Another Bento Style Lunch

I am having so much fun with these lunches! I went to school last week and had lunch with Samantha and my niece and nephew. All three had requested a bento lunch this week. I included turkey wraps made with while wheat tortillas, spinach leaves and swiss cheese with some extra pepper jack cheese cut into fall shapes, some cut up imitation crab sticks, "salad" made with broccoli, cauliflower, tomatoes, cucumber, mushrooms and sugar peas and a fruit cup of orange slices, raspberries, blackberries and grapes. It looks like a ton of food, and there is a lot of variety but the overall quantity isn't too much. 

I survived Thanksgiving! I wasn't watching what I ate too carefully, but I did notice that I didn't eat as much as I have in years past. Don't get me wrong, I was full and ate more than I eat on a daily basis, but in years past I would have probably eaten until I was almost to the point of misery. I did stop well before that point. I am watching what I eat most of the time but I am still planning to enjoy the holidays. 

I have been doing a little yoga lately. Not the full tape or a workout yet, mainly just some stretches. I have put on a few pounds that I have lost over the past couple of weeks, and I am working on taking that back off. I am not giving up though, I am liking the way I am feeling and I LOVE having more energy.

Grateful for my In-Laws

I have been truly blessed with some of the greatest in-laws in the entire world. I have heard absolute horror stories about mothers in law especially. My in-laws welcomed me into their lives the first time they met me and that has not changed in the five years I have been a part of their family. I do know how fortunate I am and I am grateful for them. It's had coming into a new family, but I have never been made feel awkward or unwelcome in their home. 

Grateful for my job

Today I am thankful for my job, not only that I have one, but that I have one that I enjoy. Of course I would rather sit at home and amuse myself endlessly, but since I do need to work, I can't think of a better place. One thing that makes my job so great is the people that I get to work with every day. Another thing that is especially important to me is the fact that I am in a little office by myself. I can sit when I need to, stand up and walk around when I need to do that, this job cause me very little additional pain. That is a big deal to me. So today I am grateful for my job and my co-workers.

Frugal Laugh

At work today, I was in a meeting with a salesman and a co-worker. He had brought me a bunch of samples of some new packaging material and stuck them in the first thing he found to carry them in which was a five gallon bucket with a lid. He made a joke about the "fancy carrier" he brought them in and I said "oh I love it, it's perfect for making detergent in". Dead silence from both of them. Not only the silence, but they both looked at me like I was more than a little crazy. This is a salesman that I have worked with for a while and we have a similar sense of humor, and that is the first time I have seen him speechless. Finally he said "wow, that's country". I just laughed and said no, it was just cheap! I knew it was a lot cheaper to make than to buy, but I wasn't sure of the exact savings. I figure it costs me around .04 per load to make detergent and between .12 and .35 per load to use detergent that is already made. That extra money? It allows us to take more weekend trips through out the year. If you are interested in the recipe, let me know in the comment section and I will send it to you.

On the weight loss: I am still kind of stuck at about the same point. Not gaining, but not losing either. I had to go and buy an outfit for a wedding we attended this weekend and was able to buy a smaller size pants. That felt good. I am also having to wear a belt with most all of my jeans now. I hate wearing a belt, but am a little happy that I need to. We were out of town all weekend so that means I ate out a lot, but didn't do too terrible.

Grateful

This is a project that I made for Shirley's 2 Girls' Thankful Blog Hop this week. In making this I was specifically thinking of the son of a friend of mine that recently graduated from Marine Boot Camp. Today I am grateful for those men and woman that choose to put on a uniform and to all that ones that have worn our country's colors in times past. Thinking again of my friends son, seeing him so proudly wearing that uniform brought a tear to my eye. I have know this little boy since he was about eight years old. First of all, it's hard to believe that he is even old enough to be wearing a uniform! It made me think of what all he chose to give up. For me, for you and for our country. So today I am grateful for all the young people like Gray that choose to protect our country and all the sacrifices that they make on a daily basis.

Grateful for My Grandmother

My grandmother passed away 10 years ago. On Halloween. She has been on my mind a lot lately. I am grateful that I had the opportunity to have that woman in my life as long as I did. It's funny looking back, but when I think of major life lessons that I have learned, many of those came from her. Not as preachy lessons, but by her example and they way that she lived her life. 

She was the most giving person that I have ever known. One time she had some furniture to sale that she advertised in the paper. A man called inquiring about the bed that was listed and said he wanted to purchase it sight unseen, because he needed a bed for his kids to sleep in. Well after he got there to pay, he explained some of his situation and my grandparents not only ended up giving him the bed, but also gave him some other furniture. Any TV preacher that sent her a letter got sent some money, not a lot, because they didn't have a lot, but they got something. I could recount many, many examples of her giving to others, but I won't right now. I thought she was a little naive and far too trusting. I asked her about it one day after I was an adult. I asked if she worried that she was being taken advantage of, that the people might not always use the money in the right way. She said there were probably times that people lied to get money or help from others. Bu she said that wasn't her problem, that if someone asked her for help and lied to her, they had to answer to God for that. But if she refused to help when she could and chose to be stingy, then she was the one that had to explain that to God. That lesson haunts me sometimes! Especially as I have grown older and a little more jaded. I want to be more giving like she was. And she gave with a open and caring heart, and believed in everyone until they proved themselves not trustworthy.

