Thumbs down: Where have my thumbs been hiding? It’s been ages, or so it seems, since my last thumbs post. I already knew my life was boring… but, really.
Thumbs forgotten: What day is it? Yes, my life is SO boring that I can’t keep track. While walking to the post office with my husband today, I suddenly asked him, “Is today Thursday.” “Yes.” Eek. I forgot to publish a blog post! He told me he looked for it this morning and had wondered. So, here I am, better late than never:)
Thumbs down: Blog technology. Yes, again. This seems to be a recurring “thumbs down” theme. Most recently, I discovered that one of my blog backups (to my host) had failed without me knowing. I’m pretty religious about backing up weekly and had no idea that the backup might possibly fail. Wish there was some way that the host notified me if that happened. But, thumbs up, no harm done. I do have a WordPress backup plugin but have no idea where it puts my backed up versions. Anyone able to help me with this mystery?
Thumbs down: Aches and pains. When I get up from bed, either in the middle of the night to pee or in the morning, my knees (one or the other or both) are usually stiff. A couple of weeks ago the stiffness in my right knee didn’t go away and I limped for two days. I skipped exercise the first day, trying to be prudent, while feeling rather guilty. Yes, I had a long inner debate over that one. So the next day I did cardio (although not as long as usual) since the discomfort was not quite as bad and I was less worried my knee would give out, and, voila, I think the exercise actually helped! Or, as my husband suggested, maybe taking a day off was what did it.
Thumbs down: More aches and pains. Another day I woke up with quite a lower backache. I’m pretty sure I know why. The day before I spent hours laying on the couch reading a book. The WHOLE book. Haven’t done that in ages. Won’t be doing it again any time soon. Thumbs up that the aches and pains are gone:)
Thumbs up: Cookie avoidance. I baked my son his favorite M&M cookies to take back to college (after his two weeks spent at home). I drooled. I thought about eating just one. Wouldn’t that be “normal?” But, in the end, I managed to squeeze them all into the container that fit just perfectly in his luggage, so no leftovers to tempt me. Phew, dodged that bullet.
Thumbs up but really down: Book club. My social eating nemesis. My thumbs are up because it got cancelled this month so I could leave my demons tucked away with the book I didn’t bother to read. Thumbs down that I had already engaged in a wee bit of pre-cheating before I knew that I wouldn’t have to deal with temptation. Sigh.
Thumbs down: Strength training. My usual strength training partner, my mom, left the country for a couple of weeks. I think my mojo left with her. I did very little on my own while she was gone. Darn my lack of motivation. Thumbs down that I wasn’t even doing my planks, except once or twice.
Thumbs up: My anniversary. Hubby and I had a lovely day together, taking full advantage of our now empty nest.
Thumbs down: Blogging technology meets brain fart. So… I schedule my blog posts a day ahead. I got into this habit so they’d be there bright and early since I know several of my readers are early birds. But, for some strange reason, one day I woke up and looked at my blog and… the post wasn’t there. Nor was it in my drafts folder. Or trash. Huh? I finally found it, backdated to last month! Still not sure how I managed that one.
Thumbs bigger: Size does matter. I shared in the last thumbs post that we had a new big screen TV that was smaller than our old, broken big screen TV, and we were not sure we liked the size. Well, my husband finally gave in and returned the “new” big screen and replaced it with a newer, bigger screen. It had gone on sale! Woo hoo. So now, when we watch from the very far side of the basement while doing cardio, we can actually read the words on the screen.
Thumbs down: Speaking of television… Most of our summer shows are over and most of the fall shows have not started and there is a dearth on our recorders. (Yes, plural. We currently have two.) Hubby and I actually resorted to renting a movie to watch the other night so we could save the few remaining shows for cardio today. And, thumbs down, because I know that in a few weeks we’ll have shows coming out our ears and no time to get to them all! It’s always something.
Thumbs up: Biking. After months of working out inside, we finally got back in the saddle. More coming on that next week.
Thumbs down: Ragweed.
Thumbs up: Food discoveries. I recently tried cauliflower “rice” and liked it:) Just pulse raw, cut cauliflower in the food processor until it resembles rice. Then steam, without water, in the microwave until done. Easy. And I found a yummy low-fat low-cal cheese: Weight Watchers Light Smoked Mozzarella String Cheese. Much tastier than other low-fat versions.
