Eating Healthy

No matter how hard I try to eat healthy foods, I have cravings for unhealthy stuff.

Now that our CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) farm is delivering our weekly organic summer fruits and vegetables from the North Fork of Long Island, I have been eating more vegetables again. But when my daughter came home with a bag of zeppoles, just for me...I just couldn't resist the temptation to eat one. Then another. Alas, others help eat a few but the last one in the bag, sitting in powdered sugar, kept calling my name. Until, I finally ate it.

Yesterday, I came home and discovered that my precious daughter baked chocolate chip cookies. Just because she wanted to try a new recipe. I resisted eating any for a while since I had already indulged in a section of a cinnamon sugar pretzel from Aunt Annie's earlier in the day. She told everyone that we each get five cookies. I took the littlest one, which happened to be "well toasted" on the bottom. This was in an effort to satisfy the craving and maybe turn me off from any more. After dinner, I ate my other four cookies. I couldn't believe how weak I was. I did eat my delicious fresh escarole which I picked up from the distribution site. My logic was that I rode my bike instead of driving so that was energy used up. I had also walked a lot that day so I needed to replenish all those calories I had used up.

Well...at least I am getting some healthy foods into this body of mine despite putting in junk too.

My mantra: Eat what I want since I will only live once.

I also think about another cartoon with a person asking his doctor, "Am I living longer or does it just feel like it?" So, I may not live as long as I could or should have, but I am enjoying this journey by eating what I want (usually, in moderation).

Waste of Time?

Recently, I learned how to read knitting patterns. That day, I went and bought a book with various sock patterns (using a 50% off coupon so it wasn't too expensive). I had some yarn from a friend and my mother, so that didn't cost me anything. As for the knitting needles, they were given to me when a friend's grandmother passed away. So, that was free too.

Now all I needed was some "free time" to start my project. It took me several hours to make the first pair. I succeeded and gifted them to my hubby. My next pair was made using a different pattern and larger size. I succeeded and gifted those to my hubby too. He really liked how they fit and felt.

Now I decided to tackle the fancier stitches. These looked girly, so I intended to give them to my daughter. I got bored after making the first pattern and decided to try the next one. This resulted in a pair of socks which look the same from afar but had different patterns by the ankle and different toe endings (one pointed and one blunt). So, I had to make another one (but I chose yet another pattern). She was still not happy. So, I made yet another sock using a fourth pattern. Mind you, these four socks are all made from the same exact giant skein of yarn and look similar (when you have shoes on and are standing a few feet away).

All along, my youngest is telling me to stop making socks for his sister if she's going to be so ungrateful. Yet, I continued. Making a different pattern with each new sock. Eventually, I ran out of that yarn. That skein of off-white yarn yielded a total of five socks. Yup! Two and a half pairs.

I tried to convince her that people are selling mismatched socks and others are intentionally mismatching their socks and even sneakers. It helped when I pointed out that the only people who would know the designs were different were those in our household and nosy people (and I guess anyone who read this blog). She reluctantly took two with similar toes and wore them for a few minutes, in the house. I kept the other three mismatched socks for myself.

Luckily, I have another big skein yarn just like the first one, BUT....it's pink! This time, I am using smaller needles to see if the socks will have a different feel. I also vow to make two of the same pattern so that there will be matching pairs for picky recipients.

So....was this all a waste of time when I could've bought a pair of socks for only a few dollars? No....I'm having fun and learning to follow instructions. I used to just be creative and make what I felt like and could never reproduce anything identical. It would've annoyed me to make a good sock and not be able to make a second. Another good thing, I can now knit much faster than when I first started. It doesn't take nearly as long to knit a pair of socks compared to a few weeks ago.

Think about it, I would've wasted my time doing something else, like being on Facebook or writing a blog. Gosh, I could've been knitting a sock with the time I spent typing this up.

Spare Time

What is "spare time" really? I guess I would consider it any time that I am left over with AFTER having to do everything that must be done. But am I using up my spare time if I go on Facebook in the morning to see what everyone else is posting, BEFORE I do my chores or errands?

When I find myself waiting for a child at some class or activity, I always bring along something to do. I like making something -- knitting, crocheting, sewing, etc. I can still chat and multitask at the same time. Otherwise, there's always organizing my schedule or cleaning out my purse. Once in a while, I'll read on the subway or bring a Kakuro puzzle book to solve. I can't seem to be idle -- lest I fall asleep!

The best thing to do during "spare time" is .... take a nap or bath. Yeah, I think those are the winners! But the problem is the addiction to all the distractions on the computer: Spider Solitaire, Facebook, Yelp, Twitter, emails, etc.

Now that tax time is looming, I must put aside some of those distractions and get the papers in order. There goes a big chunk of spare time :(

Comfort Food

On this dark and damp morning, I am thinking about comfort food. Yesterday's lunch was a reminder of the old days. Drinking the hot soy bean milk brought back memories of the family grinding the beans on an old stone grinder. Later on, we used an electric blender. It also reminded me of breakfasts in Taipei at the famous shop near my grandfather's house.

Meatloaf and mashed potatoes make me feel all warm inside. Chicken pot pie. Curry chicken and rice. Steamed pork soup dumplings. Pancakes.

Is it possible to have something cold as comfort food? Maybe. I think some people eat ice cream but I don't. I really don't think I have ever considered something cold as comforting.

So what do you consider "comfort food"?

