Vegan hopping john and brown rice
The first order of business when we got back home was to catch up on medical appointments. My doctor informed me that my cholesterol was sky high. Since my body has zero tolerance for statins or livilo, that means my only options are diet, supplements and exercise.
So, I am planning three vegan days per week, and cutting back on meat and cheese the other 4 days.
Fortunately, Ron loves my vegan meals as long as I promise him a steak and a pork chop once a week. So tonight we had hopping john and brown rice. Ron went back for seconds, which assured me he wasn’t feeling deprived with the meatless meal. 🙂
I also found a highly recommended handyman who charges very reasonable prices to do the projects on the house that I can’t do. Needless to say, he is backed up, but should be here next week to put in the new back door and give me an estimate on the utility closet. So we are slowly on our way to getting the place ready to put on the market.
Ron is having cataract surgery Wednesday. The following Thursday I go in for a preop consultation about eyelid surgery. My drooping eyelids interfere with my vision enough that Medicare will pay to have that fixed. Then Ron will go in for the other cataract surgery, then this fall it will be my turn.
At least we should have all that done in time to head to Florida again next winter.
Between repair jobs this summer, we plan to schedule week-long getaways whenever we can work them in.
We have had tons of rain, so I know the mushrooms are going crazy out in the woods. I haven’t made time to check them out, so maybe I can squeeze a mushroom hunting expedition in tomorrow.
I did find a LBM (little brown mushroom) in one of the campgrounds we were in. I’m not sure which one. I didn’t try to identify it because it’s a tedious process for me and I didn’t have the inclination to spend that much time on it. At first I thought it was a deadly gallerina, but the gills are wrong for that. Anyway, it is definitely not one I was tempted to eat!
We have found the solution for Sunny’s incontinence problems. It’s a belly band with a sanitary napkin inside. It’s not very glamorous, but it works. I thought he would hate wearing one, but he is so used to me putting sweaters and jackets on him that this is just another thing that Mom makes him wear. 🙂
Tinycamper's Blog 
judilyn
/ April 10, 2015Good thing he is a small dog!
Virtual hugs,
Judie
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Sharon
/ April 10, 2015Really! I can’t imagine trying that on a 50 pound dog! 🙂
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Tim
/ April 10, 2015The Ultimate Anti Aging Program by Dr Gary Null is a great book for eating healthy and making lifestyle changes.
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Sharon
/ April 11, 2015Thanks for the suggestion, Tim. Right now I feel like I’m bumbling along and I could use some direction, so I appreciate your referral.
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Robin B
/ April 10, 2015I had my eyelids done a couple of years ago and it was a huge improvement. Not much fun for a few days as it was difficult to read, mainly because of the ointment I had to put on my lids, but if you like to read, go to the library and check out a large print book and an audio book. Both saved me from terminal boredom. If you would like to see my before and after photos, I’ll send via email.
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Jo
/ April 10, 2015so happy to see a post! Your vegan hopping john looks really good. I have started to eat lots more veggies and tonight when I grabbed a piece of cod I was floored by the amount of cholesterol in it. But it sure was tasty and had mashed cauliflower with it. Love that stuff. Excise class is going good too.
Yes it is time for all the medical stuff to get done but for me its to leave for the summer and come home for winter. Good to hear you found a handyman to get the big stuff done.
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Sharon
/ April 11, 2015Jo, I desperately need to get serious about exercise. I love to hear about your exercise class. You are inspiring me.
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Sharon
/ April 11, 2015Robin, I would love to see your before and after photos. I can’t picture how I will look after.
The doctor did sonething with a light to show me how much better I would see after the surgery. I was shocked at how much brighter everything was.
Know what I worry about? I’m very overweight and I worry that after I get my eyelids done, if I lose weight they will droop as badly as ever! Isn’t that a hoot! At least, worring about something so silly keeps me from worring about more serious things! 😉
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Robin B
/ April 11, 2015I think I have your email address and will send. Perhaps the Dr can do a little liposuction on your eyelids when doing the surgery. 😉 I wouldn’t worry. My main issue was edema; had to ice every morning for months afterwards. I noticed more peripheral vision than general brightness but I didn’t let mine get as bad as some I’ve seen. I’m sure you’ll be very pleased with the results..I’ll outline a few tips when I send the email later today.
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Sharon
/ April 11, 2015I am so looking forward to hearing your tips and observations!
