Day TWO

 

Morning came earlier than I liked. At 7 AM the alarm went off and I stretched and gingerly stepped out of bed. Not too bad. Some pain, but not crippling. I half hobbled across the room and began to start my day. The girls were coming over to spend half the day while Mom and Dad were working. We had big plans. Painting pumpkins, using the new chalkboard, breakfast, and maybe a trip to Urban Air, although that was kind of on the back burner. I couldn't wait to see the reactions on their faces when they saw the new exercise trampoline, or rebounder, as apparently it was now called by everyone who was anyone in the exercise world. 

The girls arrived with donuts. And sprinkles. A half a dozen. I SO wanted to have one of those soft, sweet confections of sin, but I put the devil behind me and we jumped (ha, see what I did there?) right in to our plans. Breakfast was scrambled eggs again, with cheese, some bacon, and coffee with the previously mentioned (yesterday's post) homemade Mardi Gras King Cake coffee creamer. The coffee almost made up for the donuts I couldn't eat. Almost, but not quite. If there is one food I simply cannot resist, pastry is it. It caaaaallllls me. 

Arya asked me for toast with peanut butter and jelly on it. I found myself feeling somewhat guilty, as I pasted the peanut butter on the bread, and squeezed the only jelly I have on hand, out of a tiny plastic restaurant condiment package. So much junk. So not good for her. Not good for her brain, not good for her body. I want to do better for both of them when they come over. With that being said, I have three large peaches in the fridge, and tomorrow I plan on making some peach jelly with them. I will have them again next Friday, and I'm sure there will be another PB, and J coming her way. Maybe not quite so junky. I'm making a note to myself to get some better PB, too. 

While I was cooking, with help from Arya with cracking and whisking the eggs, the girls took turns at the stove side chalkboard. I just got a set of chalk board markers and they were eager to try them out, especially Arya, who has expressed distaste for the "dirty" chalk. The markers write like paint pens but with the application of a damp cloth, wipe off like chalk. I was frankly amazed at the imagination of both girls. Claire made a kitty cat, with different colored whiskers, and a rainbow. Arya, since the last time I saw her, has developed her own font, complete with all kinds of whirls and twirls in her name. She demonstrated her love of nature, with all kinds of drawings of flowers, butterflies, rainbows, suns, and in a dazzling display across the board, a whole row of math sums! 

We moved on upstairs, and the girls were crazy for the "rebounder". They jumped and jumped, and jumped, and JUMPED until they were falling over out of breath. I made a mental note to move the trampoline...er rebounder...downstairs, to cut down on the floor and window vibrations. After that we decided it was time to paint our tiny pumpkins, so downstairs to the coffee lounge, where I had a table and paints set up, all ready to go. Again, the girls blew me away with their creativity. I shouldn't be surprised, I used to teach kids crafts all the time. But these are my girls. My granddaughters. My loves. After awhile, the Mr. came to join us. He took up a paintbrush and got into it with us, painting a tribute to our recent outing to New Orleans. The pumpkin was deep purple with gold trim. It was lovely and I was impressed! 

After painting I made the girls sandwiches. Arya requested a ketchup and mayo cheese and turkey sandwich. At Grandma's house the girls get what they want, so I didn't try to reason her out of her hideous concoction.  Claire wanted a "crunchy" cheese and mustard turkey sandwich. At first I wasn't sure what "crunchy" meant, until I remembered that last time she was over we had shared a toasted sandwich, cheese and mustard, no turkey, add mayo. But she didn't want the mayo. So I made her what she wanted, secretly a little pleased that she liked something I had shown her. 

By now the knees were hurting pretty good. I had decided to forego the hated compression pants in favor of the weekend and I could definitely feel the difference. I dropped the girls off at home with a promise to bring the pumpkins when they were dry. I came back home and plopped down into my chair and fell asleep. After awhile I woke up and went to the porch to pick up a package that had been delivered. I opened the box and took out my new exercise machine, a whole body vibrator. It kind of looked like a scale, but wider and about six inches high. I took out the manual, read it from cover to cover, and then plugged it in. I had watched a video review, so I kind of knew what to expect, but still, it was kind of strange, standing in front of the mirror, watching all the fat in my legs jiggle at a high rpm. It was kind of funny. And if I'm honest, a little bit shameful. I was glad the Mr. was asleep. The man in the review had gotten his heart rate up to about 170 in just a few minutes. I didn't really feel my heart rate go up much, and I certainly didn't feel like I had had a good workout, but I can say that after about three minutes my inner thighs were starting to "feel the burn". Tomorrow I might try something besides standing on it, and maybe stay on longer. 

I went back to my chair, while the Mr. finished his nap. I watched a video about how to make Keto salad dressing with just a couple of ingredients. This interested me because of yesterday's dilemma about what to put on my salad. This was just half a cup of cream with a TBSP of vinegar. Whisk. Then add whatever customization you desire. Herbs, or Parmesan cheese, or whatever. I am going to make that with Feta, as soon as I get back to the store. 

I also learned that whipped up cottage cheese (in a food processer) with a couple of eggs can make a great Keto "bread". I'm kind of interested in trying this, as well. It might be great for a breakfast sandwich. Apparently cottage cheese is a thing on Keto. I saw someone making pancakes with it. I might want to try that, too. 

I fell asleep again and Ally came up and said she wanted to treat us to dinner, out. I was a little apprehensive, because I didn't think there was much I could eat and still stay true to my plan. But I didn't want to hurt her feelings. I determined to avoid salad, because I don't want the soy in the dressing, and just order vegetables for my sides. Maybe have steak or chicken. But when I got there and saw the price of the steak, that was out, since she was paying. I ordered grilled Salmon, which wasn't actually that much less expensive, and green beans and mushrooms. I did have a moment when the fish came and I saw that there were two little hush puppies with it. Hush Pupppppppies.....I love them almost as much as I love donuts. I took a little nibble of one and then put it down. I left there keeping true to myself and came home and had a decaf cup of coffee with my homemade creamer. Also, a note of interest, when I went to bed last night, I stepped on the scale fully clothed, and was surprised to see that the number was the same as in the morning, sans clothes. Usually I put on about three pounds by the end of the day. This morning the number was about the same. So maybe, just maybe, in addition to reducing pain and inflammation, I might lose a couple of pounds. On another note, I saw that Pinto beans are out on the Keto diet. That makes me kind of sad. 

Now...On to day 3!