Granny Star

Photo of a Granny Star I made for my honey. Directions were on this blog.

Latest News, June 2011

So what am I doing now? Well, I've discovered, thanks to my wife this company called Advocare.This company is having an immense impact on my life.

Prior to starting this new diet, I had no energy. I would wake up fifteen minutes before work, and feel "in a fog" until the afternoon. After work, a hard day of sitting, I had no energy and would sit and watch TV for the rest of the evening. I had little interest in any of my hobbies. My weight, while staying mostly constant, was higher than it should be. I had continual health problems.

When I started the plan provided for me by Advocare, I noticed a difference right away. I had a lot more energy. I woke up at 7am instead of 8:45, and I started working before 8 instead of 9:05. I was able to concentrate on complicated issues in the morning, instead of putting them off until the afternoon. I maintained a high energy level throughout the day and in the evening, I still felt good enough to go out or do other things. I've lost 9 pounds in the last 3 weeks, and I will probably continue to lose weight, as I have not just gone on a diet, but I have actually changed my lifestyle.

The change has not just made me feel better, but it has changed my personality. I have been unmedicated for depression for some time, since my health plan did not pay enough of the cost. I was not as down as I used to be, but there was definitely room for improvement. With the new diet, I am generally quite "up." I feel like doing things, going out, interacting. Little things do not seem to bother me as much. I find it easier to be around people, my family for instance.

Rebecca and I went for a walk on June 1st at the Blackstone Valley Bikepath. I had a lot more energy on this walk than I had the last time we went for a an outing like this, which was at Dana, MA, one of the "lost towns" near the Quabbin. We walked a total of about 1.5 miles, and took pictures of flowers and trees we saw on the way. It was a lot of fun. I took a few pictures of Rebecca.

Ambient Light

Through a Beer Bottle
Originally uploaded by oweinh

So what have I been doing with myself lately, you ask? Well, I've been taking a little hiatus from crocheting after Christmas.... I'll have to upload pictures of the two afghans I made (with help from Rebecca) for my children. I've been fulfilling a lifelong desire to learn German with the help of busuu.com, a free (-ish) online language learning tool. And I've been thinking about how light shines through an empty Sam Adams beer bottle. Go to http://www.flickr.com/photos/oweinh/ to see my other recent photographs.

Rose the Kitty

Rose the Kitty
Originally uploaded by oweinh

So several days ago my son, who walks the dogs in a wooded area near our condo, found a kitten. It was in rough shape but he fed it and put some flea & tick stuff on it, and one day brought it home. We took it to the vet where they gave her a distemper shot and looked her over. She had more fleas and ticks (the standard stuff we gave her was not strong enough) so she got something stronger. She Also had some sort of stomach parasite. She's in 2 days of quarantine in our upstairs bathroom. Then she can join the population again. We have a litter box in there for her and she is using it, which is good. The vet said that the kitty is 10 weeks old. We named her "Rose" in keeping with our "Keeping Up Appearances" theme.

So almost 4 months...

... and no posts. Because I have a dull life. And I have nothing to say. *sigh*

Moore State Park

Moore State Park Gristmill river
Originally uploaded by oweinh

We went to Moore State Park in Paxton on Saturday and hiked over about 2.5 miles of trails. We were there between 12:30pm and 2pm. In general it was a very nice place to walk. There were a few places where the trail was muddy and under water, but we were mostly able to go around these "puddles" (although I didn't bother... I'm all-terrain). There was one place where the trail became overgrown and we had to turn back because we were not able to follow it any longer. We ran into a trail runner whom Rebecca asked if she knew her way around back to the bridge (we could see it from where we were), and she guided us along another trail that took us there.
I've come to the realization that I do not seem to benefit from food along the trail. Rebecca brought fruit and protein bars for each of us, and I ate the bar, but it made me feel crampy... I could have done without it. After talking with Rebecca about it later, I learned that she starts to feel weak and the food "energizes" her. I felt no immediate effect. I think our blood sugar levels and the way they are maintained are markedly different. In the future, I'll probably avoid eating on the trail unless I feel hungry or weak.
There are more trails at the park, so we plan on going back soon. We may bring Daisy, since dogs are permitted on the trails. Violet is too old and arthritic, although I feel bad that she would be left alone for some time. She's not used to being alone at this point.

So now I'm giving JRuby a spin

... because I've had it up to here *places palm near forehead* trying to install various Ruby MRI packages. JRuby is not up to 1.9 yet, but I'm sure it will be soon. And it will be easy for other people who might use my code in that, everyone has Java, so this is just an extension of Java.