Thankful

I'm obviously very thankful for this little critter. He's lounging in front of the gas logs.

This time of year, my thoughts, like many others’, turn to the things that I’m thankful for. I could give you a list of what I’m thankful for. But I thought instead I would tell you a story about a little adventure Larry and I had yesterday.

We went to Lynchburg to do some shopping and decided to eat lunch at a Japanese restaurant we haven’t tried before.

We’ve both had Japanese food before, and Larry loves sushi, but compared to what we were served and the way we were served Sunday, we got more of the “real” food we were looking for.

As we walked through the dining room towards our seat, I saw a lot of people using chopsticks and eating dishes I didn’t recognize.

Then the host left us with menus plus a paper sushi menu with pencils.

What were we supposed to do with these?

The waiter, a very nice young man who looked like he probably attended one of the local colleges, appeared to take our drink orders. I decided to be straight-forward.

“We’ve never been here before,” I said. “What do we do with these little menus?”

The waiter said we would order any sushi by filling out the paper menu. Everything else would be ordered off the other menu.

So Larry and I looked over the menus. We didn’t recognize a lot of the dishes. We laughed at our own confusion. Then I remembered I had my phone. I Googled a few things on the menu to find out what they were. For example, I learned that sashimi is raw meat or fish thinly sliced.

Larry wanted sushi with salmon, and I wanted a vegetarian roll with cream cheese, avocado, and cucumber. We filled out our papers. Then we decided on the main dishes: teriyaki steak and shrimp for Larry, vegetable tempura for me.

The service was so nice. We got our sushi and rolls, then onion soup, which I had never had but found delicious. A green salad followed with a dressing that tasted good even though we didn’t know what kind it was.

When the main meal came, it was on a tray, with a bamboo mat covering the bottom. It was a multitude of food.

I loved the dishes—the small ones for the sauces, the soup spoon perfectly shaped, the pretty plates.

No, I didn’t get any photos. I was concentrating on the food and atmosphere, but now I wish I had snapped a few.

I wanted to try the chopsticks and took them out of the wrapper. I couldn’t figure out at first that I was supposed to pull them apart (don’t laugh). I fiddled with them a little, but I couldn’t seem to get the hang of it.

Larry brought his chopsticks home and practiced this afternoon. I think he wants to go back soon for more food.

So why is this something to be particularly thankful for? I spent time with my husband, we ate good food, and we had fun experiencing something new. We might have been a bit embarrassed by our lack of knowledge, but we just joked about it and had a good time.

These little adventures—these moments of life—they mean so much to me nowadays. I no longer wait for the perfect time to have the perfect day. Any day can be made an adventure, don’t you think?

Blessings to all of you, and if you celebrate Thanksgiving, have a wonderful holiday!

Note: This week, instead of posting on Thursday, I’ll post on Friday.

Nearing the end of the growing season

The raised bed garden on Aug. 23, 2014.

The harvest from our raised bed garden is nearing its end. We’re still getting a few cucumbers, but other plants have died, wilted, or been pulled up.

It was a season of adventure and disappointment. We didn’t get the tomatoes we wanted—blight took most of them. And we didn’t get any broccoli—green worms got those plants.

But we got plenty of two types of lettuce, lots of cucumbers, peppers, and onions. We felt the pleasure of working soil. We enjoyed the excitement of watching something grow from seeds—watching that process will never get old.

And we learned a lot.

*Decide early on if you’re going to use pesticides or go organic.

*Don’t plant too much, too close together.

*You will have to thin some plants.

*If you buy plants, buy early and buy the best looking ones you can find.

*Get a good gardening book.

Seedlings in April 2014.

Raised bed garden on May 10, 2014.

The addition of tomatoes on May 19, 2014.

Raised bed garden on June 15, 2014.

This fall, we’ll be working on the soil in the bed. The topsoil that we bought for it was supposed to be great for planting. But we found that it contained a lot of clods of dirt difficult to break up. And the soil got too hard once it dried.

Larry has already worked up one section with materials including peat moss and perlite. We’ll do the rest this fall and add some composting type materials to it, too.

And I plan to learn more about organic gardening and have supplies on hand early next year.

