Barefoot & On the Mat: May 2022

[Paine]

Today is a planned rest day. I'll be going to 2 markets and doing food prep for the week and house chores.

Beth, thanks for the Friday funny!

Carolyn, I think you'll enjoy your Jessica birthday present.

[Pat58]

Good morning! Quick fly by:

~ Lee Holden 30 Day Challenge - Day 21
~ Beach walk
~ 5,314 steps

I was horrified at the beach. It had just been given a pre-season deep clean: parking lot cleaned of debris and lines repainted, sand combed for the summer, etc. I went for a leisurely evening stroll and spent the entire time picking up cups, plastic and fast food garbage. *** is wrong with people? I saw one little boy heading right toward the railing with his McDonald's garbage to throw it over the railing into the water. I stopped and glared at his dad who caught his arm and took him to a trash can - but obviously, the behavior had been taught to him.

Anyway - rant over. I hope you all enjoy the rest of your weekend!

[cyana]

Happy Week-end! I had to work yesterday, but shall not touch the work computer until the day after Memorial Day unless I'm cleaning up my desk and need to dust around it, LOL.

We started the day by giving the cat a bath. He tolerated the process fairly well, which was a relief, since our previous cat bathing has been split into two very specific outcomes: one cat who was totally chilled out and one otherwise sweet and chilled out kitty who turned into the Tasmanian Devil and left DH with quite a nasty finger gash from trying to escape the human-induced water torture. The cat has been scratching and grooming excessively. When we took him for his surgery earlier in the year, they said he had fleas and gave him sort of treatment (fortunately one of the least toxic options - the name escapes me). We were gobsmacked by the flea pronouncement, as he's never had fleas, never goes outdoors, no pets come in, etc. We wondered if he picked up some fleas at the vet since he had to stay there all day on the day of surgery. We have yet to see any fleas on him and we haven't had any fleas jump on us (we had dogs in a previous life, so we had to deal with fleas then). I purchased an herbal flea collar which smells pleasantly minty (some of the reviews said it smelled horrible, so I was holding my breath when we unwrapped it). Any other cat people have ideas on what to do with an itchy kitty? If we take him to the vet, my concern is that they'll give him steroids, which just masks the itching and does nothing to identify and resolve the cause of the itching. And probably recommend giving him some toxic monthly flea medication. I wouldn't necessarily be averse to short-term antihistamines, if needed. If we need to engage in some short-term bathing, we could manage that, now that DH is less apprehensive (I've been trying to talk him into this for at least a month). The cat eats grain free food, no recent food changes.....I'm not sure what to do if the bath and collar don't help. DH sprinkled D.E. (diatomaceous earth) around the outside perimeter of the house and I've put a little food grade D.E. along some of the baseboards. I've been having trouble finding an indoor pet-safe spray for insects that doesn't give me a pounding headache - the smell is certainly toxic if the ingredients aren't!

Beth - I loved your meditation with the rain stick. I'd pay someone to stand next to me with a rain stick and ocean drum every day while I did my meditations. It felt like someone was massaging my calf muscles. I followed that up with a breath meditation from Kim Eng. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=67SeR3LxtdI

Pat - Hooray to you for giving that dad the evil eye! Back when DH and I were active scuba divers, we happened to be in the Keys one year on the annual reef clean up day. We found a toilet on one of the reefs! If I ever get promoted to King (no worries, there!), plastic will immediately be outlawed. When we found glass or plastic beverage bottles on the reef, we had to check and make sure a critter hadn't made a home in the bottle, and if so, we had to leave it. Good golly, I'm humbled by your pistol squats! That would be a film reel candidate for Candid Camera if I attempted to do those, LOL!!!!! Not to mention someone would likely have to call 911.......or bring in a crane. I've been checking the West River osprey cam several times a week. Mom has always been on the nest and this morning I finally caught a glimpse of dad. DH has been watching the falcons on the UC Berkley web cam site. They have a chick! https://calfalcons.berkeley.edu/webcams/

Margot - So what are you doing with the 55 lavenders? That's going to be lovely and smell magnificent. I noticed the new Essentrics instructor in one of this week's emails - hopefully I'll have time to use my ETV this coming week. Sadly, Medicare doesn't take care of everything and you have to follow many rules so you don't get penalized and you have to make sure that your Advantage plan or supplements really cover what you expect it to. Unnecessarily complicated and puts far too much money into industry's pockets - there have been some recent articles about Advantage plans (which are administered by industry and not Medicare, and apparently they're quite profitable) not paying for services that should be covered under Medicare. So frustrating, especially when one is trying to be a good consumer.

