I knew exactly how he felt about being told no more pie. The rest of the pie went home with Megan because I knew it would be hard for me to say no to another slice in the coming days. Keeping in mind that there are no bad foods, I decided to eat one measured or weighed serving of each dish (except the cranberry sauces - Joe made two different flavor profiles) and I logged it all in. Surprisingly, I only went over my fat calories by four grams and still had fifty eight calories left for the day. Since I was not hungry those extra calories stayed unused.
The turkey took about forty-five minutes longer to cook than expected which gave us all plenty of time to play with the baby. His laughter rang through the house as he played hide-n-seek with his dad. Oliver was on the main floor and his dad was on the floor below in the family room. The kitchen overlooks that space so Oliver stood in the kitchen holding on to the railing and looking through it while Jeremy hid near the stairs and popped into view again and again. It was a joy filled game that lasted a good ten minutes.
Earlier Grandpa Joe took Oliver on an art tour. He showed him the pictures on the main floor and described what was in each one. Our sweet boy looked at everything with interest, content to be carried around in Grandpa's arms. Eventually they made their way down to the family room where Grandpa handed him the balls from the pool table and a small solar light that turned off and on when he flipped it over.
There were also lots of stairs climbed. Oliver went up and down for quite a while and I honestly do not know where he gets so much energy.
We missed having our older two grandchildren, Caleb and Charlotte, with us since they were with their mom for the holiday.
All in all it was a lovely, sweet evening spent with people I love.
I’ll start.
I am thankful for my partner, Joe Coehlo. Even when he is hogging the kitchen, like he was this afternoon, to make sweet potato pie. His sweet potato pie is a base of sweet potatoes and butternut squash, both grown in our own garden. He eventually finished so I could make some lunch. Being hangry is not my favorite feeling.
I am thankful for family and friends. Each and every one of them makes my life feel rich. I could name them all, but it might take days to read. Not because I have so many friends and relatives, but because I would want to include the reason why each person is special to me. Just know that if you are reading this and you are a friend or family member, I love you.
I am thankful that our neighbors are kind and caring people and that they have made room for Joe and me to be a part of their lives.
I am thankful for my daughter (Megan) and her husband, Jeremy. They are good people working hard to make sure our grandchildren grow into their very best selves.
I am grateful for Caleb, Charlotte, and Oliver. Each of them is teaching me how to be a grandma.
I am thankful that Joe and I made decisions during our thirty plus years of marriage to save for retirement. We came into our marriage with very little money, and together we built a financial future for ourselves.
I am thankful for our home, a place to lay our heads at night without worrying where we will be living tomorrow.
I am thankful for all of the people showing up in cities and towns to help immigrants, documenting ICE behavior and documenting the people being taken away. Every one of these videos will serve as proof of the illegal and cruel actions of the current regime.
I am thankful for all of the people showing up at No Kings and at other protests of the current regime.
I am thankful that I am getting healthier every day. Losing weight, losing inches, and improving my mobility are all gifts I give myself each day by staying the course.
What are you thankful for today?
P.S. I will most likely take tomorrow off from writing, since family and food will be calling.
Last week my daughter recommended I follow Rubia Garcia II on Facebook. Each day she posts 24 headlines from the last 24 hours. For those who are not following the news and are interested, consider following Rubia Garcia II as a quick way to know what is happening in our country and the world. She supplies sources in her comments. I am not including the sources for this entry of hers from today. However, you can find the post on Facebook and see the sources listed. If you do not have Facebook, please let me know which item you would like the source for and I will send it to you!
Here is the post from this morning:
In short, 24 headlines from the last 24 hours…[DEEP breath in — slow and steady…]
; she survived the 1921 Greenwood attack that decimated 30 blocks of Black Wall Street, OK; spent later years seeking justice/preserving lagacy
that in comments as well)
’d in the comments.
It’s stories like this that make me angry that Forty-Seven is using both ICE and the Border Patrol to intimidate the American people. Every day we hear about more Americans, Native Americans, and legal immigrants being “detained” by these agents.
