Spanish proverb

There is not enough darkness in the whole of the world to extinguish the light of one small candle."

- Spanish proverb

Chia Breakfast with Berries

Serves 2

Perp Time 10 minutes

Chilling Time Overnight

Ingredients

1.25 Cup of Milk Alternative 

1/2 cup of water

3 tbsp of Chia Seeds

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 tbsp Maple Syrup

2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/4 Cup of blueberries

Prep

Pour the Almond/Soy Milk into a bowl.

Add Water, chia seeds, vanilla extract, Maple Syrup, and ground cinnamon, and mix thoroughly. 

Pop the mixture into the fridge overnight. 

Remove from the fridge and divide into 2 bowls

Top with the blueberries and enjoy!

The Evolution of Dance - 1950 to 2019 - By Ricardo Walker's Crew

 

Question of the Day

 How many pillows do you sleep with?

1 Body Pillow, been sleeping on the same pillow for over a decade now, I really should retire it. It's flat enough and should be but I keep going back to it as finding a replacement to it isn't been possible. I've tried many different ones and none of them have hit the mark as it does sadly.

#Quote - Rene Descartes

 

Question of the Day

 What's your favorite type of foreign food?

General Japanese food would have to be the one foreign food that I really light to a high degree. I know that there are different types of Japanese foods out there based on the area it comes from and the like. I would say all Asian foods hold interest to me to various degrees for eating. 

I know that I prefer their mock-meat versions of dishes, that use tofu and other foods to recreate the taste and texture of stuff like chicken, I find their time old methods of doing it much better than the modern stuff that is being mass-produced for consumption that is so sodium-laden and overly processed.

Saturday Happenings - Ups and Downs

 I have to STOP doing this, but I keep forgetting that I can't push myself without paying for it either immediately or within 24 hours of doing so. 

::Sighs::

What did I do? Something that most people would consider to be very simple. I made breakfast from scratch. I didn't do anything premade like cereal or Eggos or the like. I made from scratch vegetable scrambled "eggs" using ingredients from our little patio garden (hot pepper, regular pepper, basil, green onion, and cucumber). 

I was standing at the oven, dicing up the ingredients instead of sitting in my chair, and dicing the ingredients at the kitchen table. It slipped my mind until afterward and then standing at the oven cooking everything up (I've not yet cooked from my chair, I know I need to, but I haven't dun so).

One reason I know I don't use the chair for cooking is that the stove is higher then I am in the chair, which makes it rather hard to reach it properly from a seated position - so that has put me offing cooking from the chair sadly. When it comes to the stove, coming at it from a side angle doesn't work with our kitchen setup. Have to rejig the layout for me to be able to do in along the side (which we can do since we have an open concept main room - unlike the other units we looked at which would never have allowed for anything other than a direct in and backing out option). 

So here I sit, writing and being ticked with myself for not using the chair for some of it, but at least I was smart enough to ask Norman to do the bathroom tub. It needed a proper cleaning. I do a general wipe down after I use it, of course. But it still needs a regular scrubbing to get the accumulated grime gone. 

We also have Laundry in the process, have already folded one load, and have another in the dryer drying. There is also another load in the washer ready to go once we have enough (which right now we do not). It means that our cores for the day done. 

There is still stuff around the apartment that we need to do, such as cleaning the kitchen counters and the stove itself (but that can happen tomorrow, no rush for that at the moment). 

Well, post more as time passes, take care, everyone!

#Quote - Victor Hugo

 

Question of the Day

 What’s more important to you – having a career or a family?

As much as I would like to say a career, the truth of the matter is. The family has come first time and time again. I have tried to do the work deal, but every time something came up that needed me at home for my family that is where I could be found. 

There are times when I did try to put the family on the back burner, such as when mom passed and I threw myself into work. That was not a bright idea to do, as it meant I wasn't dealing with her death directly as I really should have done so, but hindsight is 20/20. I can't change what I did, but I did change how I responded to my dad's passing and believe you me I so wanted to run away from the feelings and everything involved in it. But there is only me to deal with it, so deal with it I have had to do (though in truth I have been doing so in measured amounts, and still getting overwhelmed, unfortunately). 

I was raised to value my family and so what I can to care for it, even if it just now the two of us and our chosen friends who we consider to be part of our extended family.

#Quote by Alistar Cooke

 

Question of the Day

 What are your favorite movies/shows/books?

I like the following 

Movies...

Special Bulletin

Matrix 

TV Shows...

Midsummer Murders

Mysterious Diagnosis 

Time Team

Books...

Follow My Leader by James B. Garfield 

To Ride a Pale Horse by Paris Anthony 

Just one of those days...

 Not sure where to start, but guess the start of the day is good enough.

Started the day off by not getting much sleep at all, didn't get to sleep until 5:59 am (According to my FitBit) I only managed to get a few hours of sleep in before the pain woke me back up and wouldn't let me get back to sleep, so ended up getting up at 8:14 am (again according to the Fitbit).

Not the way that I needed to start the day off at all since I had to see my endocrinologist at 1 pm, I didn't want to be late for the appointment since I no longer live so close to the hospital as I once did I'm now a 30 to 45 min drive away or just over an hours transit ride away. 

At any rate, when we got to my medical appointment, I noticed that the Farmers Market was taking place. I knew that it should be in operation as it happens every Tuesday - but in all honestly, I didn't know if they had or hadn't canceled this particular one, since other's that I know of have been canceled. So it was a pleasant surprise to see it was there, even nicer than all venders we talked to now took debit whereas before all only took cash. 