Pam - Do you have the 18" MELT (or similar) roller? Trying to decide if I need one of those or if I can just use the 36" for everything. I saw you did one of Dyan's classes on ETV this week. I can't remember if I mentioned this previously - Dyan reminds me of a former co-worker who could be such an annoying drama queen. I promise I don't hold that against her (even though it did freak me out a bit when I first saw her and heard her speak) - I usually enjoy her practices on ETV. I'm glad you're enjoying Jessica's new offerings.

Sandra - So your retirement benefits will include having your Medicare costs supplemented by the library? That's super, if that's the case. I'm glad you're also enjoying Jessica's latest. I think I'd enjoy the Split Session Strength DVD.

Paine - Happy shopping to you today. Where do you get your dried beans? I can't remember if you said you buy them in a store versus ordering them from somewhere. Do you have Sprouts in your area? I recently watch a video someone had done about Sprouts on YT. We have several in our area. They aren't the most convenient, but are close enough that we could shop there occasionally. I'm hoping to knock out some food prep today, also. I thought it was going to be rainy this afternoon, and of course, the sun is shining, making it difficult to contemplate spending the afternoon in the kitchen.

Garrie - Sounds like you had a nice birthday, even though you had to work. I'm glad to hear you and ex BF are still on good terms. How's your mom doing? I love quilts. I'm jealous that you know how to do all of these crafty things.

Carolyn - Happy early birthday to you. I hope you enjoy the new Jessica set and am looking forward to everyone's thoughts. It is 110 in your area yet? I recently read an article about the water supply in your area and how it's coming under even more stress because so many people are moving there. I'm hoping that I can dust off my bike and get it into riding condition while I'm off this week - fingers crossed.

After writing the history of the world, I need to get moving and knock out some chores. Hope everyone enjoys the rest of their week-end.

[cyana]

I was looking at some clips from Margaret Martin, PT, on YT: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0r6w8K6ckQk (some interesting variations on calf raises here) and came across this Silver Sneakers Motown Seated class. I'd do it, just so I could sit there and sing the songs! I must admit, the gal in the back row doesn't look particularly excited - I guess she isn't old enough to have the Motown Love: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vQ-v8IMnNKM
It's short enough you could do this during a work-day break, too (around 18 minutes).

I also thought this video from Margaret Martin had some interesting recommendations for people over 50 as relates to lifting weights: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dk9Wei_qtTI

[Paine]

Pat, it's awful how much some people liter on the beach, so I understand how you feel.

Cyana, from my miserable experience having hives once many years ago, the doctor told me that the more you itch, the more it makes you want to itch. It might be helpful if your cat were given a medication to help reduce the itch so he can heal.
I buy our dried beans from Whole Foods--the Eden brand and they are organic. I have also ordered the Eden brand of dried beans from the Eden Foods website but it's easier to just buy them at Whole Foods since we often go there and it's close to our house. Here is the Eden Foods website:

https://store.edenfoods.com/products/beans/dry-beans/

We do have a Sprouts market but it is in the next town over so we don't often get there.
Cyana, I just want you to know I enjoyed reading your update! Have a great week off work. Also, thank you for the YouTube links!

[JustSandra]

Hi all!

Today's Workout: After Sandra's Knee Rehab routine and Winsor Pilates Buns & Thighs, I tried out the Bonus Core section from Jessica Smith's new Split Session Strength. It was very simple -- five exercises, done very deliberately, and repeated twice through (Jessica notes after the first round you can stop there for a shorter routine). Liked it well enough although didn't "lurve" it. Finished with my own lower body stretches.