And even undocumented immigrants, who do have rightsare being treated as though they’ve committed serious crimes. Most people don’t realize that being undocumented is not a felony; it’s a misdemeanor. If the government truly wanted to make America safer, they could start by focusing on people actually committing felonies. But that’s not what these arrests are really about.
Instead, it’s a performance meant to scare people of any color, from any community, including white allies standing up for immigrants and people of color in the cities. The entire Forty-Seven agenda seems built around intimidation, conditioning all of us to comply without question.
Do not be intimidated!
Meanwhile, Grandpa Joe was on babysitting duty with Oliver. I warned Megan that by the time we got home, Grandpa would have taught him algebra. She laughed, knowing full well it wasn’t outside the realm of possibility. When we finally got home around 2:45, Oliver was ready for a nap and Grandpa looked perfectly content.
The big story of the day: the stairs. According to Joe, Oliver climbed them over and over and over. We’ve all been working on teaching him how to come down backwards, and Joe said Oliver made real progress today. He only attempted to go headfirst once. Joe solved that by placing a steady hand on the top of Oliver’s head so he couldn’t inch forward, then turning him around and gently pulling him down by the feet. Apparently that’s when something clicked. Oliver began turning sideways, reaching for the stair rail, placing one foot down, then the other, slow, careful, and very pleased with himself. After weeks of Megan, Charlotte, me (and probably a few other helpers) demonstrating how to come down safely, Oliver decided to show Grandpa exactly what he’s learned.
Once we got home for good, I wrapped up all my physical activity: Chair Stretches, Chair Yoga, and fifty minutes on the NuStep, finishing around 4:50 p.m. I’ve been ready for bed since 5:00. Staying awake, even as I write this, feels like a losing battle. I’m hoping to make it to 10:00 p.m. so I don’t completely throw off my sleep schedule for the rest of the week.
What I’m learning on this healthier-me journey is how important sleep and stress management are to my overall health. When my schedule gets too full, my weight bounces all over the place. And if I get less than 7½ hours of sleep, the scale will go up a pound or more the next morning. As much as I resisted the idea of weighing myself every day, I’m grateful for it now. Patterns are beginning to emerge, and being aware of how my body reacts helps me find better coping mechanisms. Long term, I think it will help me set firmer boundaries for myself, Starting with a big, bold rule: DO NOT OVERSCHEDULE.
Now I’m off to relax and watch Season 2 of A Man on the Inside on Netflix. Only another hour and a half until I can finally crawl into bed. I hope you have a quiet and peaceful evening.
I started my morning with a virtual visit with my friend Mary Ann - always a good way to ease into the day.
Tomorrow will be a bit busier. Joe will be babysitting Oliver while Megan and I work the concession stand at Caleb’s swim meet. Jeremy works on Sundays, so Grandpa and Oliver get a whole morning together. Those two are curious about everything, and Joe is known for encouraging a little exploration, so I can only imagine the adventure they’ll have.
The concession stand isn’t a bad gig, either. Plus, I get some time with Megan, which makes it even better for me.
Even though we decided to skip any major chores today, I still prepped food for the next several days. Joe cooked up butternut squash and sweet potato, part of it for a sweet potato pie and part for a recipe Megan likes that involves sweet potatoes and mini marshmallows. I got in all of my physical activity, too. Aside from watching a documentary while on the NuStep, I listened to a few political podcasts throughout the day.
And speaking of energy, have I mentioned that our solar installation has officially been approved by the utility company? The survey team from Wolf River Electric is coming Wednesday morning to check everything out and determine where the panels will go (some on the southern and some on the western exposure roofs). I’m still not sure if there will be enough time to complete the install before the end of December. The Big Beautiful Bill wiped out the solar credits after December 31, 2025. Boo! Hiss! I truly cannot believe our government wants to push conventional energy sources over the renewable ones that could actually support our environment.