I just randomly decided to move to Nashville one day. Everyone wanted to know why and kept asking when I was moving back home. She never did. She let me know she missed me, but she never asked me to move back home. What did she ask me? She asked if I was happy and when I said I was she said "that's good".

I have always loved Halloween, as a child and as an adult. So did my Mamaw. She got such a kick out of seeing her grandkids and neighbors dressed up in their costumes. She would talk for weeks about this kid or that one and how cute they looked in their costume. When she died on Halloween day, it hurt so bad. I thought the joy had gone from Halloween forever. The joy was gone for a couple of years and replaced with sadness and missing her. Then I decided to pass out candy one year. The joy was back!! Instead of sadness, I felt a connection with her, every single time I opened the door and saw another kid in a cute costume. 

From my Mamaw, I also got my love of words, of books, pens and papers and of poems and stories. She used to save poems that she found to read to me and I would do the same. Some of my fondest memories of spending time with her was after I was an adult and I worked close to her house. If I had a break, I would call her and ask her to make me cornbread and there would be some frying as I walked through the door. Sometimes I would pick up french fries from her favorite restaurant and take them to her instead. We had some very good visits during those lunches. I still miss her terribly, but I am grateful for the years that she was in my life.

Being Grateful

Wow, it is already November. One thing that I have done each year around this time of year is to really reflect on my life over the previous year and to think of people that have strongly influenced my life that year. I want to make sure to always be grateful for the people that come into my life. I try and let these people know how I am feeling too. I would like to try and live my life in a way that if our paths cross that you can say your life may be a little better, a little brighter. Now, I don't always achieve that goal, but it is one that I set for myself many years ago. Kip and I were talking about that the other day too, how our actions and reactions can influence people around us. We are both making the effort to be kinder people; to each other, to our families and friends and to people that we only have fleeting contact with, servers in restaurants, clerks in stores. 

I know this is a blog about having a healthy lifestyle and being frugal, but I think all health begins with good mental health. One way to get there is to be aware of and grateful for the things that we have. So for the rest of the month and then randomly as I feel like it, I am going to be posting about things I am grateful for.

Today, I am grateful that I have the privilege to vote. We women have only had that privilege for 90 years, since 1920. I personally feel that if I shirk my duty to vote, it is a slap in the face to all the women that came before me that could not do so. A slap to women like Lucy Stone, Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and so many others worked tirelessly for many years to help establish this right for me. I cannot imagine a time where I did not have that right because I would have been too frail, or too limited in my thinking to be able to vote. I hope I never take that right for granted. 

My Bento Box Lunch

Well this was my first attempt at making bento boxes for lunch. I went on a field trip with Samantha and packed us both one. She has been looking at different websites and You Tube videos with me so she was very excited about having lunch this way. I had told her that was what I would be bringing her, but did not tell her what would be in there. I think, jusdging by her reaction, she was happy with the results!

It looks like a ton of food, and there is a lot of variety, but not a lot of each item. I started out with homemade sushi and threw in a few extra shrimp and the remainder of a crab stick that was in the sushi. There is a salad with broccoli, mushrooms, carrot sticks and cherry tomatoes. A couple of pieces of pepperjack cheese cut into Halloween shapes and and a fruit cup with raspberries, blueberries, kiwi and a piece of starfruit. And after running around a farm for a couple of house, she was really ready for her lunch and ate most of it. It was also nice having no trash to throw away, except the drink container.

I had considered looking for and buying actual bento boxes, but found these locking containers at Wal-Mart in two different sizes. I am happy with them , the price was much better that special ordering from the internet and they worked out very well.

On the weight loss front: I am kind of stuck. I haven't gained, but I am not loosing right now. I know I have been eating out too much and that is definitely a pitfall for me. I also haven't been exercising very much either, other than trying to get as many extra steps in every day as I can. Since we moved the furniture around downstairs, the treadmill hasn't really been useable, but I am hoping to remedy that by the end of the weekend. 

Choosing to Change

I had kind of gotten away for my healthy eating plan for a few weeks but am doing better now. I had lost 30 lbs, but then I gained back 5 so I am at 25 lbs now. There have been a few hurdles to overcome but I am hoping that they are getting worked out so that I can keep going. One problem I have had is that a new medication that I am taking has a side effect of making you crave sweets. which is weird for me because my weaknesses tend to be salty things or more savory. Give me chips and a good dip any day over sweets. Until I started taking this medicine. It's like if I don't have something sweet every day, it is all I can think about. So I have been looking for alternatives to  satisfy that without totally blowing my healthy eating plan. Low fat puddings work or making my own trail mix with some nuts, dried cranberries and a few chocolate chips seem to work too. 

