September Goals - Final Results

September Goals - Final Results

Because I was away on a trip the first two weeks of September, I set smaller mini-goals for the remainder of the month upon my return, and here are the results:

1.  Complete the purchase and installation of stackable washer/dryer unit for my mom’s condo.  ✅

After getting her units old washer water valves updated in August, I thought this final step would be easy, but alas, no. The installation issue turned out to be the difference in size between her current dryer venting tube and the new one delivered with stackable washer/dryer. The old venting tube was flexible, and thus the dryer could be pushed back against the rear wall to allow the folding doors of utility closet to close. The new venting tube was NOT flexible, and thus the unit protruded and prevented door from closing.

The solution was to continue on with a flexible dryer venting tube, which the new unit installation team was prohibited from using due to 'fire hazard.'

Yeah, whatever. 

So, one handyman, one hour, and $100 dollars later, the unit is installed, the door now closes, no squishing of the dryer venting tube is occurring - thus no 'fire hazard' - and, finally, we are done.

2.  Send photos of minor hardscape repairs to landscaper, and schedule repair work.  ✅

It took multiple calls to get a call back(!), but I persisted, and remediation occurred. This was a new to me vendor, and though they did good work, I value responsiveness as much as the work itself, so unlikely I will ever use them again.

I was thrilled with the CAD rendering the landscaper provided - virtually no ongoing maintenance, our top request.
All the landscaping to the right of the artificial turf lawn belongs to the HOA, not us, so not ours to maintain, but ours to enjoy. 🙂

3.  Make flight and lodging reservations for trip to our daughter's for the Christmas holidays.  🖾

Apparently, booking air and hotels is a dreaded task for me, (conversely- I love booking cruises and tours!) because, aargh, I did not get it done, but need to!

So, I have newly committed to doing both tasks before the upcoming weekend.

4.  Purchase new jeans to celebrate reaching the end of my weight loss efforts.  ✅

Yes! As already shared here, I bought lots of jeans in September at the point my weight dipped below 110. And since I've already purged my closet of my now too-large jeans, I have ample motivation to continue to stay the course with my now-lower weight. If I gain weight I'll have zero pants to wear!  

5.  Begin work on holiday felt ornaments for my family.  ✅

Yes! I completed two of the six ornaments, leaving an easy four to finish before the end of November.

The gingerbread ornament took me almost 20 hours. The Christmas tree ornament about half of that.

These are definitely little labors of love for my family. 💌

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Today's Healthy Focus Plan - Meet hiking club for four mile scenic walk around a series of duck ponds, do grocery shop at Aldi's, swing by Target for Halloween candy (we give out full size candy bars, so we're a popular stop!), drop off required paperwork to allow my sister-in-law to move in with my mom in her 55+ community next year, get gussied up for a celebratory evening at a new coastal cocktail lounge that recently opened.

  

Weekend Wrap Up - Sleepless In Seattle

 Weekend Wrap Up - Sleepless In Seattle

I flew up to Seattle to spend the weekend with my niece and her spouse, and what a wonderful time I had - if I had more lifetime than just this one, I could absolutely imagine spending significant years there - it is just a fantastic city.

And as to my post title - I think my niece and her spouse were a bit shocked at my early AM wake-ups. By the time they came downstairs each morning, I was already on my third cup of coffee. This is not my desired wake up status, by the way, but what can I say - I'm aging and I sleep like cr#p!

Friday - I had flown up to Seattle on Thursday, the day prior, so my niece, who had taken the day off, and I hit the ground running with a seven mile sightseeing walk through their Seattle neighborhood that included a stretch along the Puget Sound, the interesting Hiram M. Chittenden Boat Locks and Fish Ladder, and several charming retail areas.

Later, after returning home for naps then showers, we enjoyed dinner at, ironically, a Chinese dim sum restaurant chain I have been unable to get into back here at home due to it's incredible popularity -Din Tai Fung. So, aside from it being absolutely delicious, I can now check it off of my Top 50 Restaurants In Orange County list, which I've been working on for years.

We ended the day with some brewery hopping in the Ballard neighborhood of Seattle, where there are over a dozen breweries lined up one after the other. Fun time! (My niece drank only non alcoholic beer and was thus our designated driver.)

Saturday - We began by taking my niece's puppy over for a romp at a nearby park that overlooks the Puget Sound, so great expenditure of energy for everyone, adults included.

