Saturday was very social. In the morning I had a nice meeting with the beading/embroidery group. Then at 3:00 I met my dear friend Laure, also at Starbuck's, and we had a great talk, so glad to see each other again. My school schedule kept me so busy and she had broken her ankle. She is doing so much better the diagnosis of severe sleep apnea and the resulting sleep-enabling machine. She really does look much more rested.
Because I was sick to my stomach Sunday the 28th, I decided I could not take part in the first two days of the Migrant Trail Walk. I had a horrible pain in stomach after eating lunch, and barely made it to Starbuck's to let Ann know that I wouldn't be able to go. She had arranged for Barb and I to walk the seven-mile first day, sleep overnight with the group, serve them lunch the next day. At first I decided I would indeed be recovered enough to go, after I ate dinner and kept it down, and called Ann to tell her so. But then I felt too tired to pack, and also realized it was selfish to possibly expose the entire 50-person group, who would all be walking all week, to the chance of a stomach bug.
It was and is very disappointing not to be able to go, because I was so looking forward to seeing some of those exceptional people again. Many of the people who participate have dedicated much time to helping Mexican immigrants.
Monday I cleaned our living room. It took three hours because I hadn't cleaned it since early January when John and Kathy were coming to visit. The clutter and dust and dog-hair were so thick. I thought I was going to clean both living room and dining room, and also make it to yoga and treadmill, but the living room was as far as I got.
It's nothing new that I cleaned the living room, but what is a big deal is that I have kept it neat all week. I don't think I have ever kept it neat that long in my entire life, unless we had house guests. (So that's the big accomplishment which feels exciting to me but no one else.)
During the day I thought about Ann and Barb...."Now they should have gotten to Tucson, now they are in desolate gang-ruled Sasabe having lunch served to them by those Mexican church ladies, now they are being escorted to the border by those Mexican men in pickup trucks, now they are getting to camp, now they are getting up and rushing to pack up before having coffee, now they are driving to get ice, etc." I had to admit to myself that I still felt a little weak from the stomach flu, but I so regret missing the experience, and seeing some of those remarkable people again.
On Tuesday evening I watched another episode of American Epic, a recent series of documentaries about American music which Dale Sr. alerted me to. This one about Hawaiian music, Cajun music, Mexican music (Lydia Mendoza), and the remarkable story of the rediscovery of Mississippi John Hurt.
The first Cajun record ever recorded was a song called "Allons a Lafyette". The lyrics went something like "Allons a Lafyette, allons allons, Vais a changer ton nam a Madame Comeaux" I must write that to Paulette, as her last name is Comeaux. She is up in Nova Scotia, having to sell her sister's house while her sister lies in the hospital, terminally ill. Oscar is on his own until she can return.
To our thrice-weekly cardio workouts I have added one Zumba class, one yoga class, and one longish walk. For two weeks I've been keeping healthy habits, not just concentrating on normalizing food intake but also on sleeping enough, the exercise, checking in daily with my on-line diet group, and other factors which are stressed in the book "The Willpower Instinct" by Dr. Kelly McGonigal.
Below, a photo of me and my very cool Zumba teacher, Avette. On Facebook, she goes by the moniker "Jus2Sassy", and that she is. She always chooses very rhythmic music, which I love. And her T-shirt is correct, her music is indeed always turned "all the way up", in fact I spend the class with tissue paper stuffed into my ears.
I'm also doing something that my Nutrition Lab class teacher suggested, which is to eat two servings of steamed vegetables, each as big as a fist, with each and every meal. It's helpful for three things: 1) it fills up the plate and makes one feel more full and less deprived; 2) the fiber in vegetables causes slower digestion and I don't feel hungry between meals, and 3) that many servings of vegetables brings the level of vitamins and minerals provided by the diet to the RDA in most cases (except Vitamin D and Calcium) it seems almost impossible to get enough of those from the diet.
Well, sorry to bore you with that. Anyway, I've lost three pounds. Since Christmas, Dale Sr. and I have each lost around ten.
Love, Lennie
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