. . . sort of
Our weather — as usual — has been rather schizoid recently. Mostly cold — like February cold — and most days there is a lot of tea consumed in my house. But sometimes it’s a green smoothie — not often enough once the mercury dips, but you’ll have to read on to find out more about that.
Pull up chair and mug with Coco and Deborah and me for the ultimate coffee tea date.
If we were enjoying high tea . . .
I’d tell you that Bandit is still sleeping in bed with us. Lola sleeps curled up between us, Bandit starts curled up next to me, occasionally between my legs, but at some point during the night he burrows way down towards the foot of the bed. Mr. Judy really likes having him down there when his feet are cold. He isn’t velcroed to me all night the way Chester used to be — which isn’t necessarily a bad thing.
When Mr.Judy was away for the weekend, I just left the dogs in the bedroom when I got up, and they both just stayed there until I came and got them.
When Mr. Judy is home, when I get up, about an hour later Bandit will get up and off the bed (which is still before Mr. Judy’s alarm).
We solved that by my simply taking him out with me when I got up a few times. And now he seems to understand that when I get up, it’s time for him to change beds (he just goes to his bed on the couch and curls up and goes back to sleep).
Oh, and that photo above? Bandit houdini’d his way out of his collar one night.
If we were enjoying high tea . . .
I’d tell you last month I was bemoaning the demise of yet another personal blender. The next one finally arrived. I’d read that the ones ordered via Amazon don’t last as long as the ones ordered directly via the company, so I ordered from the company. It seemed to take forever (about 10 days, maybe a bit longer) to arrive.
So far, so good. I’ve used it for salad dressings, for smoothies, to grind nuts . . . we’ll just see how long it actually lasts. It’s from Tribest, in case you were wondering, and you can get one here (not an affiliate link).
If we were enjoying high tea . . .
I’d tell you my mom never misses an opportunity to tell us how unhappy she is where she is living: a senior living community where they have their own apartment, not assisted living. She knows that there also aren’t any better options for them, since they can no longer drive and private care for both is prohibitively expensive. They have made new friends there . . . but it’s not home and it never will be.
As I was ruminating on that this week, the idea came to me to ask her what would make it better. If she has no suggestions, I can still listen to her and empathize, but I can also let it go, knowing we’ve done the best we could.
And speaking of home, the sale of their home fell through on the stupidest thing. Their neighbor built a shed about 10 years ago. Partially on my parents’ lot, as it turns out. He claims he had it surveyed and that it was on his land, but no, it wasn’t, and he basically wasn’t willing to do the right thing and move and/or demolish the damn thing. Actually, he was happy to have my parents pay to have it moved, but then dragged his feet until the buyers backed out. Over a shed!
If we were enjoying high tea . . .
I’d tell you I’m very glad Thanksgiving is over. Ultimately it was an enjoyable day, and my parents are always happy to escape the “asylum”, but now it’s time to relax a bit for a while.
Sort of, anyway. There’s still a potluck I’m hosting next week and my parents’ 70th anniversary party which takes place in the middle of the week, which was the date my brother chose, and now he may not even be able to come due to work . . . but still, neither of these things is the slog that Thanksgiving was!
I am always happy this time of year to watch the goys (that would be anyone not Jewish) scurry around while I relax.
If we were enjoying high tea . . .
I’d tell you it took about four days before I got back to fairly normal eating after Thanksgiving. I didn’t stuff myself, but I also enjoyed my meal . . . and kept enjoying it with those little mindless BLTs (bites, licks, and tastes) for days afterwards. Thankfully the damage wasn’t too bad when I got back to a Weight Watchers meeting.
I also finally got back to making the occasional smoothie this week. I don’t really crave smoothies when it’s cold outside, but I actually have found that having smoothies on a fairly regular basis is really beneficial to me. And even when it’s cold, once I make my smoothie, I enjoy it. It’s kind of like getting out for a run on a gray, cold day — it can take me a while to talk myself into it, but I always feel better when I actually do it!
Ok, that’s off my chest . . . for now.
Tea? Iced Tea? Coffee? Decaf? Green smoothie?
Smoothies in the winter — yay or nay?
Are you still enjoying those Thanksgiving leftovers?
Are you streaking (me, no, never, no thanks, it’s enough work getting out the door for scheduled runs)?
Today I am also joining up with the Friday Five 2.0 from Fairytales & Fitness and Rachel @ Running on Happy.
