Crone Cronies - You Can't Buy Happiness, But You Can Live in Canada. 6/26

[sciencelady]

Good morning!

I'll be spending another day at the Latvian Song and Dance Festival - today I go for a big dance show. It's been great to see friends from 50+ years back! Otherwise putzing around - I don't intend on staying late for balls or parties there. I had a good time last night doing a BBQ with friends and going to the play.

Vantreesta, that is quite the long workout! Do you do those online or with DVDs? I sincerely hope that you can find some relief with your feet doing more conservative treatment than surgery. I haven't done any dancing in a long time - watching the Latvian dancers now reminds me of what I did in my teenage years. Eeek on having something large and breakable stored above your head in the kitchen! I'm glad I'm downsizing - my top shelves are pretty much empty now. The WRC is in Roseville a suburb just north of Saint Paul. It's just a 10 minute drive for me. Yes, there are other wildlife centers around this state and animals like wolves get sent to Stacy for care.

Laura, so glad DH finally got some antibiotics - bleeding into your respiratory tract isn't good! I'd like to travel to the Tolkien story filming in New Zealand and Australia!

Paula, I've got the passport card that Canada used to accept - don't know there's a more advanced license for driving that works with passport features - I think MN is still failing on issuing that type of license.

Waves to all!

Anita

[Vantreesta]

Laura, glad your DH got some meds to help. I hope he and your dad are back to normal soon! Yes, it seems like most people want to add an S after the N in Vantreesta. For a while I half-joked about wanting to legally change my name to that. It still absolutely floors me that this podiatrist went immediately to surgery. I get that my issue is more than just hallux limitus but still. He made it sound like orthotics were like the lowly stepchild. It seems like everyone else in the world says surgery as last resort! Okay, that was an overstatement but still. Few people go directly to surgery for this kind of thing. I know there's a lot of bogus stuff on the internet but there is also a lot really helpful stuff. I've spent so much time researching what to do for the peroneal tendonitis since he was zero help with that beyond confirming I was right in my self-diagnosis and trying to find info on elevated fist metatarsals. There is surprisingly little on the latter issue. I never got to see Game of Thrones bc we didn't get the channel. Maybe someday we'll get to watch it.

Paula, no problem, I know it's an easier name! Thanks for the YouTube recommendation. I checked her out last night and watched a couple of her shorts and marked several, including the foot massage ones, to watch later. Thanks for the info on Jasper, I will definitely look it up. My mom and I were alike in a lot of ways but very different in some ways. Like I've never known anyone as extroverted as her and she absolutely loved kids. I'm a complete introvert and need to be alone the majority of the time (except Cyric and, okay, hubby ) and while I don't dislike kids I have never been drawn to them or they to me. My pancakes use pumpkin puree. Yes, I need a small stepstool (my grandpa made them for us when we were little) to reach the towels on the top shelf of the linen closet. Ugh, the laying still makes my legs want to spaz just thinking about it! Do you take anything for your RLS? Mine is so much better when I'm active but sometimes I overdo it (looking at you, 12 mile hike!) and then it's worse. I've actually been wearing a plantar fasciitis boot to bed some nights bc I realized the foot with the tendonitis is the one that gets it the worst and I pretty much move that foot back and forth all night (as far as I know). So I thought maybe trying to keep it more still at night would help in recovery.

Anita, sounds like you're really enjoying the festival. Glad the weather is decent for it! I think Shakespeare in the park sounds fun! The problem for me with doing short workouts is I end up stringing so many together that before I know it I've been in my gym for a couple hours! So much of what I do anymore seems to be PT and p/rehab stuff and a lot of those are on YouTube. I keep trying to ignore all the threads on YT workouts bc I have over 1000 workouts on DVD and VHS that I miss doing! I'm trying to mostly use YT for p/rehab and for things I don't have DVDs for like ropes and elliptical and rowing, stuff like that. Every time we go to a Ren Fest (although surprisingly there weren't any dancers at the Colorado fest) I come home wanting to start up my bellydancing again. No worries, those big bowls overhead are Tupperware so no glass to crash down on me! Ahh, we got my Trailblazer in Roseville back in 2010 (still miss her but I do love my 4Runner!). I don't think I've been back there since. That's nice that it's a short drive for you. Hubby and I would be interested in volunteering at the wolf center if we lived near Stacy.


I'm like 99% sure the enhanced license will get you into Canada. There were two different options for new licenses and we chose the enhanced for that reason. Of course, by the time we are able to go things may have changed again!

Bummed with myself bc yesterday was the 1st day of the new month and I never got in a workout. I ran errands in the morning and cleaned bathrooms in the afternoon. Yuck on both!