After returning home and cleaning up, we went sightseeing in Edmonds, Washington, one of the many cute little towns that surround Seattle. We enjoyed the gorgeous Puget Sound views, the array of interesting artist shops, shopped for clothes till we dropped, and then had some wonderful locally caught rockfish tacos at the equally wonderful Market Seafood Eatery.

One of the stores we went into had an onsite personal stylist. She was amazing! She put things together for me that I would never have done on my own. And yes, I bought everything she pulled for me, including these pants and the leather jacket.

We returned back to their home to end a most enjoyable day by watching the Seattle Mariners on TV (niece and her spouse) and reading (me).

Sunday - Started off the day at a large and vibrant farmers market, just one of the very many that occur in and around Seattle, then enjoyed breakfast at Sabine Cafe, before being dropped off at the airport.

I had planned for an early flight out purposefully - I wanted my niece and her spouse to have some downtime before returning to work post-weekend.

How cute is this little Farmers Market produce-carrying dog!

I had a smooth and easy flight home. But I do want to say that as wonderful as it is to get away, it's equally as wonderful to return home.

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Today Healthy Focus Plan - Stop at car dealership to have someone show me how to remove and replace sport racks as needed, plus which psi for tires (the psi stamped on tires vs the psi that manufacturer-placed car sticker shows as recommended - this has always confused me!), stop by my mom's to turn in residence application for her future roommate (my sister-in-law), five mile walk + weight circuit at our gym, begin next holiday ornament felt project, and enjoy some guilty pleasure reading (Winter In Paradise by Elin Hilderbrand).

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Inquiring minds want to know - how was your weekend???

Five New Goals - October

 Five New Goals - October

It does finally feel like Fall has arrived here along the southern California coastline, primarily because the afternoon breezes have fallen back into the low 70's, and thus we are able to turn off the A/C after about six weeks of running it to counter the slightly raised temps and humidity we'd been experiencing. 

So, fresh with Fall fever, here are five goals I've set for October:

1.  Make something savory with pumpkin in it. There are oodles of these out there on the internet, but I'm fussy about flavors, so I want a highly rated blogger or recipes website. Any recommendations are much welcomed!

2.  Attend all four weekly club hikes. Prior to purchasing our new higher mileage SUV, I had been a bit parsimonious about driving our old SUV due to it's not-so-great 16-17 mpg. But with that no longer a concern, regardless of where in the county our October hikes will be starting from, I plan to be there.

3.  Remove cross bars from our (my!) new SUV. The only 'want' on my new car list was a sunroof, so I was not thrilled when I looked up the first time I opened it and saw that the optional forward sport rack bar lay directly across the middle of my open sky view. 😠

However, a little research indicates that the sport rack bars can be very easily removed and replaced as needed, so that is my plan. Theoretically, I should be able to do this myself, but I will wait until one of my much-handier friends is available for what appears to be a five minute or less process.

4.  Complete and submit a new resident application for my sister-in-law, at my mother's 55+ community. My sister-in-law lives on her own currently, but has some special needs that my husband helps out with, so it will be great to have her move in with my mom in 2026 when her lease terminates, and thus be much closer to us than her current 35 mile distance.

5.  Book family Coastal Cruise for 2026. One of the incentives to having my sister-in-law move in with my mother will be the expanded discretionary income it will provide for both of them as a result:  Lower monthly rent for my sister-in-law, and a higher monthly income for my mom. And one of the first things their improved cash flows will allow them to do, is to take their first-ever ocean cruise, which has generated a lot of excitement.

Since we will be accompanying them, their first cruise experience will be from a port we can drive to, as I am not at all prepared to deal with overseeing their flight arrangements in addition to their cruise. (Neither has flown more than a few times in their lives, and never post-9/11 TSA changes.)

But an easy drive-to departure port for their first experience? No problem. Plus, the cruise we've selected goes into San Francisco via the Golden Gate Bridge waterway, the cruising under of which is an amazing experience that I know will 'wow' them both.

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How about you??? Any new goals for October you care to share?

Weekend Wrap Up - Clothes, Concert, And A Decision

Weekend Wrap Up - Clothes, Concert, And A Decision

We came out of the weekend with a bit of a decision to make, which I detailed under Sunday below. Opinions welcome!

