Back to the Water

It's a Tuesday, and the first of my three days of swimming instead of the treadmill. I don't think I'd be super happy with either activity being a six-day-a-week requirement, but three days and three days works really well for me. I don't get bored. Of course, I never truly get bored. I listen to Sirius radio's "Turbo" while on the treadmill (good music is always a help when doing boring things) and I listen to my latest audio book while doing my laps in the pool. I don't particularly like repetitive actions, and exercise is exactly that. So, I make it work for me by joining it with audio. 

I was quite disappointed to discover that Target no longer 
carried the Skull Candy brand of earbuds. I've used them for 
years and they're dependable and inexpensive. I bought 
the brand they're currently carrying, but I also ordered a set 
of Skull Candy buds from Amazon since I had a cart in progress. 

I did buy a new set of headphones yesterday at Target. Unfortunately they no longer carry the Skull Candy brand, but I got what they had that was inexpensive and added a set of Skull Candy to my current Amazon shopping cart. I'll be ready when this set of earbuds dies - I'll have one set in reserve. There's nothing much more boring than being on the treadmill without tunes. LOL Swimming without an audio book is like crickets - I have no patience for it. 

Calendula cream was recommended by my Radiologist 
when I was undergoing cancer treatments. I've found 
that it works super well on anything requiring a bit of 
first aid, and my hands which react very poorly to 
the chlorine in the swimming pool are much happier 
when I regularly put the cream on. So, I ordered some 
more because I'm running low. 

I've found that my Calendula Cream which I was given to assist with any burns from the radiation treatment works splendidly on my chlorine-based skin issues. I refuse to give up my swimming - it's an essential part of my weekly exercise regime. But I'm very sensitive to chlorine, and my right hand has two areas where the skin dries up and breaks open if I don't keep things moisturized. Standard hand lotions or creams don't work to heal, but my Calendula cream has been working very well indeed, and I'll keep on using it for as long as necessary. So I guess there were some good things to come out of my cancer treatments, the discovery of Calendula cream being a major benefit. 

Byerly's always has excellent sushi available. It's made 
fresh daily and they sell a lot of it. On their Wednesdays, 
when they have $3 off all sushi, they bring in two extra 
workers to make the sushi - they go through that much! 
It's always fresh, though, and I always enjoy it as a 
treat. 

DH and I treated ourselves to sushi for dinner last night. Although they didn't have the hot honey version I was hoping they would have, they still had a nice variety of rolls to choose between. We both ended up with very delicious rolls for a nice meal. I generally eat sushi fairly often - usually at least once a week, sometimes more. I've been known to pop back to the store in the afternoon just to check if my hot honey version has been made and is available for purchase. Yes, I like it that much. Of course, since the store is only a mile from my house, it's not a major trip either - LOL. 

I was hoping they had their newest roll available when I 
got there after work last night. The Mike's Hot Honey roll is 
awesome and so VERY tasty. They didn't have any left, 
but I still found a nice dinner in the choices that they had. 

I'm off to the pool. Have an excellent Tuesday and I'll be back tomorrow. Slava Ukraini. 

After Effects

Sometimes I wonder "Why do I live up here?" Usually those times come when I'm on the handle end of a snow shovel or sweltering in a July heat wave. But there are reasons, and yesterday Mother Nature showed me one reason why.

This is a neighbor's house, not mine, but the snowpile at
the end of the driveway is very similar. I really liked
the snow coming over the eaves of the driveway.
DH would have pulled that snow down by now. 

It was a stunning day. I admit that I awakened to 2"-3" of new snow added to the 6"-8" we had received the night before, so my day started out with more than a half hour of intense snow shoveling, but when I got to the pool, I was one of the few who braved the roads and I had a lane to myself for the full hour of my swim. What a treat! The day got even better from there because we had one of those rare 'day after the storm' days that remind us of how beautiful it can be up here.

