersome for both to say the least!
30. Enjoyed a very challenging 8 mile hike with my Wednesday hiking group, which included 2,300 feet of gain in the first two miles . . . while I avoided the worst of the spills our group experienced on the way down due to how rocky and steep the trail was, I did 'take a knee,' at one point due to briefly taking my eyes off the trail.
31. My Thursday morning hike got cancelled due to pending rain, a bit of a relief after yesterday's long hike, so I enjoyed time in my office working on some upcoming trip details, before leaving for an afternoon shift at the cultural center where I volunteer, followed by a quick dinner back at home before heading out again to attend a Mozart concert . . . the later is more hubby's thing than mine, but I do always end up enjoying the music more than I expect to.
Bonus: I finished the month with ten straight days of being processed sugar free, and feat I've never been able to accomplish up until now. The difference in my energy level, and also my appetite, has been astounding. I'm also down four pounds already, which is making me very, very happy. By removing processed sugar, I've stopped bouncing into the kitchen all afternoon for pick-me-up after pick-me-up. Instead, I'm able to wait for dinner, and then to eat sensibly once I there. Wow, just wow is about all I can say at this point, though I will do a comprehensive write up once I get a full month of sugar sobriety under my belt.
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