Sunday Salon, March 16th

Weather: Raining. A small pond has formed in our backyard. We wouldn't be surprised if a family of ducks decided this "pond" was a good home for them.

Cue the Music: My musical selection of the week is once again The Piano Guys.  Love them! They combine classical with modern songs. This one is Pavane with Titanium. Cue the music and have a listen while you read on.


Friday and Saturday: I attended two different workshops. Both were in a nearby town, University Place. I used the GPS to help guide me. The GPS gave me very different directions each day even though I had to drive past the first locale to get to the second. Ha. One of the classes I took was about Financial Planning for Retirement. I am starting to think about the R word.

Today: we head up to Seattle to hear our daughter's a cappella group, Drop the Bass.

FitBit and COSTCO: Goal 10,000 steps a day. I stop by COSTCO and think to myself that I should get quite a few steps while I shop since the warehouse is so big. When I got home and upload the data from my bracelet it was as if I wasn't at COSTCO at all. It was a mystery. Why hadn't it tallied my steps? I asked a friend who also has a FitBit if she had any ideas. She asked if I was pushing a shopping cart because one has to swing arms for steps to count. Mystery solved.  If you see a goofy lady walking around COSTCO pushing a cart with one arm and swinging her other arm, it is me. Even though I made this revelation I still didn't make my daily goal of 8000 steps. I had two down days with the workshops where it was difficult to work in many steps.

Health tip of the week: 1. It is next to impossible to buy salad dressing that doesn't contain vegetable oils even if it says contains olive oil on the front, check the ingredients. It is time to find a recipe to make my own dressing or go back to using just vinegar and olive oil. If you have a good Italian dressing recipe, please send it my way. 2. Exercising is more fun if listening to an audiobook.

Books read this week:

• Wonder by R.J. Palacio. This book is WONDERFUL. Even though it is a Junior book I recommend it for everyone.
• The Light in the Ruins by Chris Bohjalian. A depressing mystery set in Italy during WWII and eleven years later. It took be a long time to figure our who "done it" which made it a good mystery for me.

Currently reading: (Yes, I am actually reading five books at one time. Crazy!)

• Wild by Cheryl Strayed. My audiobook selection in the car. On disc 3 of 11.
• Where'd You Go, Bernadette by Marie Semple. My audiobook selection for exercising in the house and while walking the dog. On disc 4 of 9.
• Mansfield Park by Jane Austen. A read-along challenge. Here is this week's update. On page 100 of 400.
• Your Food is Fooling You by Kessler. A YA version of the same book by Kessler. It is about the addictive qualities of fats, sugars, and salts. On page 25 of 192.
• How to Teach Your Children Shakespeare by Ludwig. OK, I admit, this book is on the back burner right now. On page 150 of 368.

Prayers for: My friend Sharon. She is back in the hospital with a new infection similar to what caused meningitis last Fall. May she get the meds that will cure her and help her to feel healthy again!

Quote of the week: "May your thoughts be as glad as the shamrocks. May your heart be as light as a song. May each day bring you bright, happy hours that stay with you all the year long."