smash-o-slam day. Ouch. Another box checked

I didn't want to get up this morning. I got spoiled by my 4 day weekend. Oh well

Easter was nice and quiet which made it nice and relaxing. It's just my normal week this week. Nothing really exciting planned.

After staying the same last week, I went back up on the scales this week. I know what to do and I need to do it! I've allowed a little to much junk food the last couple weeks and not enough working out. I need more fruits and veggies. I was out yesterday and got some. I didn't care where they came from. So yes I didn't "Buy Canadian". I know my strawberries are from the USA and don't care. I support farmers everywhere. That includes my oranges that travelled a long way to get here - they came from Egypt.

My last oranges said they came from Israel

I didn't know they grew their either. I was going for the best priced ones, not necessarily where they were from. Though Egypt grows them big.

According to the leading countries that produce oranges, Egypt is 5th with the US in 6th.

The top 4 are Brazil, China, European Union, and Mexico

Interesting facts on oranges. I guess we shall see how they go up in price in the U.S. If immigrants/migrants get deported, and often they are the ones picking the oranges, farmers won't be able to keep up. Import from other countries and our prices go up with tariffs. We need someone sane and intelligent leading this country.

Marla, sorry to hear about your sister. Her condition sounds painful. I wonder if the stress of her daughter's brain tumor contributed to her acquiring this condition? You may have told me something before but my memory is not great these days. I really think this apnea situation is taking its toll on my alertness. I'm in a fog some days.

I went to the YMCA this morning and did aquafit class. I visited Sarah at the nursing home. It makes me sad to see how her cognitive skills have declined.

My new bike rack with a ramp is suppose to arrive tomorrow. Russ will help me assemble and put on my car. Now I will have a ramp to push my bike up onto the rack. My bike is heavy and is hard for me to put on and take off alone. Becky, sister, and I are going to ride on Sunday again. It may be 65 degrees!

Tomorrow I take my car to get the snow tires off for the summer and Fall. On to the next season!

It will be interesting to see what happens after our election on Monday. I was last on Facebook Wednesday. There is so much hatred spewing between the two leaders Carney (Liberal) and Poilievre (Conservative) that I posted I was staying off until after the election. Trump also needs to stop his "51st state" thing. I could go on a rant about that, but I won't. Lets just say he needs a history lesson (or a few).

Here are my veggie rocks.

Cheeto is an idiot. And a facist. I mostly avoid politics because no one is going to change their opinion, but he is not a Republican and it horrifies me that he puts himself as one

Marla, years ago Trump called himself a democrat and was "friends" with the Clintons. Somehow he now calls himself a Christian (NOT), and endeared himself to the Tea Party turned Christian Nationalists. Several years ago during his first presidency, Russ and I listened to a pastor on the radio admit that the very conservative portion of the Republican party struck a deal with Trump. They would get him the votes if he pushed their platform issues (i.e., reverse Roe, prayer in the schools, traditional family values brought back, eliminate rights for LGBTQ, etc.). This pastor admitted he should never have been a apart of the deal and had huge regrets. He stated "we made a deal with the devil". It is all so scary!

Angela, interesting how Canada works. Do you like your political system? In my opinion, ours is broken and has been for a long time. Republican and Democratic parties are focused on being in power and staying there. They begin campaigning for the next election right after they are voted in. They want more and more money each year to run their campaigns and we have to listen to them for 4 years! I like the way Great Britain does it. I think they can only campaign beginning 3 months prior to the election, and each candidate is given an amount of money to spend and that's it. Our gov't is controlled by corporations, the top 1% of wealthy people so special interests of these groups are the focus.

All of us regular folks keep plodding along!

My new bike rack with the ramp for getting my bike on and off by myself arrived. Russ put it on my car today and I practiced getting my bike on and off. I am going to like it. I will be able to go off by myself if I am not riding with my sister or a friend.

I have sourdough proofing in my new bread proofing box. I have the temp set at 81 degrees and am already seeing some bubbles in the dough. I added Asiago cheese and Craisins. I love sharp cheese with something sweet. It will make great toast.

