Booming Banter

There seem to be weeks for focus on all causes. Heart disease, cancers, mental health, animal welfare, the list is long.

Today, thanks to several posts on Facebook, I learned that we are nearing the end of Eating Disorders Awareness Week.

Many of us know someone who has had an eating disorder. Some of us may have had or have one ourselves.

One of the Facebook posts today Had a link to BEAT the U.K. group that encourages  people to speak up and share their stories.

As a teenager I was a normal weight. I’d go on a diet now and then to loose a few pounds but it was in my early twenties that I started to take dieting seriously.

The reason for this was that I was spending a lot of time with someone who had anorexia. We started a diet together and being very competitive I could not let her win!

The more weight I lost and the more compliments I got about the new svelte figure the better I felt.

My weight never got too low because I took to eating huge quantities of breakfast cereal at night. My preferred cereal was of all things All Bran because it made me feel so full. Dieting was all about control and eating the cereal was all about loosing control.

This radical cycle of dieting and eating went on for theee years and it wasn’t pleasant. It stopped when I left the U.K. for Switzerland.

Once you have lived though this I’m not sure it is possible to ever loose consciousness of weight and keeping it in check.

Many people struggle with obesity as well as with eating disorders.

What would be really helpful is to hear from the people who have no issues at all in controlling their weight. If they spoke up and told us how and what they think of food it would be very insightful.

Some say the French are natural regulators because they eat everything in moderation but I’m not convinced. Having lived there and observed the nation first hand it strikes me they are just as weight conscious as the rest of us. They just have a good word for dieting it’s a REGIME! Vive la révolution mes amis!

Blessing # 265 – Sharing Stories

This morning a few local friends posted that they didn’t sleep well last night. Me neither! Maybe high pressure! Happens when you have things on your mind!

The year seems to be flying past and chez nous there is little to show for it! Already the first day of March! Spring just around the corner but snow in the forecast again!

The clock is also ticking on getting taxes done and we haven’t even started to get the paperwork ready. Another year another extension to file we’ve been there and done that so many times before.

There are other Groundhog Day events happening around us too. What can we learn from this? Perhaps as one friend posted today you calm yourself and not the storm.

As a speed freak patience is something that is not innate to me. Any lemons that come my way have to be squeezed fast and furiously. Usually things turn out fine and we have a good big jug of lemonade.

Maybe though it is better to  wait a while and suck those lemons just like we did as kids with those old fashioned sweets.

There are always multiple choices even if by nature you wish to choose the familiar option. It’s never too late to learn you can change, be selective and use a new formula especially if the one you are faced with is getting old!

Blessing # 264 – Resilience

This weekend sees the annual ARNOLD Sports and Fitness festival here in Columbus.

This event has been building strength over the past thirty years and Arnold himself always makes an appearance.

People from all over the world take part. This year up to 20000 participants and 200000 spectators are expected.

On occasion I’ve been traveling around this time and it is really something to see all these super fit people in the airport and to fly with them. They literally are solid muscle.

That’s about as close as we’ve come to the event until this year.

As you can imagine all the hotels in the region are booked out and Aaron is anticipating a busy weekend of work and maybe a little overtime. Glad he’s on the housekeeping and not on the breakfast shift or we’d need to be up at three in the morning to get the eggs and pancakes ready for these hunks.

Strong is certainly an understatement to describe the participants. Strong in mind and strong in body! Not something that would naturally come to mind when for myself.

So it was with great surprise, on arrival in China in 2001, after my physical to show I was fit to work, that I was told I was REALLY VERY STRONG.

I walked around for the next half hour with my head held a little higher than usual. Strong! I’m strong! I was so chuffed until someone was kind enough to tell me that STRONG is the Chinese way to say YOU ARE FAT!

Blessing # 263 – Getting Stronger

Cadbury’s Creme Eggs are one of my very favorite things.

Growing up in the U.K. we would wait with great anticipation for them to hit the shelves in the weeks before Easter.

The eggs were launched in 1963 in the UK so we were among the first kids in the world to eat them. We’d do all sorts of things with them like sucking the yolk out with a straw and later freezing them so the chocolate cracked like an egg shell.

Such a lot of fun from such a little thing!

Today they are available all year long but the Easter fun continues.

Currently there is a great TV spot running here in the USA and perhaps all over the world called Bunny Tryouts. It makes me smile every single time I see it and the tag line is so clever.

So today I caved in and decided our dear Dibley should enter the competition. He is such a beautiful boy I’m sure he is going to win and with his little fat tummy he looks more like a bunny everyday.

My Mother would often say it takes little to amuse the innocent! Well innocent I am not but I do know for sure that you are Nobunny till Somebunny Loves You 

Blessing #262 – Timeless Treats

 

Krishna has been part of a small group at our Church for eight years now. The group meets each Tuesday morning and so, not surprisingly, is know as the TMG.

Krishna joined the group when when they were studying the religions of the world. He quickly made many faithful friends who support and love each other

Recently I’ve been going to TMG too and enjoy it very much. We catch up on what’s happening in our lives, then we do some studying together, share some snacks and always have a laugh or two.

Today our subject of study was the book of Jonah. Many of you will know this story. In a nutshell, Jonah, trying to escape from God is caught in a storm and swallowed up by a big fish. Realizing he’s still alive he begs forgiveness and the fish throws him up on the shore.

Now the great thing about our TMG group is that everyone is so  comfortable with each other that they willingly give their perspective without concern. So it was today when we discussed this tale.

Some thought it was a legend, other that it was a dream but I gave everyone a surprise by suggesting maybe Jonah had been in a submarine!

Perhaps I’ve watched one too many episodes of Ancient Aliens but it does cross my mind that maybe, just maybe, we have had some visitors from other places here on our little blue marble.