Chocolaterunsjudy 
I agree with you that the smoothies are beneficial! I try really hard to include anti-inflammatory ingredients in them. I was all about beets until I had that overdose about 6 months ago. Since then, I just can’t. It’s like I have beet PTSD. I have a NInja. My original one started smoking one day. I called Ninja and they replaced it, no questions asked. What a great company!
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That’s why I vary my smoothies. And I have a gajillion recipes, too! It can still be a little hard to motivate myself to make one — especially when I’m going out for a cold run (like yesterday).
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So good to hear about the all the things in your life!!
I’m still enjoying my smoothies. It’s super cold here as well. It’s been a particularly cold November and it’s only going to get worse!! Apparently Scotland is going to experience the worst winter in a decade or something to that effect… Not looking forward to that! I escaped to Spain for a well already earlier this month and I’m away in India during Christmas… Happy to escape this cold!
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I’ve heard that about our winter, too; and yes, most of November was unseasonably cold (but not all).
Unfortunately this year I am not escaping to anyplace warm. Enjoy yours while you can!
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Interesting about the blender-why do you think they are different when they come from Amazon directly?? Asking your parents what you can do to make their situation better sounds like a great plan. They will feel like they have more control in the situation. Thanks for linking up for coffee/tea
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They said that they tended to stop working quicker. My guess is that they’re older stock, much like the Magic Bullet I bought from Marshalls that time.
Magic Bullet didn’t want to replace it because it was older, but I harangued them until they did.
Pretty sure my mom won’t have suggestions, other than come visit more often no doubt. And I would if it weren’t a 2 hour drive. Unfortunately my sister is closer but not as close with them.
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Aww i’m sorry your parents do not enjoy living where they are. I’m sure it must be hard living away from the “home” they’ve known for so long.
That’s interesting about the blenders not being as good of quality when ordered through Amazon. I wonder what else that is true of?
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It is hard, of course. Even more so the loss of their independence. They do not look at the positives, though — there are always positives.
My guess about the blenders on Amazon is that they are simply older and therefore do not last as long, but I don’t really know.
Since I’ve been plagued by dying personal blenders and I hate waste, I decided to order directly; and wait . . . and wait . . .
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That’s so weird about the blenders. I order a lot of things from Amazon so i may need to rethink certain things I buy from them in the future.
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I’m not sure it’s the same for every manufacturer. It usually pays to read the comments!
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Did your parents want to move, and it was age/health that made them move? My grandfather chose to move into a senior living place, and he loves it to the point he doesn’t want to leave! My mom’s trying to get him to agree to Christmas at their place, and she’d drive him up and take him back, but he wants to stay at his place.
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They really didn’t want to move, but their house really wasn’t a good living situation for them and the fact that neither one of them could drive anymore, my sister works, and I live 2 hours away.
There are people there who do like it, but not many, and most of the ones who like it moved there when they were younger.
It’s just a difficult situation, but happiness is a choice — people in far worse circumstances choose to be happy.
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What do you put into your smoothie ?
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It varies all the time. Often protein powder, but not always; sometimes chia seeds or almond butter; sometimes almond milk; banana, strawberry, blueberry, mango, cherries (all frozen, not all rogether!). Kale or spinach. Greens powder (I like Vega). Sometimes greek yogurt. Really, the combinations are endless!
I have a ton of cookbooks, several specific to runners, and therefore a ton of recipes.
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We are total opposites. I much prefer smoothies when it’s cold out than when it’s warm. I don’t know why!
My dad is in an assisted living facility. He’s not happy at all. But he can’t live alone anymore and there weren’t any other alternatives. It’s a tough situation any way you slice it.
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Well, my parents aren’t in assisted living, thankfully (although it is an option there). Yes, it’s absolutely a tough situation.
Ok, craving smoothies when it’s cold out IS weird, LOL!
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Isn’t there some sort of law or legal thing protecting your parent’s property from that neighbor? That is an absolute shame that a sale fell through because of that… it would make me want to sue that neighbor, lol.
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My brother has handled most of it — he IS a lawyer (although not a property lawyer).
We still need to sell the house, though, so suing really isn’t an option. 😦
Hope your race weekend was great, Paula!
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In winter, I love soup. Veggie soup. I suppose purists thing that smoothies are better because they are raw, but veg is veg, and soup is lovely in winter!
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I love soup in winter, too. And I eat a lot of it. But I find smoothies make a good snack for me. It’s just a matter of motivating myself!
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