Did You Eat Your Oatmeal Today?

One thing I've noticed about retirement. I have a lot more time to think about things that I had no time for before. Thinking can morph into writing and I'm engaged for maybe an hour maybe more--Sometimes this is a good thing....sometimes not so good.
Today I'm thinking about how I'm constantly sucked into the ether that is the internet. I log onto my computer with the express intent of doing one thing---ONE THING!!! Then I get involved with the top stories on the Yahoo search page, or I get engulfed by the flood of what's going on in "Trending Now"--Or I just have to check facebook to see what my friends are doing/saying. Before I know it, an hour has passed.
This morning I got on the computer to check out my checkbook balance and, of course, got sidetracked with one of the Yahoo top stories: "Ten Best Foods For a Healthy Heart". I'm always interested in staying healthy so I took a look. Here they are:
1 - Oatmeal
2 - Salmon
3 - Avocado
4 - Olive Oil
5 - Nuts
6 - Berries
7 - Legumes
8 - Spinach
9 - Flaxseed
10 - Soy

Those of you who know me well know of my strong aversion to oatmeal or anything that looks like hot cereal. This hatred stems way back to the days when my mother used to make me eat hot cereal that had lumps in it. I would gag, but she made me eat it anyway because "it was good for me and a few lumps never hurt anyone". Well I'm here to tell you that eating lumpy cereal has hurt me for life!!! Even now when I can appreciate that she was a single mom with no help and had to make the cereal well before we woke up so that we could have a hot meal before she scurried off to 1 of her 2 jobs--even now, I can hardly look at hot cereal (this includes grits which is a staple here in the south) without activating that automatic gag relex.

Okay, so how I was able to cook and serve Cream of Wheat to my children (who, by the way, loved it--no lumps) is beyond me. Perhaps a mother can do whatever she needs to do to ensure the health of her children? I tease my daughter about her "dorky" diet but I'm secretly proud of her--she loves oatmeal, salmon, berries, nuts---the whole nine. And her mom? I do really well with most of the items on the list. I will admit to "eating stupid" sometimes--that's my family's way of saying that we're eating stuff we know we shouldn't. Somehow I think that if you use the 80/20 rule you'll be OK--eat right 80% of the time and the other 20% will take care of itself--or as my mother used to say "you can have anything in moderation". I guess that does not include stuff you're allergic to! So, I do pretty well but the #1 healthy item?--No way--I've got to subsitute Kashi cold cereal for that.

So after an hour spent on a task that should have taken maybe 10 minutes, I'm blogging about how I feel about oatmeal...hmmmm

Have you eaten your oatmeal today?

New Year--New Me

It's been a long time since I've written, I know. Not because I haven't had anything to say--I just have not taken the time to sit down and say it. Promising to be better this year.
I noticed that I have 2 different types of posts within one blog--some posts were about my mom's journey through life as she (and we) deal with her Alzheimer's; the other about what I'm doing with my life now that I'm retired. I've split the two different types of posts into two separate blogs now and I'm happy 'cause you all know how I love organization...So if you're interested in the posts about my mom, they are now in a blog entitled "I Miss My Mom" which can be found here: http://imissmymom-livingwithalzheimers.blogspot.com/ I will also post this info on facebook.
Happy New Year to you all!! I'm not making any official new year's resolutions--just continuing to grow, learn and stay healthy.
Piano lessons are coming along--What they say about stimulating your brain is really, really true--some days I feel like my brain is going to explode with the strain of trying to keep the left and right hands in sync.
I've gone the route of the ereader!!! I got the Amazon Kindle early in 2010, then decided I liked the Barnes & Noble nook when it came out later in the year--then I became enamoured of the nookcolor when it came out around Christmas time. So now, I'm reading my way through Barnes & Nobles electronically...The good news? I read 15 books in 2010 and I'm saving trees. The bad news? There is no bad news when it comes to reading!! My husband and I are taking Spanish classes. I've not studied Spanish since I was in high school but I remember some stuff--just another way to make my brain explode but it's fun being in a room with a group of seniors all trying to learn something new. I've found my way to Zumba classes. I've always loved dance and this is a way to kill two birds with one stone--dance and exercise (and watch that back). Stay tuned.
I'll be starting a new yoga teacher training class in March and plan to start teaching chair yoga to seniors--a good way to give back and keep me in shape, huh?
So, to say the least, I am holding true to the words on my license plate. I am truly "Onajerny".