Food!

A little bit about what I’m eating lately: a friend of mine is going to try making Japanese-style box lunches (called bento) for herself for portion control, and for her boyfriend’s daughter, who is a picky eater. I did some research and was amazed by the variety of bento and how much work people put into them. I thought I might give it a try, to get myself to bring lunch from home more often instead of eating frozen meals or campus food (even eating healthy, buying lunch two or three days a week is expensive). I love Japanese food and culture, so I decided to start a photo blog in Flikr: Bento!

My first full meal after making this resolve is linked below (I’m not sure why WordPress is not letting us insert pictures- I’ll look into it). Originally I planned to have leftovers, but, heh, that didn’t work out. Next time i will measure and count points, but this was a good first attempt and it’s nice to cook something new. Now that I have “sticky” rice I am going to try making a Thai dessert: mango and sticky rice with coconut sauce. I’ll let you know how it goes!

Easy bento dinner

Keeping Fit 2

Forgot to mention that the Impreza needed an oil change, so I dropped it off on Morris Avenue and stoppedy by the Shop Rite.  Walked back with two paper-cloth bags full of groceries.  Then when the car was ready, I walked over, stopped by the Shop Rite for two plants, and carried them over to the car repair shop so I wouldn’t have to deal with parking at the Shop Rite on a Saturday.  My back started to cramp up, but dashing across Morris Avenue between cars quickly loosened it up!

Keeping Fit

Still haven’t gotten in the habit of exercising on a regular basis, but I passed my Deep Water Test to help supervise swimming this summer.  The hardest part was holding a heavy ball in the air while treading water.  When I complained that my knee hurt, they passed me after 25 seconds instead of 30. That was much better than some others of my generation, who don’t like to be in deep water – one didn’t take the test because she can’t swim at all!

I also passed my physical to get a Commercial Driver’s License.  Our Primary Care Doctor didn’t test for peripheral vision, so I stopped by Dr. Eisenstodt’s for him to check that and fill out the eye form, based on a recent exam.  It was very non-technological: he held an object outside my range while I stared at his nose, and I told him when I could see it!

Flood Photos

Hi there,

Nate and I spent Saturday morning surveying the flooding conditions.  Although these photos aren’t of the river at its highest, they are pretty close.  Check them out on my shiny new Flickr account:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/27810880@N02/sets/72157605712095583

President Bush came to Iowa City today to take a look at the damage.  For Iowa City news and some amazing flood photos, check out http://www.press-citizen.com/apps/pbcs.dll/frontpage.

Nate and I leave town tomorrow night for a Renaissance Faire in Illinois.  We have been assured the Jubilee State Park has not been washed away, but I am still tempted to wear a life vest.

Have a great weekend!

Nancy

Flood Update

I am finally getting on board – or blog, that is – and posting my announcements on the family site. Thanks to those who set this up!

For those who did not see my recent email, here is my Iowa City flood update:

Good Morning all,

Well, I tried to run by Staples this morning to get more mailing labels and I wasn’t able to get reach it. It’s very bizarre to drive the same way I have driven hundreds of times, only to be stopped because the river is flowing over the highway. Apparently 3 out of 4 Iowa City bridges over the river are now flooded. (Once I saw the traffic, I decided not to bother trying the 4th bridge.)

North of us things are considerably worse – evacuated towns (including hospitals) have thrown the whole state into crisis mode. Everyone within the “500 year flood plain” is sandbagging and leaving town. Nate’s Mom is trying to talk us into staying with them for a while, but Nate and I have agreed to continue work as usual until we lose power or water.

Supposedly the flooding will peak in our area around Tuesday, and the water level will be at least 5 feet over what the flood of ‘93 reached. It’s probably going to take months for the area to fully recover, and I hate to think what this will do to businesses and the people who will be unable to work.

I bet Panera (where Nate works) will be swamped today. During the winter power outages it became a place for people to converge, get a meal, stay warm and wait for updates. I am trying to get everything in order at the Englert because our theatre is one of the only in the area safe from flooding, and I anticipate many cultural and community events will be moved here once the excitement dies down and clean up begins.

I have never experienced such a slow, quiet crisis. During the tornadoes, there are always sirens going off and wild weather and people rushing to shelter. During the blizzards everyone gathers where there is heat and food. But during a flood, I guess everyone shores up and gets out.

Except me, who is alone in my office trying to fix our donor database and get it backed up. Sigh.