All in all, it’s been a rewarding experience. And like all farmers, we hope for a better crop next year.

If you have a garden, how did yours do this year?

In the battle against fatigue: Diet

I’ve written lately about my battle with fatigue: a sometimes overwhelming tiredness that I feel that lends itself to lack of motivation and procrastination.

Besides tiredness, I have also been experiencing the following on a regular basis:

*bouts of diarrhea

*terrible heartburn, especially when I eat bread, chicken, or potatoes

*bloating

*skin irritations

As I said in Friday’s post, my doctor and I discussed my problems with fatigue, and one of the things he suggested was to change the timing of my depression medication.

Another thing we discussed was my diet. I asked him how much validity he put in the idea that one’s diet could affect one’s mental health.

He said he had patients who had changed their diets—mostly giving up wheat and other sources of gluten—who had experienced positive results. In conjunction with medication and/or other treatments, he believed certain changes in diet might help.

I don’t believe in throwing out whole categories of food unless a person has real medical issues. For example, according to the website of the National Institutes of Health,  people who have celiac disease cannot consume gluten because they have an immunereaction to gluten, a protein in wheat, barley and rye.

I don’t have celiac disease. And I don’t have symptoms that are anywhere nearly as bad as those with celiac disease.

But I’ve wondered if I may be sensitive to gluten.

Perhaps it’s really a matter of too many simple carbohydrates. Maybe it’s a problem with wheat.

I already know that milk irritates my digestive system. Cheese and Greek yogurt don’t. I’m allergic to tree nuts.

I decided to try eliminating, as much as I can, gluten from my diet for a week or two to see how I react. It won’t hurt. If I feel better, then I can add back some foods gradually and get a clearer idea of whether or not food is affecting how I feel.

I had no gluten (that I know of) Sunday. For breakfast, I had a cup of Greek yogurt.

For lunch, we ate at our favorite Mexican restaurant. I had beef fajitas and ate just the meat and vegetables and a little of the beans. I didn’t eat the tortillas.

For dinner, I had the salad pictured above: Romaine lettuce, carrots, red kidney beans, apples, and pickled beets. After I took the photo, I added cheddar cheese and some tuna salad that Larry had made. I also added balsamic vinaigrette dressing after making sure it didn’t contain wheat.

No heartburn. No digestive issues. It’s too early to tell about the tiredness.

I am motivated to try this. Saturday was a bad day for me digestively. I knew what had caused at least of the problem: I had eaten some doughnuts.

As I lay down to rest, I decided that I’d had enough of feeling so bad. I needed to find out how to help myself.

Right now my plan is to stay away from gluten and to follow the new medication timing.

Have you ever found that a certain food, or group of foods, negatively affect how you feel?

Another way of seeing

“In all affairs it's a healthy thing now and then to hang a question mark on the things you have long taken for granted.”

― Bertrand Russell

This is a small story about a small change in perspective.

It was a Tuesday night, and I had worked late. After work, Larry and I went to a little diner in town for supper.

This is the kind of diner that still offers service to people who drive up and wait in their cars for the server to come outside and take their order.

It serves food like hot dogs, hamburgers, Westerns, chuck wagons, fried bologna sandwiches and breakfast all day.

Seating inside is limited: there are five booths and a counter with stools lined up in front of it. On the counter are napkin holders and condiments and a covered cake plate with the cake of the day inside.

When one particular server works, everyone finds out what I ordered, just as I find out what they ordered because she calls out the food from her written ticket as she moves towards the kitchen behind the counter: “Two hots and a fry.” Or “Egg plate over medium with toast.”

Larry and I like eating there.

On this particular Tuesday night, I ordered two hot dogs (I’m eating meat again for now) and Larry ordered a country ham plate.

I saw another couple come in and sit at the counter, but I didn’t take note of what they ordered. I did notice her cool tennis shoes with gold sequins on them. Maybe not something I could necessarily pull off, but they looked good on her.

Then I heard them ordering something else.

“We saw you carrying one by and thought that looked good,” the woman said. “We’ll eat it here.”

A few minutes later, the server brought her and her companion a takeout bag along with two unwrapped hot dogs topped with chili.