My goal for the next few hours before bedtime is simple: read a book or find a movie to watch. The plan is to just chill. Hoping you have a chill evening as well.
I heard these words on a health and fitness podcast this past week. Becky Kiado, the nutritionist and personal trainer I’ve been working with, joined Rhyland Qually on The Strong Ambition Podcast (#135) to talk about her own personal transition and the work she’s doing with clients today.
During their conversation, they discussed which qualities seem to help people be most successful in their health-improvement goals. They both agreed: “The ability to endure is the key to success.” That idea has stayed with me all week.
I know endurance will be essential for my own health journey, but I also think the statement applies to life in general and especially to today’s political climate. Endurance isn’t glamorous, and it isn’t quick, but it’s what gets us through.
As I dug a little deeper into the idea of endurance, I came across a book that caught my attention:
Endure by Alex Hutchinson
Focus: A look at the science behind physical limits, arguing that perception — not just physiology — plays a major role in performance.
Key Concepts:
The brain acts as a “central governor” that regulates how hard we think we can push.
Psychological strategies, like positive self-talk, can help us push past perceived limits, much like the way a smile or frown can shift our mood.
Physiological factors such as heat, fatigue, and fuel use are explored, but the emphasis is often on the mental side of enduring discomfort.
Stories and research from athletes show how much the mind influences the body’s performance.
That second point — the power of mindset — is one of the reasons I’m feeling stronger every day. I’m recognizing that each step I take builds on the last, and that this isn’t a short or easy fix. It’s showing up each day and doing what I can to reach my goals: improving my mobility, increasing my energy, and yes, losing weight and building muscle so my body can do more of what I ask of it.
It all comes back to endurance.
My 2026 word of the year is Endure.
Well, it took me 46 minutes to hit 5,000 steps at Level 2. By the end, I was definitely tired. The good news is tomorrow should be a little easier because my headband finally arrived. No more spending the last half-hour wiping sweat out of my eyes like I’m in a 1980s workout video.
If I wake up tomorrow and don’t feel sore, I’ll stay at Level 2. And honestly, even if I am sore, I might still stick with Level 2 but shorten the workout to twenty minutes. I’ll let my body vote on that in the morning.
The best part is I can feel myself getting stronger every day. I’m looking forward to the moment I can walk up the hill in our cul-de-sac without thinking the only way I’m getting home is by rolling down. Though I’ll admit, come winter, rolling down on a sled doesn’t sound half bad ...
Do other people keep the free personalized address labels, calendars, Christmas cards, and notepads that come from organizations looking for donations? If I don’t plan on giving them something in return, I usually toss them. It just feels wrong to keep these “free” gifts when I’m not supporting the cause. In the last two weeks alone, I’ve received three sets of Christmas cards I could actually send to family and friends. I’m lousy at sending out cards, but I saved those because I thought maybe I could donate them to another organization that could use them.
How do others choose which organizations to support each year? We tend to focus on local groups, and now that we’re in Minnesota, that means keeping our support close to home. We also like to include at least one arts organization in the mix, here it’s SOARarts. And we (especially Joe) like to support neighborhood kids raising money for school, scouts, or sports. Joe will often just hand over a $20 donation, whereas if the kid catches me at the door, I’ll buy whatever they’re selling. Somehow that always ends up costing a lot more than $20, even though the actual organization might only get a small slice of the proceeds.
Is it too early to start decorating for Christmas? Three of our neighbors, one behind us and two on our street, already have their lights up. From the sunroom I can see two of the homes, and at night I am absolutely enthralled. If electricity didn’t cost so much, I’d be perfectly happy with holiday lights all year long. Joe told me today he’d put up anything I wanted. I love lights on the outside of a house, but since he’s already planning to clean the gutters this weekend, I hate to ask him to go up and down the ladder even more.
