Sometimes life’s little pleasures are the best. Hubby and daughter left last night for a two-day motorcycle training class. They will be learning lots of new skills that will make cycling a lot safer for them. So, being left alone for two days with my own eating choices, I swooped into the grocery store last evening and bought a pound of calves liver and two huge Walla Walla Sweet onions. I was so excited! I am not allowed to cook liver in the house. Hubby can’t stand the smell. He says it makes him sicker than cigarette smoke. It’s a shame, because liver is one of my favorite foods. It makes sense that he is affected that way by it, since liver is an avoid food for A’s.

But, before I enjoyed cooking and eating the meal, I delved into something new. I went to my first Yoga class ever. My chiropractor encouraged me to join this Gentle Yoga/Healthy back class to try to get control over whatever is going on in my hip. It was definitely something new. The class was 1-1/2 hours. The impression I got was that it was a Pilates mat class in slow motion. Lots of familiar moves and stretches…..just real slow. I think I’m going to like it. I am so bad at slowing myself and my mind down. This yoga stuff is really into relaxation. I did have a hard time doing the meditation thing at the end. I guess that takes practice, too. I definitely haven’t been successful at practicing meditation on my own. Also, my lower back had a very nice warm glow while driving back home. I bought an eight-class package, so will give it the old college try and see what the results are.

Anyway, back at home I enjoyed the process of preparing my highly beneficial meal of liver and onions cooked in olive oil while sipping on a little bourbon (okay, the bourbon is neutral). The taste of the food was phenomenal. And to think, tonight I get to cook and eat the other half!

Ahhh, summer is back! I thought we had lost it last week. There were too many rainy days. I have a couple more weeks until daughter starts school. Then, I’m going to have to start spending a lot more time at the store. I had her all trained to do all the bookwork and administration-type things that I’m responsible for. I’ve been able to have a lot of freedom this summer because of it. Now, four years out of high school, she decides it’s time for college. We are very excited about it. She needs a life outside of working for her parents. But, the downside is that I’m going to have to work more. I can’t complain. It’s a good life.

Have had two pretty bad rounds of golf in the past few days. But I did enjoy the company and the exercise. Golf seems to be the only remotely aerobic thing I can do lately that doesn’t set off something aching in my body. I’ve been nursing a sore hip, psoas, sartorius, and all those other muscles in the upper leg for most of the summer. Seems that the treadmill has been the big culprit. I’ve been advised to stay away from the treadmill for awhile. But regular walks outside should be okay. I’ll have to work something into the schedule for that.

I’ve been eating well. Haven’t had many avoids tempt me since the key lime cheesecake last Thursday. Maybe my fall improvement plans will become reality!

Drove up to Bellevue on Thursday with the daughter for a ‘girls day out’. She talked me into having my lips and chin waxed at Gene Juarez. She always gets her brows waxed there, but I’m okay in that part of the face. I don’t think I’ll be doing any waxing again anytime soon. My face feels funny without all those little hairs. Besides, it hurt! After that, we had facials scheduled at the Clinique counter. One of her friends is a salesperson there, so he did us up together. It was okay, but I think I prefer the stuff I use. I did buy a lipstick and eyeliner, though. Then, we had a nice lunch at the Cheesecake Factory. I stayed almost totally compliant. I didn’t touch the breadbasket. Ate an omelet with portabello, asparagus and artichoke sauce. Ordered tomato as the side instead of potatoes. The indiscretion happened when daughter couldn’t finish her piece of key lime cheesecake. I just HAD to taste it! Took three bites. It was worth it.

We did a little shopping in the mall after that. Bought some smelly bath products. We browsed in the jewelry stores, until we thought the traffic would be cleared up enough so we could drive home. When we got to the car, daughter noticed her wallet was missing. We backtracked our steps to every place we had been that day hoping that it had dropped out of her purse somewhere and someone might have found it. No such luck. We figure someone took it out of her purse while we were having our facials done. We drove home making lists of all the banks and credit card people and places that take automatic payments from her accounts so she could take care of it quickly. What a bummer ending to such a perfectly good day!

I played golf Friday with a 79-year-old woman. She played rings around me. I admired her so much. In fact, I admire a lot of the women I play golf with. Many of them are well into their 60’s and 70’s. They are wonderful women. I want to be like them when I get to be that age. I don’t want to be sick or injured. I don’t want to be miserable and alone. I want a great attitude,

How can I make sure that I stay healthy? I can continue eating right, and continue to try to eliminate the few avoids that I now let myself indulge in. (At this point I think I can count those items on one hand.) I can try to lose those last eight pounds that seem to want to keep hanging around. I can be more diligent at my exercise. Lately I have let my aerobic activity slide to only once or twice a week. I need to incorporate more stretching into my days, too.

Looks like I’m gearing up for a fall push into bettering myself. September always seems to be a good time to give it an extra nudge. It looks like a little journaling will be in order, too. And, visualization….that too. Blogger Cheryl thinks we B’s are naturals at visualizing. That is one area I am really weak in. Sometimes I just can’t see the forest for the trees. So, I’ll probably spend the rest of this week ‘visualizing’ all these efforts taking place while the summer winds down.

Would you please pass the Doritos over here?

I’m spending too much time watching the Olympics. I stayed up till midnight last night. I’m feeling a bit groggy this morning. I’m sure those Olympic athletes have much better discipline about their rest. They probably have much better discipline over their food, too.

Aren’t they all just gorgeous? Great specimens of humanity. The only exception, in my view, is the women gymnasts. Some of their bodies seem a bit freakish to me. But, I suppose that is the kind of body one needs in order to perform those stunts.

I would guess there is a heavy leaning toward type O’s in these competitions. Probably not too many nonsecretors, either. It would be interesting to know the blood types of the athletes and compare them to which sports they are excelling in.

Oh well. I must be off to earn some money to pay for the electricity that keeps my TV on so I can stay up late to watch the Olympics!