Another issue has been the fact that the treadmill got moved and kind of blocked. That will be fixed this weekend. Since I am doing this to get healthy and not just lose weight, I know that I need the exercise. I feel better when I do and the weight comes off easier and faster too. I am still choosing to change what I put in my body and I do feel better.

One thing that has changed is my lunches. Since I have been struggling with high blood pressure issues, I have really been watching my intake of sodium. I used to eat either canned soups or frozen low calorie meals for lunch several times a week and I have stopped that. I also have this weird thing for soup for breakfast in the morning. Just a couple of kinds but we jokingly call those "breakfast soups". I have been making a little extra for dinner or making sure that I have other options that I have cooked or can quickly prepare for lunch. My blood pressure is finally staying in the range it should be.

I am still trying to process the new knowledge that I have gained about my pain issues. I have tried to describe it to Kip and just couldn't get it out how important of a change in my way of thinking this it and how it is a total game changer. The only comparison that I could come up with was Paul's conversion on the road to Damascus. I am talking life changing knowledge. 

And I have a choice here too. I can choose to change my way of thinking or I can continue to believe what is a lie. It's my choice, one that only I can make, but one that has potential to set the tone for the rest of my life. I have always thought I was weak because I had a weakness due to my pain issues. No one made me feel that way but me. I am trying to come to terms with the fact that just because I have a weakness, that the weakness does not have to define me as a weak person. Strong people can have weaknesses. It is what you choose to believe about yourself that decides if you can gain strength through your weakness. Like I said, this is a life changing piece of information for me. More on that later as I process it more.

Bento Boxes and other thoughts re:my invisible illness

One thing about me and healthy eating is that I have a hard time following any eating plan that has me eating the same things over and over and over again. Nothing will make me deviate from healthy eating quicker. I like a lot of variety not only in the foods that I eat, but also the foods that I cook and prepare. Like I can eat salad all the time, but it can't always be the same salad. Right now my favorite toppings are a little gorgonzola cheese, dried cranberries and a small amount of either pecans or walnuts. 

Well I was bored last night and just googled "healthy packed lunches" and one link lead to another and then another so soon I found several references to the bento box of lunches. Wow, what interesting reading. Basically a bento lunch uses small portions of a variety of foods to make a healthy portable lunch, usually arranged in an appealing way. I found several sites that were written by moms of young kids that said it was a great way to use up leftovers and since they were small portions and a lot of finger foods they were a hit with their kids too. That solved two problems I have--using the leftovers and offering a variety. Want more info? Google "bento lunches" to get tons of ideas.

Last week was "Invisible Illness Awareness Week" and I posted a couple of things about my own personal struggle with this. I have reposted them below if you are interested in reading them. Kip and I were talking about it after he read it and he had some interesting points to bring up. I am usually not that open about my pain levels (okay, normally I flat out lie about it) so opening up about this was something I don't normally do. Since Kip lives his life with me of course he sees more than anyone else will and I am pretty honest with him about my pain levels. He knows me well enough to know when I am lying anyway so there is no real point in pretending with him. His main point was that since I was being open on my blog, he didn't think I was descriptive enough about the pain. Interesting. 

I have always had difficulty describing my pain, finding the words to use to make someone understand. Especially people that do not experience pain in a chronic way. I keep up to date with scoliosis happenings and am a part of an online group of people like me that have had complications from our scoliosis and the related surgeries. But I had always limited my research to the area of scoliosis. I know some other people with scoliosis too. But for the most part I have felt like a freak**, even in that world that I unfortunately belong to. Recently though, I started looking outside that world and into the world of chronic pain. Finally I have found a world where I am not a freak. I hate that there are so many of us, but oh to find people that understand! People that experience what I experience. The root of our pain is different. How it manifests itself is different. But we understand each other in a way that no one else can. 

I remember reading a poem when I was younger about a man that went to the country of his birth to look for a connection and he felt alone. He went to a church with people that worshiped his God the way that he worshiped, but he was still alone. He went out into the rain and was offered the shelter of an umbrella from a stranger and in the kind eyes of that stranger he finally felt that connection with another human that his heart was crying out for. That's how I feel. People all around me care for me and I know that and we are connected, some very deep connections and others that aren't as deep, but I know I am loved by many people. Finding people though that understand how my pain effects every part of me has been freeing in some way. I don't really have to explain because they just know. 

**I use the word freak just to mean someone that stands outside the circle, that doesn't quite fit in or can be understood. That is something that Kip and I had to work out recently. I didn't mean it like a side show or Quasimodo or anything. Just someone that's different.