Everyone had a good giggle at this so a few more jokes were then shared:-

What is the advantage of living in Switzerland? The flag is a BIG PLUS!!!!

What do you call a sleeping bull? A BULLDOZER!!!!

Did you groan like Jonah or have a good belly laugh?

Blessing # 261 – Band of Buddies

The past 24 hours brought us hurricane force winds in Central Ohio. While graded as only a force one it makes you wonder what force five must sound like. This howling is incredible.

The storm wreaked havoc for many with trees crashing on cars and houses and power outages for many.

We escaped with just a small tree and a few big tree branches down in the back yard. We didn’t loose power for a second.

So we were able to watch all of the Oscars uninterrupted and certainly there was no power outage when it came to Gaga and Bradley! They were definitely brewing up a media storm!

By the time we went to bed it was eleven thirty but that wind seem to howl even louder when everything else was still. It kept the furry one up all night. He was in an out a half dozen times so very little sleep was had by his humans.

Six o’clock came around too fast and not feeling rested is never the best way to start the week.

Rather than start the taxes as was part of today’s plan, the best solution may be to take a leaf from Dibley’s book and catch up a nice little afternoon power nap instead.

Blessing # 260 – A Wee Snooze

The pink palace of last weekend turned out to be a big disappointment once we got inside. It was in a truly sorry state.

So we have continued to explore the region looking for a property to renovate and have been into areas we normally would never visit.

This month of exploration has been a real eye opener.

The good side of all this is to see that parts of the inner cities are starting to transform and are on the up and up.

Yet, even in these areas of hope for ever home that has been flipped there are still three or four others that are wretched looking.

Had it not been for this idea of finding a flipper it is true and sad to say that we might never have known about the state of our state.

Of course we know there is poverty and of course we know there is a crisis with opioids but the extent of this was way beyond our understanding.

Yesterday we hit on a very interesting little place in the city of Marion Ohio. It was built in 1860 and is just across the street from the family home of President Harding.

The Harding place itself is under refurbishment and a new historical center in honor of President Harding is being built.

So my mind is now running riot and my imagination is in overdrive. Wouldn’t this be the ideal spot to transform into a little boutique hotel? Just think of all those tourists who might need a coffee or an ice cream or a cocktail after their visit to the museum!

We haven’t seen more than inside a window yet as the agent canceled on us this afternoon but we will go next Saturday instead.

Not an issue! Gives plenty of time to learn about what would fit with the period and get worked up into a flipping frenzy! Exterior paint selection has been made! Absolutely must be daffodil yellow!

Blessing # 259 – A Week to Dream

 

 

Just outside our garage there are three lovely crab apple trees.

We see them every day as we drive out, walk Dibley or go to the mail box.

They give vibrant deep pink blossoms in the spring time and then rosy little apples in summer. These then stick around to give a rich burgundy color even in the depths of winter. A wonderful constrast with snow.

This year when the leaves fell we noticed we had a birdsnest in one of these trees. From every angle this little homestead is rounded to perfection.

Just this week there was some activity happening with about six or seven little chirpers buzzing around the nest.

Can’t  be sure, because they flew off when we disturbed them, but they had the chubby rounded shape of gold finches but did not have the bright yellow color.

Someone may know if it is normal that there would be so many birds around one nest. Do they compete for the prime real estate made by another? With all those little apples around it must be a home with easy pickings at hand.

We’re hoping one of the prospectors has laid an egg or two and we’ll have a little family there soon.

Blessing #258 – Anticipating an Arrival

A few nights ago WOSU our public broadcasting service was showing the last episode of Pride and Prejudice.

All men in the house were silence as I snuggled down in anticipation of Mr Darcy’s return to Longborne.

I snuggled so well that I fell asleep even before Bingley had the chance to pop the question and woke to the closing music.

Even though I’ve seen this series many time I was livid. Still stewing about this the next morning and in desperation to see if it was being screened again I searched the listings.

No luck it was only on WOSU PLUS! We have never been able to pick up PLUS but our cable now has thousands of channels So was there a chance we might now have it.

Bingo according to the cable provider on channel 994 we have plus. Bells might as well have been ringing all over the city. Not only could I gaze again on the beauty of Mr Darcy and he in the eyes of  Lissie Bennet there was now the chance to catch so many new programs as well as the good ones I’d missed.

Now here is the irony in all this.

We are planning a Kairos Ministry fundraiser on Saint Patrick’s Day and are serving Irish Stew and Soda Bread and yours truly is meant to supply the recipes.

Well, when I tuned into 994 what was showing?

Not the Bennets, scheduled for much later in the day, but an Asian chef making of all things Irish Stew ans Soda Bread!

Blessing #257 – Beauty Sleep

 

It’s shameful to admit to the amount of things we have that we have never used. Some have been buried away in storage for years and are now being uncovered.

One such item is a Romertopf pot that was used for the first time yesterday. It was in its original package.

We had to put on detectives dress and dig deep to uncover where and when we bought it.

With the languages on the box it had to have been purchased in Switzerland.

A price tag from a store called Jumbo confirmed the suspicion and a makers mark on the bottom showed it was made in Germany in 1989.

The box also had a sticker on it that showed it had been shipped with our things from China.

So putting all the traces together the pot started life in Germany in 1989, was purchased by us sometime thereafter, moved with us to USA in 1995, moved to China in 2001, moved back to Switzerland in 2004, went  into storage in 2010, returned to the USA in 2018 and FINALLY was used on February 20 2019! Almost thirty years after it was made.

Has a piece of brick ever had such a journey? Poor thing waited nearly as long as the Terracotta Soldiers to see the light of day.

It did a good job too in roasting a piece of pork and now it’s out of the box is set to tandoori some chicken soon!

Blessing # 256 – Buried Treasures