Next Door Neighbors

Growing up in a big city, it's hard to know who your neighbors are. When we were in an apartment building in Manhattan, we knew our next door neighbors and recognized the people on our floor. Then when we moved to Queens, we knew the next door neighbors and made friends with the family across the street who had children our age. After getting married and moving, we only knew our next door neighbors because we were busy with law school and work.

At last, we bought our own home. Now, we only knew the old couple from next door because we were so busy working. I befriended the other neighbor when I got locked out of the house one morning after dropping off B at the babysitter's house. These neighbors let me borrow their phone to call a locksmith to break the lock. That was before I had a cell phone. Eventually, the old couple passed away. The other neighbors were renters so they kept changing.

After I retired, I got to know more people on our block. Whenever a new family moved in around us, I would introduce myself and welcome them. It seemed like the right thing to do. So far there's only been one house a few doors down who chose to be unfriendly.

Well....this morning, I was rudely awakened by people wanting me to move my vehicle so that a big-ass moving van could park. They were moving stuff for my new neighbors -- right next door! I can't believe the next door neighbors would move without telling me?! The wife was out with us cleaning up after the tornado hit a few weeks ago. I had left them a note (with my phone number) last week before the garage roof work started, asking for permission to use their backyard. I did notice that their dog wasn't around, so I thought they were on vacation. Apparently, my son saw them moving stuff out this weekend while I was away. After all these years, they couldn't tell me they were leaving? I am a little hurt. We weren't friends, but it would've been nice for them to say something.

Meanwhile, the neighbors who rented on the other side moved out about a month ago. Now we'll have to wait and see who the new tenants are. After all these years, I think I only got to really know two families who have lived there.

We live in a busy city where people are always in and out of their homes. We see each other only for brief moments in passing. The families with children are easier to befriend. One neighbor who lives behind us is definitely in the "friends" category. Our children get along so well and they can play together whenever we're both home. That was how it was with my friend Sharon who lived across the street. That's how I imagined it would be when we moved here but there weren't enough families with children.

I hope the two new sets of next door neighbors are nice. It would be a bonus if they had children who got along with my children.

Tornado

Yesterday evening, a tornado went through my neighborhood. I did not know there was a tornado warning issued at the time. I heard the thunder and the house got dark really fast. When I looked out the dining room window, rain was going horizontally in heavy sheets. It was so unbelievable, I called my son to come see. Had I known there was a tornado warning telling people to seek shelter below ground and away from windows, I wouldn't have done that. When we turned around, we saw tree branches flying across our living room windows. At this point I was SCARED but ran to get my camera to document it!

Then it ended in a matter of minutes. I think the whole storm lasted 5 minutes at most, or what seemed like 5 minutes.

When I wanted to call my other children to check on them, I realized they were probably still in their college classes. Our phone lines were dead. When I got my cell phone, my daughter had already left me a message saying she was waiting out the storm and her friend's parents were coming to pick them up. I felt a sense of relief knowing that. Had I known at the time that their campus was the worse hit area of Queens, I would've been worried beyond control. When I spoke with B, he was OK. I told him to meet up with his sister for a ride home since there was no way for me to get to them.

So many trees were down in my neighborhood that cars were driving up our one way street in the wrong direction just to get to a main thoroughfare. It started to get sunnier and so we ventured out to see what was going on. The sky was a greenish-yellow hue. We were supposed to go to a home schooling meeting later that evening but I called to say I wouldn't make it. I didn't know how awful it was outside of my neighborhood but the thought of driving later in the dark with trees on the ground was not something I wanted to do. Later on, I found out there were blackout in some areas and traffic signals around me were not working. So glad we stayed put. Gridlock was really awful.

There was an eerie silence outside, other than the sirens and alarms. People were out assessing the damage. It was surreal! The weird coloring of the air gave such an unreal aura. I never could've imagined so much damage in such a short period of time. It was nothing compared to television reports of the Midwest towns which are leveled by tornadoes. We live in brick houses which stand up better to the winds, I guess. But it was bad.

After driving today, I felt really sad thinking about all the trees which are now going to be cleared away. So many looked as if someone chewed off the top or twisted the branches off. When I came home from picking up A this afternoon because buses weren't stopping (she was too tired to walk home after doing it yesterday and walking most of the way this morning), I felt a bit depressed. The toppled trees will be killed. The snapped trees will be killed. The split trees will be killed.

One woman died on the Grand Central Parkway by Jewel Avenue. I thought of her as I drove by that area. A human life lost in this tornado. Amazingly, only one!

The branches impaled in our garage and in the sidewalks just tells you the force of the tornado. They could've killed pedestrians! Thank God they didn't.

At the end of the day, it wasn't so bad but I will definitely never forget it.

September 11th

Remembering those lost on September 11, 2001. Remembering those so close to losing their lives that day. Remembering those left behind to face the world full of hatred and sadness.

So much has changed. Yet, so much remains the same. There are still wars in parts of the world. There are still arguments over religions. There are still hungry and dying people everywhere. There is still so much unhappiness.

Nine years. It seems like a long time ago for me. Yet it is only a tiny chunk on the time line of mankind. Will it be something that the world remembers a hundred years from now? Will it only be remembered by those in the U.S.? Will it be passed down in families that lost their loved ones?

It was a pivotal time in my life. But will it be significant in the history of the world? I wonder, as I continue to pray for peace on earth for all of us.