Friday - This was our once a month early-AM housecleaning morning, so we followed our usual routine of heading down to the harbor to enjoy a five mile walk. On the return, we stopped in at a supermarket so I could load up on a few loss leaders - $1.99 pork loin, which I sliced into chops and individually froze*, $2.99 boneless chicken breast and thighs, which I also froze in separate pieces, and six $0.88 a boxes of pasta.

• * I lay wax paper on a flexible, plastic cutting sheet, lay out the proteins, place in the freezer, and flip at about the two hour mark. Once flipped, I generally leave them until the next morning, then bundle into freezer bags. At that point, pulling out just one or several protein items at a time is a piece of cake.

I next picked up a sandwich at a nearby deli, which I took over to share with a dear friend undergoing cancer treatment, but who is currently off cycle to allow her appetite to return and regain some weight before entering her next treatment cycle.

It was a poignant get together. This is her fourth bout with cancer, and this one is in her brain. At a certain point during our visit, she alluded to beginning to accept that this battle was one she might not win. I had already begun to work on accepting that as well, but had decided that it wasn't my conversation to have with her until she gave a sign that she wished to. So, this was the sign, and in response we gripped hands and hugged, even as we did not go any further in discussing outcomes.

I love and will miss her. Terribly. But for now, she is here, and I will do my best to simply support her in her journey.

After returning home I had a slew of small chores to take care of, then I retired to the sofa to read some of the operations manual for my new SUV, plus watch a little TV in that my spouse was out for the evening at a men's event.

Saturday - Attended a fund raising event at a nearby shopping center. Tickets purchased for the event went to support one of my women's club's chosen charities, and included lunch, wine tasting, and a small discount on purchases made from participating stores.

So I shopped and shopped - this is the day I finally committed to purchasing new jeans that were fitted to my new, smaller size, plus that were a bit more on trend than my beloved skinny jeans. I found an adorable store where the saleswomen literally made all the choices for me - what size, what style, what top to go with. It was so fun, and so easy, that I think I'm going to use this store for most of my casual purchases going forward. Here are a couple of the outfits they put together, which I did buy:

Loved this outfit, and wore it on Saturday night.

I'm OK with this outfit as well, even if I have to laugh at how large the pants look compared to the above pair.
However, both of my daughters gave them a thumbs up, so I went with that.
And certainly they were comfortable!   😄

Since my spouse was once again away at his men's gathering, after returning home I forced myself to go through my closet and shed some of the 'comfort' clothes I've accumulated over the last 10 or so years. I pulled out so many items, perhaps 40 or so, that even after putting away my new purchases, my closet still feels roomier.

I then got dressed up in one of my new jeans outfits and headed over to pick up my mom to attend a British Invasion tribute concert in her 55+ community's performing arts center. It was fun and we both had a great time. 

Sunday - After pulling all of my old, now-too-big, skinny jeans out of my closet during my Saturday closet purge, I dashed over to H&M to quickly determine my new skinny jeans size, and then buy one pair in every color they had on the floor, six pairs in total.

Got in a quick two mile walk, then got ready to attend an Open House at a yacht club we had been invited to join. The reason for our interest in the club, given we don't own a boat nor have any intentions of buying one, was for it's scenic harbor location and numerous social aspects. This club has an active social calendar, and many of the members join solely for that reason, not because they own boats. 

Because we have recently lost several friends to illness, and see that sadly unchanged as we all continue to age, I clearly see the ongoing need to work to expand our social circle, or risk becoming increasingly isolated in the years ahead. As an extrovert, I am happy to make this ongoing effort to do so. As a somewhat introvert, my husband is a bit less so, lol. 

However, he likewise understands that we have to continue to exert effort in staying connected with our community, and thus is fully on board with proceeding, particularly after our visit to the club went so well. Really friendly people, nice dining restaurant, beautiful views and outdoor seating, and a robust social calendar.

Fees are in the mid to high $200's monthly, which we can comfortably afford, and which we can discontinue at any time should we change our minds. However, it feels just a bit decadent for some odd reason, and that is what I am struggling with, even as I love the idea of having a regular place to go and listen to music, watch the sunset, enjoy light bites, and socialize.

And hence where I welcome opinions!

Otherwise, our quarterly book club get together finished off the day. Great food and great discussion as always, this time about the recent award winning novel James by Everett Percival. 