Do I like my neighbors enough to get up two hours early to meet them for coffee? Starting this Friday, some of the neighborhood women are gathering at a local coffee shop at 7:30 a.m. That means I’d need to get up at 6:30 instead of my usual 8:30 or 9:30. I also need to eat breakfast first so I’m not tempted to order a pastry with the coffee. I would like to get to know the neighborhood women better, so I’m thinking it’s doable. And if I find I need the sleep more, I can always bow out later.
And finally, the Epstein bill to release the files. I’m glad it passed the Senate unanimously. Do I believe we’ll actually see the full findings anytime soon? Probably not - but it’s a start. I admire the survivors who’ve spoken up. It’s never easy to go up against powerful people, no matter their political affiliation.
What has been on your mind today?
Tomorrow I’ll tackle a few more rooms on my cleaning quest. I’ve decided to take my time and do a little each day. Joe and I always clean up after ourselves, and we were just talking about how fortunate we are that we both like things tidy. My brain simply works better when the space around me is clean.
That wasn’t always the case. Growing up, my mom worked and the five of us kids (I’m the oldest, for those who don’t know) were responsible for keeping the house livable. Sometimes we pulled it off, sometimes not so much, especially with so many friends and family members tracking in dirt. I still have a vivid memory of wanting to kill my sister (four years younger) for tracking in mud right after I had mopped the dining room floor. When I was fifteen, I started an after-school job to help with our family finances, so I didn’t have to contribute as much to the household chores. But it always seemed like if I was home for dinner, I was the one doing the dishes along side another sibling.
I’m not someone who goes into other people’s homes and judges their cleaning abilities. But there was one time, when I was seventeen, that left me completely shocked. An older co-worker asked me for a ride home one snowy day in late December of 1973. She usually walked a few miles to work, but because of the snow I told her I’d drive her. When we got to her house, she invited me in to meet her children.
Inside, the house was cold and bare. Garbage was strewn across the kitchen and living room as she led me back to where her girls were. Looking back, I’d guess the oldest was around eight and the younger maybe three. She had left them alone during her eight-hour restaurant shift. The house had almost no furniture, just a few kitchen-style chairs and a bare mattress. The girls were sitting on the mattress wrapped in a blanket against the cold. What I assumed was dog feces lay in piles on the floor, though I never saw a dog. I remember asking her if I could drive back into town and buy them some groceries, but she declined, saying she’d be okay. She told me she’d be able to get fuel oil for the heater in a few days and that they would manage until then.
I cried the entire drive home. I can’t remember if I ever told my mom. If I had, she would have called social services in a heartbeat. So would I today. Back then, I didn’t know anything about social services or what help was available.
Every so often I think back to that visit and feel sad for her circumstances. I also think it had a lasting impact on my own need (and desire) to keep my home tidy.
Maybe that’s why, all these years later, there’s still something comforting about putting a house back in order, one small task at a time. It reminds me that care, whether for a home or a family, happens in the quiet, ordinary moments where we make things a little warmer, a little safer, a little better than they were before.
I also made a run to the airport to pick up Megan, Jeremy, and the kids. After several airport trips over the past two years, I’m finally getting the hang of navigating the Minneapolis–St. Paul airport. The trip there was uneventful. The trip back? Not so much, thanks to a detour, 494 West was closed for construction. Around here, the running joke is that Minnesota has two seasons: winter and road construction. Today certainly proved the point.
Once we got home, Megan dropped me off and picked up Sylvie and Pan. They were absolutely delighted to see her. During their stay this past week, we kept our grandcat, Alto, in our bedroom. Joe moved her food, water, litter box, and scratch pad back to their usual spots, but Alto hasn’t budged. She’s still hunkered down under a bench. She’s acted bulimic forever, throwing up a couple of times a week. But while she was tucked away in our bedroom, she only threw up once - just a hairball. Maybe she wants to keep living up here. Honestly, I relate. I have plenty of days when I’d be perfectly happy to hunker down in our bedroom with a book.
We’re also celebrating some good news: our recent guests, Shelly and Artie (and their dog, Pebbles), found an apartment near Jeremy’s sister in Wisconsin (a little over an hour from us) and they’ll be moving in this Friday. They’ve been staying with Jeremy’s sister since last Sunday, so this is a relief for everyone.