“Oh, this is so good,” she said. “We’ve been looking for good hot dogs.”

“Well, now you know where to find them,” the server said. “Where are y’all from?”

“Atlanta. He’s working up here,” she said, pointing to the man.

A moment later, the woman looked up and said, “This is amazing.”

Amazing? Really? I thought about the hot dogs I’d just eaten. Mustard, onions, relish. The mustard tasted like it had horseradish in it. The onions tasted fresh and hot.

I had eaten them automatically, without much appreciation. I was tired and hungry and just wanted to get the meal over with and go home.

But those hot dogs had been good, I thought. Delicious, in fact. So tasty and satisfying after a long day.

Yes, they were amazing.

Has your perspective changed lately about something you’ve been taking for granted?

Sometimes you need comfort food and good company

We didn’t talk much on the ride down the highway to Gretna, a town about 12 miles south of Altavista.

Earlier that day, we had heard from the vet’s office: Sam’s ashes had been returned from the pet crematory. So we had picked up the small, cedar box, gone home and sat together for a while.

We knew we needed to get out of the house, so Larry suggested we go for an early dinner at C & E’s Restaurant.

This restaurant serves Southern, country cooking and includes a buffet. Mashed potatoes with butter, macaroni and cheese, pinto beans, stewed tomatoes, green beans, fried chicken, baked chicken, cornbread—comfort food.

I figured Larry needed comfort food. And I did, too.

So we drove to Gretna and entered the restaurant, quiet before the dinner rush. Soon we had our plates piled with the good food.

A side note: I was raised in the South and in the country, just one county north of where Larry was raised. But there’s a dish that I had never heard of until I met Larry and learned about C & E’s: pig’s feet.

Larry grew up eating pig’s feet occasionally, and he loves them. The only place we know of that serves them is C & E’s, on Fridays.

So last Friday, Larry got his bowl of pig’s feet. He put vinegar on them.

As we started eating, the man who had seated us returned to the table.

“I noticed that you were eating pig’s feet,” he said to Larry. “Have you ever tried them deep fried?”

Larry hadn’t, so the man described how good they were breaded, then deep fried for a few minutes. It gave them a different taste, he said.

“Would you like me to fry you up some?” he asked.

Larry said sure, so the man went back to the kitchen. A few minutes later he returned with a basket of the fried pig’s feet.

Larry thought they were delicious. The man seemed so pleased with Larry’s review and so interested in food, I had to ask him about it.

“It sounds like you enjoy food. Do you love to cook?”

“Well, it’s one of my loves,” he said, laughing.

We chatted for a few minutes. We learned that his family runs the restaurant. He’s an electronics engineer by trade, he said, and has a business in Atlanta, but when he comes home to Virginia, he puts on an apron and helps out at the restaurant.

He talked about fixing turkeys for takeout for Thanksgiving and a little about the process he goes through to get them ready for cooking. He talked about the taste of deep fried turkeys, something Larry and I have never tried.

We had a nice visit with him. And good food.

As Larry and I left the restaurant, we were both smiling.

We had eaten our comfort food. And we had enjoyed good company.

What’s your favorite comfort food dish?

5 facts and planning for a break

As you probably know if you are on Blogger, Google Reader is going to disappear on July 1, and I’ve heard that the Blogger reading list may go away, too.

So I’ve joined BlogLovin as a back-up. Please join me by clicking on the BlogLovin’ icon down on the right side of the page, right under the Facebook icon. Thank you!

I’m joining Nancy at A Rural Journal for Random 5 Friday. I didn’t do it last week, and I missed it!

If you’d like to join in, link up at A Rural Journal.

Dock at Leesville Lake.

One

When I first moved back to Virginia after grad school, I was an adjunct English instructor at some local colleges.

Recently, via Facebook, one of my former students from the community college where I taught got in touch with me. He wrote in part, “I can’t tell you how many times I’ve thought of your class or enjoyed your influence over the last 20 years or so. I wanted to let you know that your encouragement meant a great deal to me then and that I did in fact achieve a number of my educational and life goals afterwards.”

He made my day.

Have you ever received an encouraging message just when you needed one?

