Betty's Blog

I have a long-standing problem with coffee drinkers. I have found that, as a group, they can be rather intolerant of anyone who doesn't drink coffee! My mother was a coffee hound. My dad always drank tea and he taught me how to make it and how to drink it. Many years ago I ordered hot tea in a restaurant. I was given a tiny metal pot of lukewarm water and a Lipton teabag on the side of the saucer. You can't make decent tea with lukewarm water! I never understood restaurants who offer fresh, hot coffee with free refills to the coffee drinkers and then treat us tea drinkers like second-class citizens. Do they have any idea how easy and cheap it would be for them to brew a pot of tea and then offer free refills? I believe that the cost of a pot of tea is way less than half the cost of a pot of coffee. Once, I attended a Lutefisk Supper. They offered you your choice of coffee or water to drink... nothing else! I never went to one of those again. There is no mystery a...

TEN MONTHS LATER! well, it's been ten months since i actively started dieting and eating better and i've lost a total of 68 pounds and am feeling just great! my doctor told me yesterday that she recommended that i continue to eat sensibly and to either just stay at the weight i am now or not to lose any more than ten to fifteen pounds more, maximum. my BMI is great and she said that i am now classified as "healthy" for my age and height and i am no longer obese!!! what i have taken from this experience? 1.) weighing oneself every single morning is a must. you have to know what happens when you cheat because it always shows up the next day. but at least then you can still feel in control because you see the results and can be motivated to DO something about it! 2.) eating enough protein is VERY important to feeling full and not wanting to cheat! 3.) drinking enough water is EXTREMELY important. i personally drink 3 liters or quarts every single day (whi...

October 2013 wow! that was quite a vacation i took, wasn't it! I had a family reunion in June. I had a 45th class reunion in July. I went to the Renaissance Festival near Shakopee, MN in September and had my first ever ride on an elephant AND on a camel! And here I am, about to turn 64 years old tomorrow. Those milestones are flying by. I also had a small skin cancer removed from my forehead in September. So now I have a cool badass scar. It's hard to not think about one's mortality at this point. Don't get me wrong. I'm not afraid to die. I just don't want to be a burden to anyone. I went to visit an old neighbor at her nursing home last month. She had turned 100 years old. omg! Almost all of her contemporaries are gone. Her mind is still pretty good, but she spends her days in a wheelchair and her nights in bed. I remember my mother-in-law, who died at 94, lying on her bed at the nursing home. One time I was there to visit and she rais...