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Today Healthy Focus Plan - Work a volunteer shift at the library, book our December Nashville and January Palm Springs lodgings, start dinner in the crockpot (Italian chicken stew), go on a four mile walk, and read the first 10 pages of our next Book Club selection, a 700 page tome - we only meet quarterly, so 10 pages a day should do it, plus allow plenty of time for me to read my own book selections.

Friday Five - I Bought A New Car And Survived

  Friday Five - I Bought A New Car & Survived

It has been a wildly productive week, but I am tired and looking forward to the weekend! 

1.  After yet another ordeal, FINALLY finished installation of my mother's new stackable washer/dryer. I'm too weary to go into details, but after hiring a handyman for $100, we finally got everything up and running. 

2.  Also completed the process to get my mother her first ever passport this week. We were able to make an appointment at a public library to do everything in one fell swoop, including photos. After my ordeal with her washer/dryer, and her Real ID before that, it was a delight to whiz through this next goal I'd set for her. 

We'll be going on a cruise to Mexico and up along the Pacific Coastline in the fall of 2026 with my mom and my husband's elderly sister, hence why the passport. It will be both of their first ever cruise, and my spouse and I are much looking forward to enjoying their excitement over the ship and adventures that await them.

3.  This was 'Mom' week, apparently, as I likewise enjoyed taking her to lunch at a lovely lake-side restaurant for her birthday. She gets excited about anything new, which made my job of selecting which restaurant to go to very easy.

4.  Our little Mr. Coffee maker is acting up, even though we've only had it for a couple of years. At just $20 it's hardly a budget breaker, however we've generally found them to last for years, so a bit puzzled as to why this one did not. 

We don't program our coffee to brew at a set time, because our wake ups are all over the place, so a simple little hit-the-button set up has worked fine in retirement for us. Today, for example, I woke up at 4:15 AM, but yesterday 'slept in' till 6:45 AM. Still, it might be time to splurge on a slightly nicer coffee set up, lol.

5.  We bought a new car! I've been contemplating this purchase for about two years, ever since we sold our travel trailer and no longer needed an SUV with towing capacity. At that point, our prior SUV's lower 16-17 mpg and 13+ year age began to become an issue. As the primary driver of our SUV, I wanted improved reliability and higher mpg. Plus a sunroof, the only thing I had on my 'want list.' All of which we got in our new purchase, so I'm very pleased.

The deal making was somewhat less annoying than anticipated, but still required a couple of hours of waiting for the paperwork to be finalized. Sigh.

The selling of our prior SUV, however, was quick and efficient. We received an online bid from Car Max, made a same day appointment to finalize the sale, and walked out about an hour later with a check in the exact amount of the online offer. So that was great.

My pretty new silver hybrid SUV gets 40 mpg, yeah!

Today's Healthy Focus Plan - Walk five miles at the harbor, go to Trader Joe's to pick up the last of this week's grocery items, change out cars on our insurance policy, pick up lunch at Board & Brew to take over and share with a girlfriend currently working through cancer treatment (she's in between treatment cycles, and thus has a temporary appetite), spend time learning about some of my new car's features, particularly the Apple CarPlay functionalities, and with hubby at a men's event for the evening, a salad and old episodes of Top Chef are my only evening plans - it's been a week and I'm tired!

Weight Maintenance Is A Whole New Mindset

 

Weight Maintenance Is A Whole New Mindset

When I returned home from my recent hiking and kayaking trip to Newfoundland, Canada, I shared here that I had hit a new low weight of 108.8 when I stepped on the scale. I was thrilled both at the number displayed, and on having reached the end of my weight loss journey. A space I had actually never occupied before . . . my mindset at every previous new low figure over the years was, 'Just five/ten/fifteen more pounds to go!'

So this is a brand new space for me, and I am actually struggling just a bit trying to figure out how maintenance works exactly. I mean, I know how to lose weight at this point, and certainly I know how to gain weight(!), but how exactly does one just stay where they are?

So I'm a bit of a work in progress on this. As a result, when I got to my library volunteer job earlier this week, I noticed this book on the discard/free pile, and immediately picked it up:

Initially, I thought it was written by Bob Greene, Oprah Winfrey's long time fitness and health consultant, who I followed back in his heydey in the 80's and 90's. It wasn't until I got home that I realized it wasn't 'that' Bob, it was Bob Harper from TV's The Biggest Loser, a show that I was aware of, but had never actually watched.

