Short and sweet

While discussing food choices, I found something new for me:
I started adding a teaspoon or two of Vanilla Protein powder to my yogurt in the morning. I also started eating my yogurt before I eat my oatmeal. This puts the protein first in my stomach. I used to eat the oatmeal first since it was hot.
The oatmeal doesn't really have that much protein in it, so this is better for me.

My breakfast lasts me until I get home for my next meal, and it gives me the fiber I need, since I don't take in wheat and gluten products.

• One packet of Quaker Oats Weight Control oatmeal, with one or two teaspoons of Benefiber for the added fiber.
  

• One container of Chobani yogurt, with one or two teaspoons of protein powder added.

• Add one banana.

That is a lot for me to take in. Many times, I don't eat it all. But I try to get as much as I can because of the fiber. I get so blocked up without it.

I also add Benefiber to my other meals where it will dissolve.
Believe me, it helps.

The vanilla powder is pretty much neutral as far as flavor is concerned. I am not a real fan of protein powder, but then again, I haven't found any decent flavored protein anything. I just put up with it because I have to. Mixed in with the yogurt it is just fine because Chobani is low in sugar (other than the fruit in the bottom) and pretty bland for the most part.

As far as other forms of protein, I have protein bars (detour bars with lower sugar), and they leave a lot to be desired as far as taste also. But, I like the consistency of them, and that satisfies my need to chew.

I still drink Dunkin Donuts decaf coffee every morning. (bad boy!) Sweet and Low, with skim milk. When the one girl is there, I get a small squirt of caramel or mocha. I can drink it plain too.
Since I am a creature of habit, I can alter my food choices, or keep them the same...it doesn't matter much. I do have certain things I won't give up, but so far, they haven't been overwhleming.

• I don't do sugar, and don't miss it.

• I don't drink alcohol. I haven't had a drink since 1982, and really miss it! LOL. Oh life without beer......almost not worth living!
• I do have dark chocolate in the form of a little square in the afternoon. Just one small square, instead of the whole box.

• I do cheat on my gluten-free diet on the weekends. One slice of pizza will not kill me. I even leave the crust on the plate. Give me a break.

I am so much more active now, and I feel great.
I am watching my health very carefully, and going through counseling to stay on track.
Life is good.

A bus driver's woes

I am a bus driver. I am tired of driving because it's getting hard to drive in traffic.
I don't see as well as I used to, even though my eyes have improved to the point where I can't wear my glasses while driving anymore.
I come up as 20/15 or better, so I still see better than most people.
But, I don't move my head as much, I don't have as much patience as I did, and traffic is worse than it used to be.
The way the vehicles are made today, are much different than they used to be. Not as much fun.
The kids are different too.
And me......

So, I am looking to do something else.
What do I have experience doing?

I can drive anything, but I don't want to anymore.

I can play guitar, bass, and sing.

I can sell stuff. I am a good salesman.

I think I might be able to write. But, so can millions of others.

So, while I am searching for a new career, I will continue to write my blog, and lose weight.

Saturday was a few days ago.

On Saturday, I woke my wife up earlier than her noontime sleep, to get her to go with me to Inner Harbor in Baltimore.

We met our daughter, along with both of our grand kids and went to the National Aquarium.

This trip was a request of my wife, with help from me and my daughter. It was kind of my daughter's idea, after I pushed my wife to go visit them at their home in Maryland. Am I confusing anyone?

So, I brought a long 2 bottles of O2, one carrier, and an extra bottle in case we ran out. The large bottles we have only last about 2 hours at the rate my wife uses them. She likes to use them while walking because her O2 levels go really low. When she is sitting, she is OK without it.

So, I carried the case with the Bottle while she walked along.
My grand daughter was very bubbly and happy to be there, and tagged along happily chasing the pigeons and sea gulls.

We went through the members entrance to the Aquarium since my daughter has a yearly membership. We walked right past the crowds waiting to get inside.

Once there, we went over and procured the use of a wheel chair for my wife. I was able to hang the bottle on the back, and away we went. Everywhere there was a line, someone would wave us over, and we butted up in line. I liked that.

After awhile, my daughter gave me her backpack which held all the stuff she needed for an infant and a 2.5 year old. It weighed in at about 10 pounds. I also had my Panasonic lumix to try to take pictures as I walked along. That was fun (not really). I wasn't used to pushing, carrying, and juggling all at the same time.

Needless to say, this is something I couldn't do two years ago for 5 minutes, let alone the 3 or 4 hours we spent there.
We used the elevator for many of our level changes, and that was interesting too because some of them came out at the end of that particular display. So, we had to walk through the crowds fighting traffic.

Getting to see the fish tanks turned out to be easier than I thought. People would back into us, say something like "oh, excuse me!" and then they moved out of the way. Nice!

My wife had Jackson on her lap most of the time. She talked to him and explained things to him, even though he is well under a year old and had no clue what he was doing there. He liked the pastel colors of the various tanks, and probably enjoyed the company too.