Looking through the tree that stands at the end of
my own driveway, you see hints of that bright blue
sky and my snow-covered front yard. 

Moving toward the house, this was my view of my front yard.
The central tree is my silver maple. I love the way the snow
perched on the branches. 

To the west of my driveway are these larger evergreens that
mark the boundary of my neighbor's property. With the snow
on their branches, it looks like a perfect holiday card. So pretty! 

It was a stunning day - a clear blue sky with crisp, cold temperatures in the upper teens F (around -7C for my Celsius friends). The sun was shining like crazy causing a serious melt even though the temps were way below freezing. It was so beautiful. Today will probably be icy as I drive to the gym, so I'll need to be cautious, but it was absolutely worth it!

Wednesday's are $6 sushi days and I often check it out. They
don't have the crunchy rolls on sale, so I nabbed one when I
saw it. So good! 

I was so happy looking at the beauty that I treated myself to sushi for lunch. A crispy roll - very yummy - and their wasabi is hot, Hot, HOT! Awesome and the perfect lunch.

Every good thing has to have a reverse also. This is my fly
in the ointment. 

But there's a fly in every ointment, right? Yesterday, apparently one of my customers at the shop complained that I was "weird". Well, yes - I admit that I am a bit weird. That's why I had the guts to open a store. It's why I am a designer and an artist. It's why I have had a fabulous husband for many years. I'm not boring, that's for sure! When my Assistant Manager posted that on FB, several other customers jumped to my defense (thanks, all). But I was a bit surprised by the fact that being called weird actually bothered me a little. Is my thick skin suddenly getting thinner?

Well ... yes. I am weird. But I think that's a very good thing
when it gets down to it. I don't follow pipers very well, and
I make my own pathway through life. 

Oh well - maybe I'll work out this stupid angst on the elliptical this morning. It's been a week since I was on the machines and I know they'll kick me into the next county - LOL. Here's hoping you have a great Thursday. I know that I will.

The Weekend Awaits

My DH and I had a delightful Valentine's Day but we want to extend things into the weekend when we actually have a day off to spend together. So after dinner tonight we are planning to settle down and watch Skyfall and catch up on the episode of Face Off that we missed because I was busy watching the Westminster Dog Show. Then, on Sunday, instead of working on the remodeling effort at the small house, DH is talking about going to the Conservatory to take lots of pretty pictures and then after returning home, I'll teach him how to download his photos onto his computer.

Every year the Conservatory does a fabulous
Christmas show featuring poinsettias in the promenade.

The Conservatory lighted for a rare night occasion.

He's a bit of a Luddite when it comes to his computer and his camera, but he really wants to get going on some artwork. So I finally managed to pound some basics through his head about searching for images and very basic Photoshop rendering. He's spent a happy two weeks or so searching photos with all sorts of images. He's also finally picked up the pocket digital camera that I gave him several years ago and has started using it. He wants a really nice SLR style but I told him that he had to learn how to use the point-and-shoot first before upgrading so he has buckled down and started working with the smaller camera. I'm delighted - he's broadening his horizons.

DH is getting used to his point-and-shoot digital camera. It's a slow
process, but he's getting there slowly but surely.

So it looks like both of us will be working on drawing and illustrations over the next few weeks while I work on illustrating CB's Big Bang story and he works on his own images. We usually are both happy when we are working on artwork so I'm hoping we'll have some days of smooth sailing ahead of us for a while.

And Lent started on Ash Wednesday this week. Anyone who knows me knows that I am NOT a follower of Catholicism, or indeed of any organized religion, but there is something that I love about Lent. My DH, as a fallen-away Catholic, likes to eat fish on Fridays during Lent. I adore fish, and I don't really get enough of it. So for me it is a treat to have fish at least once a week. I see sushi and sashimi in my future, McDonald's fish fillet sandwiches (my absolute favorite things at McDonald's) and maybe some grilled salmon down the line. Oh happy day....