As I was skimming through it, a few things jumped out. Firstly, that I had already come to a lot of the eating rules his book lays out. Things like protein and vegetables over refined grains; eat your fruit, don't drink it; plan out meals ahead of time, not 'on the spot;' and get comfortable with going to bed slightly hungry. All rules I'll need to continue to follow going forward if I want the weight to remain off.

The one rule that I knew I'd been ignoring, to my detriment, was to drink a glass of water before every meal to ensure I stayed sufficiently hydrated. So I definitely, definitely appreciated that brick-in-the-head reminder, as I know I have done poorly there. In my case, dehydration generally exhibits as fatigue, which is annoying. So I've started following this principle and it was immediately effective in diminishing fatigue over my day. 

Otherwise, I realized I have to come up with a whole new system of rewards that are not solely based on getting to a new, lower number on the scale each day. 

Here's what I've come up with so far:

• Invest in attractive new yoga clothes, and stop wrapping a shirt around my waist when I go to class.
• Find a local skin care studio and begin to get monthly non-invasive facials. (No needles, ever!) I'm fine with aging in general, but if there is a non invasive procedure I can do to help my face look just a bit fresher, than I'm good with that at this point.
• Find a nicer salon and commit to monthly pedicures. (Not a fan of the salons that start out cheap, but then attempt to upsell during the entire procedure. I've decided I prefer to pay a bit more up front instead, in order to avoid the upsell efforts.)
• Investigate whether the hard earned lessons that my recent 25 pound weight loss journey delivered might be of any benefit to others walking the same walk. I've never been beyond the BMI range of Healthy, just at it's higher end vs the lower end I'm at currently, so I'm not sure where exactly I might fit in, but will investigate.
• Go through my closet and begin to pull out the 'comfort' clothing I've accumulated over the years. They can all be let go of at this point, and instead slowly replaced with more structured apparel.

Today's Healthy Focus Plan - Check in to make sure my mother's new stackable washer/dryer unit arrives and is installed as expected, go shopping for new jeans at a boutique I just discovered that carries stylish, structured jeans for under $100, the max threshold I set, and stop in to test drive a new Toyota Rav4 Hybrid . . . I'm in the market for a new car, yeah and nay - Very much want the new car, but intensely dislike the car buying experience. 🫡

August Goals - Final Results

August Goals - Final Results

As I had hoped, focusing on five goals that I then shared here on my blog, turned out to be pretty productive. 

Here are the results:

1.  Thirty minutes of nonfiction reading in the morning, as I drink my wake up coffee.  ✅

My nonfiction reading goal for the month of August was The Pioneers by historian David McCullough.

Only because I wanted to check it off as completed, did I keep pushing through this interesting but exceedingly dry history book. I do not imagine I'll read another by this author, though I did actually enjoy his book about the carving out of the Panama Canal, The Path Between The Seas. I read it before embarking on a Panama Canal cruise, and it made the transit incredibly interesting and emotional. I highly recommend doing same for any who might consider doing a transit thru the Panama Canal.

2.  Incorporate walking with stops into the gym to do weight training.  ✅

This worked very well. I incorporated three walks + weights in August. I was slightly sidelined by the need to get in lots of miles for my September hiking trip, but with that now completed, I expect to accomplish combining a walk with weights at least one time each week going forward.

3.  Grill and eat dinner outside here at home at least one night each week.  🆇

I did not accomplish this, grrr. I'm a little nervous about firing up the grill after a couple of years of not doing so, but am going to re-attempt it this coming weekend. I'm going to make Hawaiian chicken kebabs, which are pretty forgiving on the grill.

4.  Make Happy Hour dates with two couples - one new to us, and one that just returned from a multi-month trip.  ✅

Accomplished, though as I shared here, it didn't go quite as smoothly as hoped. However, by evenings end, everyone wanted to meet up again, plus another couple on our street wants to join in the next time as well. So, hopefully, it was an 'All's well that ends well' finale to the evening.

5.  Purchase new summer sun dress summer gauzy trousers.  ✅

I did go shopping for a new dress, but ultimately decided that some lightweight summer gauzy trousers would be fun instead. So I bought three pairs - pale blue, black, and the light olive green that I'm wearing in the photo below. 

Bonus points that I don't have to remember to shave my legs each time I wear them, such as I do with a summer dress. 😄