Here is a great tip that a friend gave me if you like avocado. I love avocado toast but avocados are either too ripe or not ripe enough. Too expensive to waste and throw out if they sit too long. She told me to scoop out avocado into a bowl. I used 3 this morning for this. Mash to the texture you like, use a scoop and scoop the avocado onto cookie sheet on parchment paper. I ended up with 10 scoops on my sheet using 3 avocados. Put in freezer until hard, then put in zip loc. Store in freezer and pull out one scoop or whatever you plan to use, at a time. I need to go check on mine and put in the zip loc now. This way I can have avocado available when I want it. I'll let you know what I think of the taste.

Today my sister and I rode our ebikes for the second time this Spring. According to my odometer, I rode 18 miles. Becky's odometer showed a few more miles than mine and she flatly said that mine is wrong and hers is right. Cracks me up! My sisters always think they are right and their phones, bike, etc. are better than what I have. Why is there a competition? I'm not competing. Beautiful, sunny, cool day. So little traffic and people around so it was pleasant. Tourist season will be in full swing in 6-8 weeks.

Ang, I hope you can get your desk fixed the way you want it. I like Ikea but their stuff can be tedious to put together and take apart. Good luck!

I am sore and tired so am going to bed. I will be up many times in the night to use the bathroom since I am increasing my fluid intake. I have begun an Intermittent Fasting plan of 16/8. Eat in an 8 hour window and fast for 16 hours. I can have clear liquids (tea, water) and coffee without cream, honey, etc. added when fasting. Luckily the majority of the fasting hours are over night. This is suppose to help burn off visceral fat/belly fat, and I need that!

Happy Monday!

What kind of Lego structures do you build, Angela? Great way to maintain attention and focus, cognitive thinking skills, etc.

I planted my Broccolini, Dill, Basil and Zinneas in my seed starter. We will see what grows and can be transplanted. I will hopefully plant them in pots and garden in 6 weeks.

Beautiful day, sun, and up to 70! Russ is out planting seedlings and I am on my way to volunteer at Power Book Bags this afternoon.

Good luck with your election, Angela!

How are you Marla?

hanging around!

I was hoping for a better weekend, but - ah well. I'm kicking and mostly healthy. Gotta focus on that.

How did your bread turn out? It sounds yummy. I haven't made anything since the rolls a couple of weeks ago.

It is so humid and warm today. Storms moving in. I think we will be on the edge of the system. I think MN may get it from the look of the map.

Here's to another week.

A little surprised at the election results. The liberals won with a minority government, but it was really close to a majority. Both leaders of the Conservative party and the leader of the NDP lost their own seats. The leader of the NDP has stepped down. The leader of the Conservatives hasn't.

The botanicals LEGO sets are all flowers. Some are beautiful.

I did a couple "oops" this morning, and it's only 8:35! The first is that I overslept. I had no time to make my lunch so I told myself to grab my bank card. (I don't carry it with me during the week to curb my unnecessary overspending.) I didn't. I have $2.20 in my wallet. You sadly can't buy much with that little!

On an exciting note, tonight I can get hugs from all 3 of my nephews! My oldest nephew gets from home from college today! He has to bend down to hug his Auntie. He's 18 and full foot taller then me.

I realized something great about Facebook. The little "X" is great to hide all the posts about the election. Though it's getting highly annoying that 98% of what I see is adds and only 2% are my friends.

My oldest nephew is home from college!!! I will get to see him later tonight for a late birthday celebration of some DQ ice cream cake. I love the centre of those cakes!

Keep us updated on the 16:8 eating ratio and how it works for me. I am not sure I could do it.

I went out for a mid morning breakfast with my friend Mary. She has a cottage on a lake up here but is from Cincinnati. We had a nice visit. I had to adjust my fasting window. Since I began eating at 9:30 am I had to stop eating by 5:30 pm. I will have some herbal tea this evening to fill my stomach and drink more fluids. I feel like I'm constantly having to find a bathroom.

Russ and I went to Traverse City to look at garage doors this afternoon. We found two that we like and have to make a decision. Our garage has two smaller doors rather than one big door. We picked up more paint swatches at the paint store, then went to Menards to get some rabbit fencing to keep them from eating my perennials. They love to munch them before I enjoy the blooms. I will work on fencing them off Friday or Saturday. Tomorrow is suppose to be cold and rainy.

DQ sounds wonderful right now, LOL! Russ and I were remembering how banana splits tasted as a kid.

This week has flown by!