Earlier today I viewed the Lower Body: Build To Burn routine from Split Sessions. As I feared (but also expected) it is way too intense for me to use. Very squat-centric! Oh well, the DVD is worth it for the upper body and abs sections. It does make me glad I didn't go for the two total body strength DVDs.

[JustSandra]

Cyana: Yikes on the cat bath! I've never tried to bathe any cats. For fleas, my guys get Bravecto, which is a topical applied every three months instead of every month. Before Bravecto, one of my boys got fleas even though he is strictly an indoor cat also. I felt so sad combing all those fleas off of him. I asked a vet about a flea collar and was told it mainly just protects the neck area. Re retirement medical expenses, I am fortunate enough to get a partial offset of that as a benefit. Every bit helps!

Waving to all!

[toaster]

Pat, that's terrible about the litter! DH & I get so annoyed when we see senseless things like that.

Sandra, hope your knees are feeling better with all of your efforts.

cyana, so glad you liked the meditation too - I didn't expect the rain stick to be such a hit! Sending get well wishes to your kitty!

Pam I wish you and everyone could join me for class! From your FB photos, looks like you are having a relaxing weekend.

Tomorrow is my move day at work! Hopefully it will go smoothly...

[yogapam]

A quick post & run…..

Todays workouts
~ETV: Julia Bentz’s live - A very nice way to warm up. I did first half up to the standing stretch, about 25 min - I like her style & look forward to more!
~Strength circuit day 1
~beachfront walk with DH
~lower body MELTing, acupressure to hips & quads with a Petrone ball, finished with two stretches….reclined half lord of the fishes & supported fish

I’ll be back in the morning to chat.
Waves to all!

[cyana]

Happy Moan Day! I'm not moaning too loudly today, since I'm off. I woke up to torrential rains this AM. While that knocks out any morning gardening, we desperately needed the rain, so I'm not complaining. It was nice to hear the rain on the roof, and I was immensely grateful not to be a Monday morning commuter in rush hour traffic (keeping the glass half full). I'm starting a big pot of chicken bone broth this morning - a good rainy day project.

I've mentioned that Leonid & Friends are touring the US now. I knew they had about a four day break between shows, and when I went to YT last night to see if anyone had posted any new concert videos, the band had posted a video - they were in Jacksonville, FL - to see Chicago. Too bad they couldn't have seen Chicago back in the 70's with the original members (RIP Terry Kath ). The 3 remaining original members are in their 70's, so I while I wouldn't expect them to be equivalent to the original band, I have to send them love for creating some of my favorite music and I'm so grateful I saw them in the early 70's while Terry was alive.

Sandra - Thanks for the kitty feedback. I'm not familiar with that particular medication - will need to research it. I'm looking at flea combs - sounds like we should give that a try. I think he may be scratching a little less this AM, but we'll be keeping a close eye on him, as we may still need to take him to the vet. Since cats and dogs tend to scratch the neck area, I was hoping the flea collar might help with that. When we had dogs, I used to put a flea collar in the vacuum bag to kill anything that might've gotten sucked up. I should probably sprinkle some D.E. in the trash can liners.

Paine - I've had some nasty allergic reactions, too, and don't wish it on anyone - whether they have two or four legs. I used to buy the 365 brand of organic dried beans from the Whole Wallet, but they have been irregularly stocked/available since the onset of COVID. I've purchased some of the Eden dried beans. Have you seen the Fillo's prepared beans? https://www.amazon.com/Variety-Mayoc...9&sr=8-16&th=1 I ordered a package of the black beans from VitaCost some time back and ate them when I was working long hours. Not bad for a quick and convenient meal, especially if you have them over rice or with a salad or side veggie. I ended up making 5 quarts of coleslaw and a batch of hummus yesterday. Today I need to throw a Greek salad together - bought some Roma tomatoes at the market on Saturday.

Beth - Hope your move goes smoothly today and that you're having decent weather.

Pam - Do you typically have onshore or offshore winds? I was just curious since I would imagine the winds coming in off the water could be a bit chilly. I see you tried Julia's class on ETV - that's on my to do list for the week.

Waves to ALL. Hope your week gets off to a good start.