Thumbs down: My eating. Okay, right now it’s fine. But boy was I ever slow to get back on track after my road trip. I’d have a great day on plan. Then another. Then… boom… off plan. I’d have a great day. Then overeat something healthy. And so it went. This is the longest it has taken me to get on track after falling off the wagon in a quite a while. Why? I don’t know. But, I’m back on now and clinging by my fingertips so I stay that way! Maybe I’ll write more about this another day. Or not.
Waisting Time 
I have never done a back up for my blog. I guess that is bad. Not sure how ot do it but I guess I better figure it out…
Oh yes! I have heard stories of more than one blogger losing everything. Eek.
Cauliflower rice – intriguing!
I share your pain about long-ish period between summer TV (I ♥ “The Closer”) and the start of Fall programming. We watch so little that an empty Tivo or our new DVR is disappointing.
I am about ready to try to resurrect my old bike and try it on the road. I’m certain my balance will be horrid and fear of falling of the foobs will send me scurrying back to the safety of my stationary recumbent but Fall will soon be here, and I’ve only 2 weeks to play until surgery limits me for 2 more months.
I was very worried when I first rode after getting cleared post-broken bone over a year ago. I knew my mom would KILL me if I fell and re-injured it before our trip to CR in Lenox that June. Please be careful!
Did you know this is the last season for The Closer? That is one that I watch but my husband does not and I have several, maybe 5, on my Tivo. I save them for when I workout in afternoons on my own:) I’ve got a handful of shows like that.
I love cauliflower rice. I also use cauliflower for cheat-sauces. It needs to be a bit overcooked, then blended with your favorite spices. Add do chicken or beef stock and voila.
Blogger does strange things with dates sometimes. A few times I had my scheduled posts posted way in the past. It happens way to often to think that I would be that careless.
Belayed happy anniversary!
Usually when I got to schedule it in advance, the date that is automatic is today. So I just need to change the date and time to the next morning. So I have no idea why the MONTH would have been wrong but am sure I did not even look. Oh well.
I’ve done the cauliflower faux-tatoes before too. Lots more work though than just steaming florets.
Re the aches and pains: I have found that mine very much coincide with hormone fluctuations and that taking progesterone cream helps, but doesn’t eliminate. I have also found that the more I exercise, the better I feel, as long as I don’t overdo it. More regular moderate exercise is so much nicer than sporadic intense exercise. Massages also help.
Oh, and I love cauliflower rice too!
Just today I was thinking it have been ages since I got a massage and how nice it would be:) Usually that is only something I do on vacation.
My mom has arthritis and I suspect that is in my future too.
I looked for your post this morning too. In fact, I’ve kind of planned my mornings so that I’m free to do Internet stuff on Monday and Thursday mornings.
Hmm… cauliflower rice? Never heard of it, but now I’m intrigued.
And the bigger tv. Although I often profess I don’t need a bigger one, I secretly long for one. If they’re on sale the Friday after Thanksgiving, I might need to get one.
Our TVs have grown, slowly and steadily, over the years:) We kind of justify it in that we don’t spend much money on entertainment. Rarely go to movies. AND, we use it a lot for exercise. The worse thing about forgetting it was Thursday so no post? I must have also forgotten it was Wednesday the day before because that would be when I’d schedule it! Yikes. Google and you’ll find tons of recipes. I just did the plain kind since I wanted it as a base for a dish with sauce instead of the pasta that my husband had.
A weekly back up for the blog? I don’t do this, must ask my son about it-thanks for the heads up. A few bloggers have been dealing with the after affects of being hacked into lately so I really need to look into this.
Glad you had a nice anniversary celebration. How is the empty nest going?
Aches and pains are something I seem to have a lot of lately. I’m trying to push on through it all. I learned some good stretches and exercises from my physical therapy and it did help me some.
My mom says that growing old isn’t for sissies!
Yes, please ask him! Some blogger back up daily!
LOVING the empty nest. Really. Some day I will blog about it:)
Funny about your mom. Just yesterday I was reminding mine, who has many aches and pains all the time, of the old expression that getting old sucks but it beats the alternative!
I bet it was the day off that helped ya! I have issues aplenty with my knees (and elbows…and ankles…) and stiffness seems to dissipate faster if I just give ’em a rest!
I think it was the right choice because I really felt my leg might give out under me if I tried cardio. I was trying to be smart about it. And not just lazy:)
You know I understand the derailments! Here’s to Mojo coming home to us!
I’m so sorry about your technology issues. Backdated post is a good one though!
And the aches and pains…. for the knee, try castor oil! I have to do this myself. Just rub it on, saran wrap it and sleep that way. Healing.
I give this post 2 thumbs up!!! (has anyone used that one before? Or should I say, how many times have you heard that one before?)