Two

I am afraid of snakes. All snakes. Deathly afraid. I think I have a definite phobia.

Larry saw the first snake of the season this week, a long black snake. He said it was headed away from our yard, across the street.

I didn’t even like hearing that he had seen one. He reminded me that they are all around us. I know that. But I don’t like to think about it.

Are you afraid of snakes?

Three

Lately, I have been eating a little seafood and a bit of chicken. I thought that perhaps my body was missing some vitamins and minerals and that eating some fish might help my foot heal.

I have especially enjoyed eating salmon. I ate a piece on my birthday last week that melted in my mouth.

I am not completely comfortable with what I’m doing. I became a vegetarian because of my beliefs about animals.

I’m not ready to decide to keep eating seafood and poultry permanently. But for now I am mostly vegetarian, not completely.

I’m reading and pondering, taking it a step at a time.

Four

I go back to my orthopedic doctor about my fractured foot on June 14. I hope I can get rid of the boot for good. It is heavy and awkward. And I’ve had pain in my opposite hip, knee and foot, from too much pressure on them, I think.

I may have to wear a fracture shoe for a little while.

And then I’m so ready to wear two matching shoes and to take a long walk.

Five

I’m allergic to tree nuts. Today I attended a business luncheon. On the buffet were croissants stuffed with what I thought was tuna salad. When I picked it one to eat it, I realized it was chicken salad when I saw the large walnuts in it. I gave it away to a tablemate.

Back at the office in the afternoon, I was offered a chocolate chip cookie one of my co-workers had bought and left for the rest of us. I nibbled at the edges. Then my boss, who was also eating one, said, “Tina, I think this has nuts in it.” We looked closely and saw walnuts. So I gave the cookie to him.

Not a good food day, but at least I didn’t eat any of the nuts.

Are you allergic to any foods?

I’ve decided to take next week off from blogging. I will be very busy at work with my boss out of town.

And I am feeling the need for some downtime with the blog writing. I need some rejuvenation.

I will be reading your blogs as much as I can. And I’ll be back writing on Monday, June 17.

Hopefully, I’ll be inspired during my time off and come back full of ideas.

I’ll miss you and your comments! Take care, dear readers, until next time.

What’s going on in my life: 5 facts

If you’re a blogger, do you ever feel like you’ve got some things you’d like to share, but you’re not sure it would take up a whole post?

Do you ever have a snippet of information you’d like to explore, but you’re not sure where it will go?

That’s me today as I link up with Nancy’s A Rural Journal for Random 5 Friday.

Here are five facts about me and my week. I may expand on facts two through five in later posts.

One

I got out into the yard on Sunday to capture some spring in photos. It felt good, even though I had to be careful on the uneven ground.

Our backyard

Azaleas



Azalea bloom



White blooming bush (I don't know its name. Do you?)



Close-up of white blooms



My trusty boot went along for the walk



Two

The depression that I struggled with in January and February has gotten a lot better. The medication change my psychiatrist made seems to have helped. I’m also doing a lot of talking to myself and soul searching about worry, anxiety, expectations and contentment.

And the writing that I do for this blog helps me tremendously. I had an appointment with my psychiatrist today, and one of the things he told me to do was to keep up my writing!

Three

I seem to meet a lot of dogs when I go on interviews for work. I met a sweet Cocker Spaniel this week.

I also seem to forget that some dogs might not like me. I tend to reach out and pet a dog before I’ve given him or her a chance to sniff me and judge me as OK. My husband says he’s afraid I’m going to lose an arm that way.

Four

Speaking of dogs, sometimes it’s easier for me to talk with an animal than a person. I enjoyed that interview that I had, but I still get nervous beforehand, even though I’ve been a reporter for over three years. Maybe it’s about being so introverted.

Do you find it easier to talk with animals?

Five

My husband and I went to a bookstore in Lynchburg Thursday. One of the books I bought was The Omnivore’s Dilemma, by Michael Pollan. I’m trying to find a way to eat that supports me nutritionally and ethically. I’m looking forward to reading this book. Have any of you read it?

This is what my life looks like: Random 5 Friday

I blog about living with OCD, depression and anxiety. I write a lot about what OCD is like and how I deal with it, how I handle the resurgence of depression and what happens when anxiety seems to overwhelm me.