Take care,
Nancy

Health Update

So, I’ve been having a lot of trouble with migraines the last week or so. In fact, the last 7 days in a row I either had a migraine or a borderline migraine. After trying all my usual fixes and a few other tricks, I called my doc Wednesday and made an appointment for Thursday.

It turns out that I was simultaneously over- and under-medicated. The Claritin D for my allergies was working a little too well- it dried everything up so that I didn’t realise that I had a persistent sinus infection. Fun! Add to that the fact that the ibuprofin was not doing enough to treat my TMJ, so the combo was triggering my migraines. I walked out of the doctor’s office with my longest list of prescribed and otc meds yet. So here’s the lineup:

tmj: a mild muscle relaxant (which is makes me slightly loopy) as needed and aleve
sinus infection: antibiotics, saline nasal spray, mucinex, and comtrex to replace the claritin D
migraines: a sample of treximet and coupon/prescription if they persist

I am hopeful that this will wipe things out pretty quickly. I really didn’t like the side-effects of the Claritin and I think it is permanently off my list now- if they suggest it again in the future i’ll ask for something else. My docs are very good though- I bet it’s already been red-flagged.

After the doctor’s visit I picked up my meds and worked from home the rest of the day. The first round of meds knocked me out (probably the muscle relaxant) and I slept for somewhat more than 12 hours. The congestion in my sinuses is starting to break up, and I suspect that I will spend another weekend mostly being sick. I’m glad we were able to figure out what was happening though, and once I’m done with the antibiotics I should be in the clear. I do have an eye appointment today to make sure that eye strain isn’t contributing as well- it’s been well over a year since my last checkup, and even if my prescription hasn’t changed I may be due for new glasses since my current ones are scratched and the frames keep coming apart.

Steel Magnolias

Finally got to see this film on TV when neither JJ nor Jim were around to distract me.  I enjoyed it, but would not buy it.  Occasionally I was able to forget who the actresses were and identify with their characters.  Sally Field’s performance had me in tears. Glad to see that she’s going the character actor route and not getting face lifts.  Dolly Parton, who was born the same year as Sally and I were, looks the same as ever (or did, when the movie was made).  Dolly is no actress, but did a good job as a character who fits her persona. 

The other truly great actress in the movie was Shirley MacLaine, and I had to keep reminding myself who she was!  Olympia Dukakis and Julia Roberts have been recognized for their acting, but in this movie I felt they were playing themselves.  Daryl Hannah did her best to act out of type, but I never lost her in the character. 

Have you seen the movie?  If so, what did you think?

Body Electric

Well. we are in our first heat wave, and summer hasn’t even officially arrived!  I’ve discovered that an old favorite exercise show is on WNYE at 6 AM on weekends, which is just after I’ve had my morning bagel.  It is a low-impact, isotonic/isometric exercise program designed for middle-aged women.  For all that, I find it more tiring than a 30 minute walk, just because I’m not accustomed to it!  The advantage is that I don’t have to get dressed to go out, and although I’m a bit winded, I don’t break a sweat in our non-air conditioned living room.

Logging In

Hi, this is Mom/Mary Lou logging in for my first weblog post! Have always been wary of public posts, but suggested to Melissa that a family post might be a good idea. Nancy started it all by suggesting we call each other once a week to motivate each other to exercise, but I thought timing the calls would be awkward (she’s 2 zones over, not to mention where Lyda is!), so we were e-mailing. This will tie everything together.

My exercise this week was mostly shopping – what Nancy calls “the thrill of the hunt.” My preschool educational theme this week was “Dinosaurs and other Reptiles,” and I discovered I didn’t have a copy of Danny and the Dinosaur by Sid Hoff. Easy reader books are great for preschoolers because of their short attention spans. I’ve also been trying to complete my collection of dinosaur models. I have some skeletons, and have been matching “skin-on” models with the skeletons. It’s a great matching game for the preschoolers! Make this an exercise by parking at the far end of the mall and walking the length, to and from the stores I needed. I do not recommend walking across parking lots in NJ!

Quiet Friday

Stayed home from work today. What I thought was just allergies must be a bug I brought back from the conference, so I decided to stay home and hopefully get the sick over with. It’s one of those annoying situations where my head is both stuffy and runny at the same time, and everything is settling in my chest.

Did venture out long enough to take Lucas to the vet for his next test. He hasn’t lost any more weight, but he was very unhappy about the vet visit. Drew and I picked up pizza on the way home- yum, comfort food! Then Drew went out to his parents’ to house sit over the weekend. if I’m feeling better tomorrow I’ll go join him for part of the day after doing some errands (CVS and an oil change).

Such an exciting weekend *sigh*.