I wish the surgeon could just go ahead and take care of my whole sadly drooping face! But the eyelids have been bothersome for a long time. It’s hereditary… my mom tapes her eyelids up sometimes. For some reason they seem reluctant to do hers.
I’ll send you a quick email so we’ll be sure you have it.
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Judy Crankshaw
/ April 11, 2015John always says, “Adapt and overcome.”. That’s the way with Sunny. Sounds like you’ve figured out a way to make it all work.
Good luck with Ron’s cataract surgery. What a difference that will make for him!
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Sharon
/ April 11, 2015The amazing thing is how happy Sunny is, Judy.
His little hind legs give out on him and he often falls, but he just hops back up full of joy that he’s with us. Before our next trip, we’ll have to get him a stroller.
We love our little guy more and more every day, it seems. And we’re getting a lot of practice at adapting!
While we were traveling, I worked very hard at not thinking about how bad Ron’s vision was. So we’ll both be thrilled after both of his eyes are done.
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barbara young
/ April 11, 2015So glad the belly band worked. Beau just thinks it’s part of His daily wear.
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Sharon
/ April 11, 2015So does Sunny! I am so grateful for the suggestion. 🙂
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Horst
/ April 11, 2015Cataract surgery will make a world of difference..and its instant..at least that’s how my experience turned out..only downside was all the different eye drops you have to take for a month…. Good luck to you Ron..hope this weekend doesn’t bring you the Severe weather that’s heading East…Horst sends
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Sharon
/ April 11, 2015Thanks for the upbeat forecast on the cataract surgery. I’m due to get mine done this fall. I will be so glad to see well again! Ron is anticipating better vision and will be glad to get it done. I’m not sure when they will do his other eye yet.
It looks like we are in for a lot of rain, but I hope that’s all. Last night I was beginning to wonder how the Casita would do as an Ark! 🙂
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Gerri Jones
/ April 11, 2015Sounds like you all have been busy since returning home! Things are changing around our house as well. We still feel a sense of restlessness and there really isn’t anything holding us back but ourselves. Mike and I talk about things such as full-timing again daily. Not sure what we’ll do but will let you know.
Good luck with your eye lid surgery and Ron’s cataract surgery!! I hope all goes well!!!!
I hear you about the rain…it seems we’ve had nothing but rain lately!! That coupled with spring break it has been hard to find a camp site anywhere!!
Take care!! Wishing you both the very best 🙂
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Sharon
/ April 11, 2015Gerri, that sense of restlessness is apparently shared by everyone who loves RVing and gets stuck at home now and then. I love the idea of being able to fulltime, but also look forward to having a small place in Florida for a soft landing spot in case of illness or if I get the urge to plant a tomato. Freedom from having to take care of a house and grounds is what we are after. There is so much more to life than that, and I feel we are missing out on what’s really important by staying here.
About your doggie… are you feeling better about taking him on the road? I had a talk with my vet. The reason he didn’t want to give me enough of Sunny’s medicine to last throughout our trip was that he didn’t realize we planned to be gone that long. I didn’t make it clear that we were planning to be gone for the whole winter. He said next time he will make sure I have a 6 months supply of doggie meds to take with me.
We lucked out and made it home before spring break. We would have probably ended up doing some Wallydocking if we hadn’t.
All the best to you, Gerri. Maybe just get out a few weeks before it gets too hot and see how that works out before making any permanent decisions?
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Gerri Jones
/ April 12, 2015Thanks, Sharon! We plan to go out and test the waters before a decision is made. At this point we’ll probably head to the mountains instead of the beach! I do feel better about taking Casey with us. We just can’t sit here at the house growing older and missing out on life. We’ll take good care of her and our Vet is in the loop. I’m glad your Vet is now understanding what you are doing and for how long…that will really help!!
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Linda a.
/ April 12, 2015Enjoy your posts
When you go ‘full time’ will you buy a larger trailer or motor home?
You may have said and I missed it.
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Sharon
/ April 12, 2015Linda, we will start out in the Casita. Since we also want to buy a small home base in Florida, we may be able to make the Casita work. If we do go fulltime without a home base, we would want a bigger rig. But we like small and minimalistic, so the main thing we would upgrade for is comfortable seating, which the Casita lacks.
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Linda a.
/ April 12, 2015Thanks for answering. I do remember months back when you showed the
interior
of your Casita , it was darling …. Your very creative!
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Sharon
/ April 12, 2015Thank you, Linda! 🙂
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