But part of what I want to do with my blog is to show that life can be full and happy regardless of the obstacles that we face. Everyone has obstacles, hard times, illnesses, troubles, pain. And everyone can find reasons to rejoice in life and to keep on putting one foot in front of the other, moving towards a life that gives them satisfaction and contentment.

With that in mind, I’m sharing five random facts again this week, linking up with Nancy Claeys’ A Rural Journal.

These random facts about me and my days are just a few examples of how even the little things in life add to its beauty.

April snow at dusk in our backyard.

1. On Thursday, April 4, in central Virginia, it snowed. I couldn’t believe it. It looked like large cotton balls falling from the sky. We only got a light covering, but it was still strange to see the snow mixing with the dogwood blooms, the flowering pears and the daffodils. The photo above shows the snow in our backyard. On the right side, about midway up, you can see a small stand of daffodils. I didn’t get close enough for a really good shot—still wearing The Monster Boot and using my extra paws!



My new haircut.

2. I got a long-needed haircut on Thursday. I haven’t gotten one in almost a year. Larry already had an appointment to get a haircut, and when I mentioned the other day that I thought I’d call the stylist to see if she had an opening for me, Larry said, “Well, if she doesn’t, you can have my appointment.” Yes, he was being sweet. He was also apparently telling me that, yes indeed, I needed a cut! Getting a new look always raises my spirits. Do you feel like that when you get a haircut?

3. Also on Thursday (a busy day!), Larry and I ate at a fabulous Indian restaurant in Lynchburg. They have a lunch buffet with many delicious foods, plenty of vegetarian selections for me and plenty with meat for Larry. Whenever I walk into the restaurant, the scents and sights take me back 25 years to when I lived in Ohio and had a good friend from India who loved to cook. I learned to love Indian food and hospitality by spending time with her.

4. I’m getting ready to start a new book. It’s Ransom River by Meg Gardiner. Gardiner writes exciting mysteries/thrillers that you don’t want to put down. And she’s an intelligent and talented writer to boot. I love the anticipation that comes before starting a book that I know is going to be good!

5. April is National Poetry Month. I plan to reread some favorites and discover some new poetry this month. My favorite poet is Mary Oliver. I read and reread her poems, always catching something new: a new idea, a new way of seeing. I memorize my favorites and recite them to myself some nights as I go to sleep. Reciting her poems is a way of praying for me.

To read others’ random 5 facts or to participate, go to Nancy’s blog.

What’s a small thing that makes life more enjoyable for you?

Jelly and toast: was this an OCD episode?

Larry and I were in a restaurant. I had ordered toast with my meal, so I wasn’t surprised by the waitress’s question. She had already taken our order, but was walking back by our table.

“Would you like butter and jelly with your toast?” she asked me.

“Yes, please” I said.

“Here you go.” And she laid a small plastic container of margarine and one of jelly on our table. “And I’ll bring you more.”

After she left, I wondered why she had been walking around with margarine and jelly in her hand. Then I realized that she had been cleaning off the table behind us.

She had given me the margarine and jelly that had been left on the table by the customers who had just left.

Larry and I talked about it. Wasn’t she supposed to throw out anything left over like that? How long had it been sitting out?

“I don’t want to use it,” I told Larry. “I don’t think it’s an OCD thing. I don’t think she was supposed to do that.”

“It’s a health issue,” Larry said.

He took a napkin and scooped up the plastic containers, and I ate only the margarine and jelly that the waitress brought from the kitchen.

Now, dear readers, did I do the right thing in not eating the first containers or margarine and jelly?

It didn’t feel like OCD. I didn’t feel anxious.

And yet, I wavered at making a decision. I hate to waste food. The food was sealed. What was wrong with using it? Was I being a stickler about a health code that might or might not exist? Or was I right to pass on eating it?

I purposely didn’t look up the health code in Virginia to see if the waitress made a mistake because I didn’t base my original decision not to eat the food on information I knew for sure.

But I guess I’m still thinking about it because here I am asking for your opinion.

Would you have eaten the margarine and jelly?