[Vantreesta]

Pumpkin Oatmeal Pancakes

Print
Author: Flying on Jess Fuel
Recipe type: Breakfast
Cuisine: Pancakes
Serves: 4-6
Ingredients

3 eggs
1 cup pumpkin puree when I make multiple batches, if I'm a little short on pumpkin I top off the cup with unsweetened applesauce and works fine
1½ cups milk
½ cup brown sugar I originally cut this in half and then I actually switched to 2 1/2 Tbsp honey and added 1/8 tsp baking soda per another website
1 tbsp vanilla extract I cut this in half, mainly bc of how expensive vanilla is
1 cup quick oats I use old fashioned oats and they work fine too
1 cup whole wheat flour
1½ tbsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
¼ tsp ground ginger
¼ tsp ground cloves
Pinch nutmeg
I also add 1/4 tsp each of ground allspice and ground cardamom
I also add 2 Tbsp chia seeds and 2 Tbsp sunflower kernels

Instructions

In a large bowl, beat together eggs, pumpkin, milk, brown sugar and vanilla until smooth. Add remaining ingredients and mix until no lumps remain.
Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Melt a pat of butter in the pan, then pour a small ladle-full of batter into pan. Cook until edges are browned, about 2-3 minutes, then flip pancake and cook until cooked through, about another 2-3 minutes.
Repeat with remaining batter.
Serve topped with butter and lots of pure maple syrup!

I use 1/3 cup of batter and get 13 pancakes per recipe. I top with Greek yogurt and 1 cup of berries and have an egg with it and it holds me for a long time, which is big since I get hungry often!

https://www.jessfuel.com/2015/10/23/...2494806_380679

[Laura S.]

Today has been a lazy day (yay!) with a husband who isn't feeling great, but he does seem SO MUCH BETTER! Talked to Dad this morning and although he sounded horrible, he said that he felt good after the past few days. So it looks like my family is on the mend. (Yay!) I made some cards and loaded the dishwasher and started it and have watched TV and petted Polly. It's been a good day.

Vantreesta - I still need to get my enhanced driver's license. We went and DH forgot to tell me about the two forms of ID. So I made an appointment for the next year and cancelled it due to the pandemic. I've forgotten about it since then, but DH told me that it's becoming "a thing" again and so I need to get it back onto my radar screen.

Anita - When I was watching the Lord of the Rings movies, once in awhile I would stop watching the movie action and say to myself, "We need to go to New Zealand!!" It's still on my travel bucket list. It sounds like the dance festival has been a lot of fun for you. Hope today was as well.

Paula - I keep trying to figure out a vacation we can take that DH could handle. I've considered taking off on my own, but I think he would feel really bad about it. And I don't need anything extravagant righ t now. I just want to get away from home.

[Paula]

Good evening. Workout this morning was Pahla B Body Shaping Day 25 Core followed by Travis Eliot Yin Yoga Super Spine.

This was a stay around the house and get stuff done. I baked two loaves of banana bread, did some cleaning and some gardening and the day melted away.

Anita, glad you're having such a good time with the festival! Multiple days of song and dance. I think if you have the passport card it's still good to get into Canada and maybe Mexico. I just have the enhanced Drivers License, and hopefully my renewed passport will arrive before I want to go anywhere. If the enhanced Drivers License is good enough to get into Canada we're good because we're not thinking of anywhere else at this point.

Vantreestra, see I can write your name without making a mistake! I think we're alike in many ways. I wouldn't call myself an extreme introvert but my alone time is important to me. I feel the same about kids - I love other peoples children, never wanted to have them myself. I've been fine with just DH and a dog. We love dogs, we don't have one at the moment but talk about getting one all the time. We do like to go at the drop of a hat so having a dog makes that more difficult. Thanks for the pumpkin pancake recipe. When you make multiple batches do you make the pancakes and freeze them or can you keep the batter in the refridgerator? RLS runs in my family. Mine is funny, I'll be sleeping deeply and then get jerked awake when my legs just start twitching. It sort of goes in a wave and after my legs jerk my upper body will follow. Mine is better if I keep active too. I used to do some gentle yin yoga before bed, it helped me sleep better and helped my RLS too, don't know why I stopped as I write this I think I should start that up again. Do you have a home gym, sounded as though you had some gym equipment at home - my brother has a home gym and I'm envious. I live in a two bedroom townhouse and the second bedroom is our guest room, my quilting room, and my exercise room - the "everything" room. I have some exercise DVD's (not nearly as many as you) but mostly workout with YouTube these days.

Laura, glad you DH and your Dad are beginning to feel better. I am one of the few who never got into Game of Thrones. I read the first book and had a hard time getting into it and then the only character I liked got beheaded and I gave up on it. Are you interested in a day trip or an overnighter? When I visit my family there, we usually do something, we've gone to the Raleigh Art Museum many times (my Mom loved it), the tiger rescue facility, the Duke gardens, last year we went to Army Airborne & Special Operations Museum in Fayetteville, my Dad and brother were airborne, but it's an interesting museum regardless. For overnighters we did a trip to Asheville to see the Biltmore, the Blueridge Parkway and we drove down to Charleston once too. I'm trying to remember some of the other things we've done that might make an easy short trip for you and your DH and/or your folks.