So, when we got to this moving ramp instead of a stairway, I decided to try it with the wheel chair. I managed to get the thing centered and then was amazed at how heavy it got as we started going up. I couldn't push it up in order to shorten the trip because there were always people in front of us. Man oh man did it get heavy! I'm glad none of the staff tried to stop me because finding the elevator and bucking traffic was harder than holding the wheelchair from falling backwards....but not by much. My grand daughter at one point came up behind me and put her hand on my butt to help me hold grandma from falling backwards. Goosed by a two year old! There were several of these ramps, and they varied in length and angle. I was able to hold the chair and not transmit my fear of impending failure to anyone in the family. Besides, it was a great workout!

Well, we wandered around with our entourage for a few hours until I realized that I hadn't had anything to eat or drink since my morning meal. I couldn't even find a water fountain. They have several places to eat, but every one of them was loaded with people and required waiting in line, which I despise. So, I finally had to give in when we got to the Jellyfish exhibit. The cafeteria was large and seemed to have plenty of seating. The lines weren't that long, so we entered one.

Now, I don't profess to understand women in any way shape or form. My wife and daughter couldn't decide what they wanted to eat. In this type of situation, I just grab what I can and go. But they had to decide. There was a line for hot food prepared by the staff, and there were already prepped salads and subs. We could grab them, pay, and then eat. What could be simpler?

I grabbed a chicken Cesar salad. I got my wife to grab another type of salad and my daughter to take a sub, but my grand daughter wanted a "hot dog", which required us to stay in line. My daughter managed to talk her into getting a cup of yogurt instead. Problem solved until my wife saw the "Starbucks" sign at the counter. I grabbed her a frappachino bottle from the pre prepped counter and we moved to the checkout. (I'm leaving here right after I finish this. We will go over to Dunkin Donuts where I will buy her a drink and doughnut of her choice).

So, we managed to get our food and actually eat. I ate the strips of chicken and gave some to Lilly (my grand daughter), along with many of the croutons. She looked so cute with a yogurt ring around her mouth while chomping on her chicken piece. No complaints from her, just good old fashioned protein.
I hadn't had anything to drink all day, but managed to find a water fountain and got a few sips later in the day.
I continued to carry the backpack and camera while pushing the chair for the rest of the trip. I had fun again going down the ramps inside the shark tank. They were stationary and wide enough for me to get a good grip and hold on while walking/pulling backwards.

The trip ended with us giving back the wheelchair and heading out to the parking garage. Lilly was exhausted and cranky. Jackson was asleep in his belly pack, and I was pleasantly sore.

We had to stop once so my wife could rest, but the trip was good.

One thing I have to mention were the prices. OUCH!
$6.95 for the salad. A few strips of chicken and some lettuce.
$4.25 for a bottle of Frappachino. UGH.
The parking for 4 hours cost $20.00. Holy cow. And they didn't even wash and wax the car!

My daughter got a 10% discount for paying for us to get into the aquarium, which was around $25.00 each. We didn't get to see the dolphin show or their 4D show. That's extra.

Oh well, it was worth it.

We got lost in Baltimore because I tried to go around some major congestion on 83 North. That was OK too because we got to see part of the city we never saw before.
I am a bit sore today, but not bad enough to worry about. I wouldn't have been able to do this two years ago.
Life is Good!

Slider food

At our weight loss group meeting the other night, I heard talk about how to get liquids into our system.
Something came up which surprised me because I was already doing it and didn't realize it.
After a meal, I usually have a slider food.
This is because I an dry and really would like to drink something with my meal, but because of restrictions, can't.
A slider food is a smooth food, such as a pudding, or jello type food.
I use 60 calorie sugar free jello pudding. I also buy the store brand to save money.
I also sometimes eat a sugar free Healthy Choice fudge bar. That has 100 calories.
This satisfies my liquid craving until I can take a drink an hour later.

Time to rake the leaves!

This is a post that I think didn't get published. I don't know why. This is from a few weeks ago. Anyway, here it is:

The leaves of brown came tumbling down, remember? That September in the rain.

An old standard song listed above. The only problem is my silver Maple isn't even starting to turn brown yet. It's still green. All the neighbor's trees are dropping leaves like crazy....on my yard!

So, I will use my new Honda Mower, and the leaf blower, and rake, to clean them up. Then, I will turn my back, and all the leaves will fall again, and it will look like I didn't do anything.

Life in the suburbs.

My wife is very sick, and we are not sure what is going to happen. We get the test results on Tuesday 10/27/9. My life will change drastically no matter what the results are.

My son never came back to finish what he started. He decided he has to move, and is going to move out of the area and change jobs. I wish him well, and wonder what I will do with my yard. I don't have the equipment or money to clean up the holes he left. There are roots and stumps there that I can't dig out. I think I will save and cover them up this spring with lots of mulch, and then put some small plants there. I did try to dig as much as I could, but didn't get too far with my shovel.

I did cut and trim all of the bushes around the house for the winter. We have butterfly bushes that I cut down to the ground. They will grow back stronger next year. The rose bushes are still blooming, so I will wait another week or so to chop them down.

Now, I have a huge pile of cut bushes behind the garage. I started to trim them down and lay them out into piles that I can haul away sometime soon. With the leaves, I think I will be busy for awhile.