away from the gym for a while? 7/21/06

Wednesday festival is done and I realized I needed to make certificates of appreciation for volunteers and presenters, on top of original idea of participants. It is nothing difficult, but required patience and I wanted to put together a little stats for report of some sort. I wanted to start last night, but I absolutely did nothing after coming back from the gym. I watched my TV and finished up with plum sake and I was off to bed! It took all morning to finish it up, so it was a good idea I skipped workout. Otherwise I will be working nervously for not being able to get done before going to work. I am very behind with reading, but already arranged to pick up MORE books tomorrow. So I probably won't get to the gym tomorrow either. And not a chance on Sunday, which is the leaving day. But my time in Albuquerque will (or should) be healthy. A hike up on the mountain is arranged, even in this heat. I hope to get to two sessions of Will's yoga class. I hope he is not on vacation.

steam bath closed for cleaning 7/20/06

Today was my day off, but I took a shift from a girl and came back early afternoon. I managed to convince myself to go to the gym and did ab and legs routines. I was so ready to go into the minty mist steam bath before the shower, then I found the sign said, "closed for 2 hours for cleaning". This was the first time. I was pretty heart broken. Today was the 10th consecutive day with high temperature over 100 degrees. In 2000, the record was set for 13 days. The weather people say one more day and that will be done. Ah, I should have been in Albuquerque this week. Even native Texans are complaining these days.

getting older? 7/18/06

Yesterday was a really productive day. I woke up early enough to walk the dog, go to the gym, did a few things on the computer and did some (although not as much as I planned) reading, watched a little TV and picked up some more recipes and went to work. Came home, took a shower, kept eating until I fall asleep. I don't know why I am this way other than I am getting older. I was hoping to do the same with leg exercises today, but I fell asleep again after the walk with the dog. You really have to get the walk in the early morning otherwise you will be soaking wet. My evening walk tends to be that way, but I don't mind as much as I can take a shower. For today, I am closing again, so no chance for evening walk. I am behind reading, so I decided to skip the workout at the gym. Tomorrow is the festival, so I am lucky if I get time to eat meals and dog walks. Then I have Thursday off. Friday and Saturday, I am scheduled to be in at 3, feels rather unusual. Then I hit the road on Sunday. Can't wait.

hooked on cucumber salad 7/17/06

As Donnie grows some cucumbers in his home garden, I started to explore some recipes on Food TV. I found one from Paula Deen and I am hooked. Simply slice and basically drain the moisture. Mix that with mayo, sour cream and dill. I don't always have dill at hand and I use, yeah, JAPANESE mayo. I know it is not exactly too healthy using 1/2 cup mayo for 2 cucumbers. When I am hungry, coming back from Sears at closing, it is easy for me to clean up the whole batch, for two cucumbers. Currently I am debating what to do with the skin. Original Paula's instruction is to peel it. The result is you get really soft cucumber slices. I don't recall the occasion that Japanese peel cucumbers. Of course, we use so called English cucumbers, slender versions, so it is slightly different. (Costs twice as much here in the US.) Although creamy and soft cucumber salad is good in itself, I kind of miss the crunch in cucumber. Of course, in the US, you can see the wax they put on cucumber skin, so maybe it is a good idea to peel. Last time, I thought I would compromise and peel only half, in alternative vertical strips. I have seen this done quite often and it looks pretty, too. With Donnie's home grown cucumbers, even peeling the skin seems wasteful. Let's see what the King says about this when I prepare the dish.

dying for the mountain 7/16/06

This is my last week with Sears for the season and I am dying to visit Albuquerque and see Sandia mountain. It is rather unusual, but KOB TV's city cam has been showing east, facing the mountain for all morning. They usually switch to West Mesa when the sun goes up and gets too bright. I started to check on some stuff going on in NM. The mountain opened July 7th and New Mexico Rail Runner started its service on the 14th. Everything is coming together to welcome my visit! Donnie said he would take me to the mountain for a hike. I can't wait to see the mountain, watch how the shades move during the day, or just appreciate NM signature blue sky. Oh, did I mention the beautiful sunset? Again the web site doesn't show west side in the afternoon, but I have seen pretty reflection on downtown buildings. I will be there in a week.