Here we are, a week into the new year already! Hopefully it’s been a “happy new year” for everyone. So far I’d have to say it’s been a promising new year here. I think it could be a year that may very well involve a fair bit of change for our household. First off, dear hubby will definitely be getting a brand new hip joint, most likely in early March. This is a good thing I do believe – but of course I’m not the one undergoing the big surgery. Or the rehab afterwards. Still, the doc has told DH that without it, he can expect to say “bye-bye” forever to his beloved game of golf, and in a relatively short time, “hello” to wheel chair life. I’ll be taking some time off work to help care for my dear spouse after the big event.
Prior to the surgery, DH has been told that losing a bit of weight would be a good plan. So……. we have been trying really hard to not just “lose weight” but to make some definite changes in our eating and exercising habits. I’ll admit I’m normally a bit of a slug, a couch potato … you get the drift. Months ago we got a Wii Fit and we are finally trying to get some use out of it. I wouldn’t say it’s the greatest workout ever, but we are moving more, and some of the stuff is actually fun! Hey, it can’t hurt! I take that back. If you have a bad hip (as we both do) just skip over the hula-hoop activity!! It’s a killer! What’s not so fun is the little voice coming over the TV announcing your weight and BMI and then telling us we are “obese”. YUCK, what a horrible word! My goal is to get out of obeseland and into overweightville. A good first step, anyway!
Another of the changes I mentioned earlier has to do with our intake. We eat a lot of good food. Key words: a lot. I don’t mean to brag, but shoot, I do love my own cooking and so does dear hubby. Most of the stuff I make is pretty healthy, but we consume massive amounts of this good stuff… and that’s not, well, good. So, we are making a concerted effort to eat less and that means I am training myself to cook less (portion wise). I went through all my January/February issues of Everyday Food and cataloged all the “light” recipes that looked delicious. This is what we had for dinner last night: 
Beef and Orange Stir Fry. Oh my, it was delicious and I made brown rice instead of the white that is shown in the magazine photo. When the recipe says “Serves 4” I am finally paying attention. I’m cutting down most of the ingredients in half to feed the TWO of us, instead of making the full amount. Now I know it might be smart to make the full amount and freeze the leftovers, but for now as we get used to our smaller portions, I’m simply NOT making the extra. We need to re-learn what normal portions are, even if the food is super yummy! Tonight I made a delightful pot of soup, some of which I shared with a neighbor who’d had some pretty extensive dental work done today. I gave her a choice of what soup would suit her fancy and she chose Mushroom Barley. Here’s how it came to be: 
This turned out quite tasty, if I do say so myself 🙂 Hubby agreed. We had a nice salad along with it too. I do love to cook and plan nice meals, so you may be seeing more food showing up on my blog this year.
In early November of last year, dear hubby worked his behind off repainting our living room, dining room, kitchen and hall. Finally we got rid of the stark ‘off-white’ that has been the mantra of this home since the day it was built, since the day we moved in. Now it’s time to start in on the bedroom. I used to love traditional, “Early American”, and “country” type decor… but for some reason, my tastes have changed a bit in my middle age. I now like a bit more modern look and one thing I really can’t stand is clutter! Not to say I don’t have my fair share of it! I’m always struggling to try to make my rooms look “cleaner”. So, in our quest for new bedroom color(s) we bought (not kidding here) at least 10 different samples from Lowe’s, brought them home and tried them out on the walls. After much trepidation, we’ve come to a conclusion. Purple. Well, maybe more like a lavender-gray. And the “make over” begins tomorrow! Here’s the “before” snapshot… 
That’s dear hubby, prying the mirror tiles off the wall. Not sure they are going back up. The shelf that runs horizontally above the bed (the brackets are visible in this picture) will be repainted – black – and will go back up. Even if it turns out horrific, I’ll be sure and post the “after” photos. We have been so afraid of COLOR for so long… it’s a little scary to go-for-it, but the paint has been purchased, and we’re gonna do it! Oh, the dark purple color on the right side of the bed is the color we chose for that wall… it will be the “feature wall”… all the other walls will be a lighter shade. My darling husband says that if we decide we hate the darker color (right now we actually LIKE IT, but we’ll see…..) he will repaint it to the lighter shade we have picked out for the other walls. More to come…. soon!!!
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