Of course, I had emergency cash on me, but being able to pay it by debit was helpful since it allowed us to get something that we otherwise wouldn't have been able to get much. One of the venders had fresh picked Okra by the pint was 5.00 or two for 9.00 to some, not a great deal, but since the cost of Okra I have seen in stores like No Frills two for 9.00 is a good deal. 

We got four field cucumbers, which on their own in the store is 2.00 plus. The four are of a decent size and weight, so again worth the price - part of me wishes I could have split the order between two cucumbers and two zucchini. Since it wasn't a planned shop, getting what was gotten was a good surprise.

Sadly, walking around the market, spent my bodies reserves for being able to walk fully. Walking back to our car after having walked to my medical appointment, then over to the market - waking to the car was more then my body could handle, and halfway to the car I started to lose feeling below the waist and started to shuffle walk and stumble. I had to keep moving because if I had stopped moving I wouldn't have been able to make it to our car. After all, the force I was putting into keeping things moving wouldn't have been enough to get me moving again once stopped sadly. 

Once at the car, and sitting I was good. No problem with driving or using my feet/legs. It is like sitting down whatever was stopping the single going from my spinal cord to my legs was released and the single was allowed to return to normal. But sadly, as soon as I got out of the car at Walmart there was no strength in my legs/lower back to allow me to go shopping so it was good that we have my chair with us. 

Norman unloaded it and off we went, bleeping shoulder and all. I am supposed to not be using the shoulder. But either I went shopping with him to get our pups their food with some minor essentials for us or I sat in the car (in the heat without any cool air to be had) boiled and waited for Norman does to the shopping. Ya not going to happen if I can well help it, my shoulder protested almost the entire time we were in Walmart but so be it. 

One thing is for sure, using the chair to shop in is still going to take getting used to. It is a constant reminder that most things are out of my reach, plus my ability to handle some items when picking them up can be its challenge (when my hands claw up and won't release my fingers to grasp an item). One thing about the trip today was I wanted a yogurt that was on the highest shelf and a worker was restocking the shelves and he got it from the shelf and put it into the cart, that was great to have happened. 

I'm upset that I couldn't do it myself. Having a stranger being willing to do something like that without being asked was something I was not expecting to see, but it was welcomed and appreciated. 

I'm still not using to not being able to reach things from my new respective. I am not sure I will ever get used to it or not. Though one thing for sure is the general public seems to take it upon themselves to avoid you when you are in an aisle. The number of people who just turned around while we were shopping in a particular aisle was fair high. It wasn't as though they couldn't have gotten past us (there was plenty of room for them to do so). 

This is one thing that I noticed today while we were out at Walmart. Also, people don't make eye contact anymore, something I am used to people making, even in passing. But it's like no one wants to even make minimal eye contact to you when you are in a wheelchair, I don't know why but it's like they are scared, shammed or something that they don't want to make contact or something. 

Oh well, whatever. People will be as they are. I have to get used to my new reality and not let it make me feel less since without the chair I would be stuck in the car waiting for Norman to do the shopping and not being able to get a treat of my own since he wouldn't have known to get it for me, as I didn't know to get it until I saw it. 

After Walmart, we had to stop off at Shoppers as I had gotten a TEXT saying that my Insulin Order was ready for pick up. Only to find out when I got there that it had been a semi mistake. Yes, my order was there, but their system had messed things up. I was supposed to have gotten it the same day as I picked up my first part of the order - but the person who got my medication had scanned the insulin into the system but hadn't given it to me. Then put it back in the fridge and not give it to me.  

It took almost 20 minutes for them to clear it up, all the while I was wondering if I was going to get my insulin or not.  I was happy when it got figured out finally. So I guess the person who did the scan is likely going to get a talking to, or I assume that they will, who knows. 

Well, that was the day, busy and painful. I know that tomorrow will not be pain-free, but I can hope that it will be less problematic. 

Post more as time passes.

Home Free - Everybody Walkin' This Land

 

Question of the Day

 Are you comfortable or uncomfortable in a disorganized environment?

I prefer an organized environment to work. However, I can work in an environment that is very much disorganized and being the person who is responsible for making some order out of that chaos. I've done it for various assignments when I did School Photography. I was very good at it. 

But when doing my stuff, I like to have things organized to my personal needs. So I don't have to spend time hunting for stuff that I need for the job at hand. 

#Quote by Madame de Tencin

 

Question of the Day

 Do you work better alone or in a busy environment?

I work very well alone. However, I can work in groups without issue. 

For example, working doing photography that is sports-based loud comes with the territory, for the most part, so you have to learn to work with it and go with the flow. A lot of sports photography tends to be solo work, or small teams based. 

But then you have school photography it changes depending on the time of year, school and other factors. 

You can be solo doing retakes or working in small groups (1 other to 10+ other photographers depending on the school size n need). When it comes to the environment for how active it gets you can be working in a school gym one day with all the students being loud, and another day you could be in the school's lunchroom and part of the time it is low-level noise from the current class that is there to roaring loud cause its lunchtime. 

You can also be in the school's library as a solo photographer doing retakes and only having a couple of students in at a time, and it is quite and less rushed feeling.  

Similar deal with a small team doing graduation photos. Noise level can vary as each student is doing what they need to get ready for their turn in front of the camera. 

It can be a low hum and very stressful because you have limited time and team members to complete the booked students for that day's sessions.

I've worked in all the above before, and for me, it was challenging and enjoyable. But I do admit that now, five years post, I do not believe I would have the same level of tolerance to the pace or environmental factors as I once had.