Castor oil? Hmmm. Never heard that before. Thanks for the tip.
Too bad I had an early doctor appointment this morning. I would’ve missed your post and come looking for you!
I can sure identify with being stiff after a day on the couch with a book. To compound matters, the days I usually choose to do that are rainy, damp days which only makes matters worse.
That was my second thought. Right after “oh crap.” “Why didn’t Sharon send me an email.” Tee hee. Really.
Then I chastised, gently, my husband for not telling me.
You made me smile. Cheers for indulging in reading a book all day. Also for biking again.
I read so much less now that I am reading so many blogs. I have such a huge stack waiting for me. But now I have to really get caught up in one to keep reading. I also still battle with snacking when I read:(
I made cauliflower salad today (sub for potato salad). It’s okay, certainly no potato-salad-sub, but tastes good on its own. I have the back up plug in for WP also and have no idea where it is or how I’d get it if something happened, so I’m no help there. Here’s to the aches and pains leaving and bike riding staying around for a while.
My backup plugin used to email me daily backups. Then, I had all those email issues so they were very inconsistent. Fixed that, maybe, but got no new emailed backups at all and found a forum that suggested my file was too large. So, not it supposedly saves it to my computer every day but I can’t find it anywhere! Lotta good it’s doing. As for how to restore it, I figured I’d cross that bridge if I came to it.
Empty nester-hood is great! Glad you enjoyed it!. kudos for beating the cookie demon and sending them all packing without a taste. Yeah!
I have not backed up my blog. But, I do have a running word doc with most recent posts. So, at least I have something in case it all disappears. Sorry that your problems persist with your blog.
I’m really enjoying it; thought I would. My kids would be so surprised, I think. When I first started blogging I kept a word doc with posts AND comments. Got to be a lot of work so I gave that up fast. I think you are on blogger; not sure how you back up.
Hi Karen! This post was very interesting to me. I have no will power to make M & M cookies and not eat any of them. Wow, you’re tough. I’m going to try your cauliflower rice. Cauliflower is supposed to be able to be used in potato soup recipes too.
🙂 Marion
I’ve gotten pretty good at making them. But what usually trips me up is that in trying to resist eating them, I eat all sorts of other stuff instead!
great list and happy anniversary
Thanks, Becca.
I love cauliflower rice! So good. Sometimes I mix it up with a few egg whites for a very filling breakfast.
Interesting idea. When I was googling for how to make it I saw a ton of recipes to really jazz it up. I went simple.
I found out that one of the blogs my kids had started for fun, and then abandoned, got hacked. Then tons of files were on my host and I was over the file limit (even though I thought it was unlimited.) So mine hadn’t been backed up regularly. Always good to check.
I don’t get the whole hacking thing. Why do people do things like that:(
YAY FOR YOUR THUMBS.
I love these posts.
and TV.
and laughed at your dearth remark as we were just saying the same.thing.here!!
LOL. Somehow I would not have pegged you for a TV watcher. I’d be curious to see if we have favorite shows in common:)
Get used to the aches and pains…. 🙂
As we get older they seem to happen more often, sometimes for no reason at all.
For me, I just remember that I’d have more pains if I hadn’t lost the weight.
Ah, the joys of aging. But some things ARE better now:)
Bluehost now does automatic backups nightly for it’s customers. For that I am truly grateful. Finally, someone getting with the program without me having to stress about it.
You’re a great Mom for surrounding yourself with M&M’s, sugar, flour and butter for your son. Lucky guy, he is.
I had no idea!!! When I looked at them (first), they told me they only keep backups for 5 days and that scared me because what would happen if I went on vacation or did not back up that often. But that was manual backups. They do it for you????!!! Must look into them again. That would be awesome.
Love your “thumbs” posts! 😉
Aches – yup, I’ve been sick and spent way too many hours in bed yesterday and am aching today. Ugh. Saran wrap my whole body? Hmmmm. LOL
Dawn
Hope you feel better soon:(
OH CRAP, I forgot again about Thursday! I just got the post in my email today… I will come back later when I have more time. I am on the run this morn! Can I say hormones! 😉
Busy me & late to the game & have not read others so I may be saying the same thing. Karen, ya need to find a way to get your motivation up without you mom!!! 🙂 Strength training is so important, well, so is cardio & eating well BUT YOU CAN DO THIS WITHOUT your mom! 🙂 You managed to find a way to get your eating under control – almost… 😉 minus what you wrote here. Just give it a try! You don’t need mom!