And in the world of headlines, it looks like we may finally see the Epstein files released now that Forty-seven has given the Republicans “permission.” At least, that’s what he wrote in a Truth Social post this evening. Good news.
That’s all the thoughts rattling around in my brain for now. Have an awesome Sunday night. I’m off to hunker down in the bedroom with Alto.
Today I learned a concept that’s completely new to me: food noise.
Since I had never heard the term until today, I did a quick internet search. It seems to have first appeared around 2007 and became much more common starting around 2020.
So what is food noise? In simple terms, it’s persistent and intrusive thoughts about food. As soon as I heard the definition, I recognized it. I’ve experienced food noise many times in my life, usually during stressful moments when thinking about food and planning my next meal felt soothing.
This past week, I’ve had my daughter’s car while Joe has been at work, and on Wednesday I drove up to her house to put her garbage can away. I ended up sitting in her driveway doing the math on MyFitnessPal to see if I could fit a Culver’s deep fried shrimp basket into my day. Technically I could, but only if I ate absolutely nothing else. Even the cocktail sauce pushed me over my nutrition goal.
There’s no rule saying I have to follow my goals perfectly, because there are no bad foods. I can hear Coach Becky saying that an off day now and then is perfectly fine. I reminded myself of that as I sat in the driveway. But as I drove back to Saint Michael, I hemmed and hawed. Should I swing by Culver’s or head home and make a healthier choice that would actually move me toward my goals instead of possibly setting me back?
When I reached the traffic light at 241, I asked myself one more time: straight to Albertville or turn toward home? I chose home. I ate leftover tacos and vegetables, and the Culver’s shrimp faded from my mind.
Well, mostly. I was still thinking about shrimp when we went to Costco on Friday, so we bought the Shrimp Cocktail platter. Not deep fried, same cost as Culver’s, but far more servings. A definite win. And it satisfied the craving.
Since Wednesday, I haven’t once thought about getting in the car to hunt down food. I think the food noise has gone on hiatus. I hope it stays quiet for a while. I will always love food, and I want to believe I can learn to love it in moderation, at least enough to help me reach a healthier weight.
Maybe having a label for those moments when I’m obsessing about food will help. If I can recognize when I’m slipping into food noise, I might be able to pause, name it, and learn to turn down the volume.
Have you ever struggled with food noise? How do you cope when the thoughts won’t let up? I would appreciate any strategies or ideas.
Back when we lived near the Costco in Woodland, California, we could buy 20-pound bags of pinto beans, and Joe would make big batches of refried beans. Whatever we couldn’t eat in a couple of days got portioned out and frozen. Last year for Christmas, his son sent him a variety pack of heirloom beans from Rancho Gordo, and Joe loved cooking his way through all of them. And of course, any time we saw beans on sale, a few extra bags would end up in our pantry “just in case.”
Lately we’ve been on the hunt for a place to buy beans in bulk since our local Costco stores don’t carry them. We learned that some Walmart locations sell large bags, so today we headed to the Maple Grove Walmart. Joe scored a 20-pound bag of pinto beans for $14.00 and a 2-pound bag of black beans for $2.00. We felt like we’d hit the jackpot.
If you’re curious about the health benefits of beans, here’s a great link with more information:
https://www.ranchogordo.com/pages/beans-and-health
While we were already out grocery shopping, we decided to stop into an Aldi. We know plenty of people who swear by their prices and products. We had visited one during our travels last year and didn’t find what we needed, so we wanted to see if the local store was any different. As it turns out, the items we regularly buy weren’t cheaper than what we find at Costco, Cub, or Coborn’s.
When I was planning my retirement, I never pictured myself spending a day hunting for bulk beans and comparing grocery store prices for fun. But here we are. Who knew?
Just stopping in to say hi and goodnight! It has been snowing for most of the day. Joe and I babysat for Oliver today. Oliver and I were fa...
