Happy Thanksgiving

Have a great day! ~~K

Squirrel and an Early Christmas Present

Based on the picture I saw on BMA’s blog I think I have finally used a “squirrel”. I just realized Ft. Meigs has two PRECOR AMT 100i Adaptive Motion Trainers. After I ran 2 miles around the track I got on one of them and did another mile – it started out feeling like a step machine, but as I went faster it felt like I was running, but without the impact. It sure got my heart beating fast (?too fast) very quickly and I was burning just over 10 calories a minute! What a workout – I don’t think I could do 30 minutes on it without a lot of conditioning and building up to it, or else going quite slowly.

Thursday D gave me an early Christmas present – a remote car starter on the Suburu was installed! I’m looking forward to having a warmer car before I get in it – that station wagon doesn’t have as powerful of a heater/defroster as the others. Can you see it’s little blue lights through the windshield? ~~K

Finances and Food

After work yesterday D and I met with a financial advisor at Savage and Associates. It’s time for us to take a serious look at our future and probably do some tweaking. We’ll meet with him again Dec 3.

Since we were already in BG and it was after 6:30 we headed over to Easy Street. I like their interior with all the exposed gearing and belts suspended from the ceiling that operate the fans.

D was looking forward to their specialty club sandwich and wasn’t disappointed with it or his Killian’s.

I opted for the triple-decker Reuben and chose fresh veggies instead of chips. Of course I needed something to wash it down – Blue Moon and water.

I ended up taking ¼ the sandwich home for today’s lunch, but once I was at school I realized I’ll have it tomorrow instead – today’s school lunch is “Thanksgiving Dinner”.

It tasted ok, but the potatoes were so “instant” – they needed to use Potato Pearls!~~K

Shopping and Eating

Can you tell it was D who selected these items when we were shopping at Meijer Sunday?

We needed to go into town to get water and I wanted to pick up a couple toys at Meijer for the little kids for Christmas. Obviously, the “big kid” found a WWII plane he had to have – it’s cast metal and has correct markings!

Also couldn’t turn down a marked-down white cake – I cut it into fourths and put three pieces in the freezer.

Pork ribs were only $1.88 a pound, so I decided that had to be Sunday's supper.

I used the same dry rub on it that I make for the beer-can-chicken, let it set a bit, then slow cooked it in the oven in foil before a final quick grilling.

Yummy! Half of it is now going into the freezer to enjoy another day.
Friday we had spaghetti and meatballs on whole-wheat spaghetti with a salad. Of course we loaded it with fresh grated Parmesean - love the micro-planer! ~~K

First Snow

Yesterday's snow stuck around until about noon today. Even earlier this morning it was snowing large beautiful flakes. I wish it could always be just this pretty with none of the hassles that so frequently accompany our northwestern Ohio snow! ~~K

The Other Side of the Table

Still scanning – here’s who’s on the other side of the table I scanned earlier. Starting to my left is Grandma O, my dad, Grandma McG, Grandpa McG, and back to Grandpa O – those with their backs to us were in the earlier picture.

Maybe I have such a strange expression because I was always the only non-adult (I think I was 5 in this picture) at most of these get-togethers. ~~K

November Menu 1

I enjoy reading and seeing what you’re eating, but I’m not quite the picture taker/uploader like you guys. So I’ll at least try to fill you in periodically on what D and I have for supper – you can probably count on the next day’s lunch being the evening before’s leftovers.

Thurs Nov 6 – Eggplant lasagna (several weeks ago I made a big batch and froze half of it), garlic bread and salad – D thought it was better than the first time around

Fri - Potato/Cabbage soup (includes cut-up ham) – a thrown together recipe I mixed together the night before

Sat - Steak and salad (all prepared by D)

Sun - Meatloaf, baked sweet potatoes, salad

Mon - Stuffed Green Peppers (baked yesterday so the flavors would be enhanced today), baked white potatoes, salad

Tues - Homemade chili mac on whole wheat spaghetti with salad – for some reason we both thought this was one of the tastiest, best meals we’ve had in a while – I made the sauce before school so maybe that helped the flavor along with the extra minced garlic I added

Wed – grilled pork, stuffing, broccoli with cut up peppers and onion, salad ~~K

Scanning Slides

I've been experimenting with some special equipment trying to scan old 35mm slides from the 1950's. The resolution seems ok for viewing on a monitor, but probably not sufficient for making prints.


Here's a jpg from one of the slides I have scanned. From the left back going clockwise - Grandpa O, Aunt C, Aunt G, Aunt R, Uncle J, and me in the front.

It's been averaging almost a minute per slide, so it's going to take me some time, but I think I'll continue archiving these photos. ~~K

Halloween Treat

Yummy baked sweet potatoes and grilled zucchini were enjoyed at dinner – thanks to BDZ for including them in our Halloween Treats Veggie Bag . They know D and I can’t indulge in candy and chocolate anymore so “treated” us to these dinner items as well as yellow and red peppers – no “tricks”.

Other foods on the plate are grilled garlic, pesto chicken and a mixed salad with lettuce, spinach, red cabbage, and carrots. ~~K

Round, 'n Round, 'n Round...

After school Tuesday I had planned to run down the road near home; but at 3:45 when I checked the weather the wind was 10.4 mph. Since I usually have my gym bag in the car, I changed into my running gear and headed toward the 1/8 mile track on school grounds. I was hoping the track might not be as “windy” since it is sheltered by the school building and is in town.

As I jogged in 73 degrees (this is November?) I was occasionally joined by a child on the track or pleasantly yelled a greeting by a student. It didn’t seem very windy as I ran 2 miles within 22 minutes, but felt quite tired and finished up with brisk walking to fill 30 minutes.

My glutes and inner thighs were unusually “tired” today. Perhaps because I “climbed” for 10 minutes at a 10% incline at about 4.2 mph yesterday at the Y after completing 30 minutes of strength training

Sorry about the window screen grids in the photos – taken from 3rd floor inside. ~~K

Fifty Minutes for Freedom

I hope the long lines at polling locations today are a sign of more community spirit everywhere.

Prior to today, the longest I ever waited to vote was 10 minutes - at this year's primary. Today was a 50 minute wait - I arrived at 7:40 and didn't finish until 8:30.

Our new polling location can better accomodate more people inside as well as parking outside. ~~K

Seasonal Stripping Started

It’s that time of year – trim back the bushes, rake up the apples, clear out the garden, etc – all chores that take several weeks to complete. There’s always more to be cleared than we can seem to get to in one session.Yesterday afternoon, I got a good start since it was such a nice fall day. Half of the rose of Sharon bushes were pruned before my thumbs screamed for me to stop.

All of the tomato, pepper, and squash debris got hauled to the burn pile.

I’m sure there’ll be more great outdoor work days over the next several weeks. ~~K

Scary Perry

There’s something special about trick or treating in historic Perrysburg – families walking together, the old houses, great decorations, friendly people, fantastic fall weather, etc. ~~K