Food – back to it Karen! It is coming to those dreaded holiday months so even more important to keep it under control before then! You can do it!!! Don’t talk yourself out of it & how you are going to eat at book club meeting & this or that. Instead say “I am going to eat better” & show myself that I can do it!
Do you want to punch me??? 😉
You are so right, of course. As for the motivation, I used to do it without her for years. So it really is about that being my routine now and no doing it at the gym anymore and not wanting to get off my butt to get TO a gym for just a couple weeks. Don’t worry… if she and I ever stop working out, I’ll be committed to going back to the gym on my own. I promise!
As for food, I’ve had a much better week so far. I was thinking about the holidays just this morning. Actually, even more I was thinking about how many social eating events are coming up in the next months. I am going to get this done. It is just obviously slow for my actions to follow my thinking… although my thinking is often pretty screwed up:)
I saw your comment on Teresa’s blog about overeating the healthy stuff. Totally related to that and you thumbs down here.
And – so are you saying you are back in multiple saddles? Hubby must be walking around with a shit eating grin.
I am anxious to try cauliflower rice. I already do it mashed and put thru a ricer, but it would be nice to have it as a base for chinese or curry. I always feel gypped when I get a 1/2 c of rice. I say with a pouty face “chinese and indians – rice is a staple and look how beautifully thin they usually are!” Mr then sez “Shut up Buddha and eat your half cup!” DRATS! I could eat a whole head of cauliflower rice (See first paragraph!) ARGH!
I will have unraised eyebrows if your hubby suggests stretches involving legs raised to ceiling. You two…
All the boys get cookies.
My head is a bit fuzzy this morning with allergies, but you still manage to crack me up. Just takes me a while to get the imagery.
I found it very easy to give up rice. We used to have it very often, the white kind, because my boys liked it and they did not eat veggies and one did not eat pasta so it was a consistent side dish. And, we have a groovy rice cooker that makes it so easy. No with the empty nest my husband has happily started making the rice brown instead of white. Which is, in theory, ON my plan. (No white grains or stuff, but whole grains in moderation.) Have to say that I don’t much miss it after going without for so long. The experiment came because I was making chicken cacciatorie and needed something for the sauce to soak into:) Then I made Szechuan shrimp a few days later to use the rest of the rice. I enjoyed both more with the “rice” texture than what I’d otherwise have done which is just florets on the side.
I like that you and hubby transitioned so happily to empty nesting. Some don’t. I make brown rice in the oven. I think I may be on somewhat sorta the same kind of plan as you. Avoiding lots of bready carbs and white carbs. I made tabbouli the other day and literally thought about it all day and made it gone by midnight. Apparently I have not mastered even a little itty bitty bit my self control – except over normal bread. That is not singing my name as much anymore.
I digress. I look forward to the caulirice. Told hubby about it last night. He was not as jumping and clappy as I was. Sometimes I just do not GET that man.
What kind of strength training do you usually do? Have you tried 30 day shred? You can do it from home, and Jillian is good at motivating you! I am a total fan of hers, after having avoided strength training for so long, I finally enjoy it! Maybe something to try when your mother is away?
I am soooo lucky. There is a long story I won’t go into here but basically, my mom and I work out together with a trainer twice a week. I did get p90x for Christmas and keep thinking I’ll crack that open when she’s gone. But, lazy.
Yeh, you have to break out the P90X while mom is gone. I would be really interested in your thoughts on that – plus, it is almost Christmas. You pretty much have to break it out before the year is out! See that not so subtle manipulation there? I had to go lie down after reading that if metabolism and such did not matter anymore that you would eat junk and still exercise. LIE DOWN. And yet you resist the P90X… What is our girl afraid of?
I pored through your comments, hoping someone would ask the title of the book that kept you enthralled & couch-bound all day. Please divulge the name! I need a good book!
I have the utmost awe for you for not even having ONE M&N cookie ~ that deserves all ten fingers way up!
Well, heck if I can remember since it was a couple of weeks ago. Sorry:(
I tried that blog posting in advance thing and it wasn’t working until I realized my time zone was off. lol.
Nice post- these are always fun 🙂
I don’t know how the month got changed… but I’m pretty sure I didn’t do it!
Hi Karen. SO glad the thumb post is back. Love it. Yay for resisting those cookies, love cauliflower rice, happy anniversary to you and your husband, BOO to blogging technology and hope your aches and pains subside soon. Have a great Sunday.
If I didn’t love blogging so much, the technology just might make me throw up my hands and say “enough already!”