Average Jane

Blog

  • Average Jane Changes Things

    IMGP0131 Lately I've been on a big push to try to improve my health. My diet has been the biggest change. I've gotten to the point where I've almost completely cut out meat, processed foods and fried foods. I'm continuing to stay away from caffeine and I've been keeping sweets to a minimum.

    I'm not claiming to be perfect—I do live in Kansas City, which is a BIG barbecue town—but even a mostly plant-based diet has made a big difference. The way I look at it, it's better to have one unhealthy meal per week than one per day.

    I've lost about 15 pounds, which is nice both from a cosmetic standpoint and how it makes me feel. It took a while, but I've reached the point where I have jeans I can't wear because they're just too big. Yay!

    I'm also no longer bothered by acid reflux, even though I stopped taking medication for it. If I get heartburn, it's always because I've eaten or drunk something I shouldn't. I highly recommend that you watch this video to learn about acidic foods and how they affect your system.

    Why do this now? Well, aside from the fact that I'm continuing to age despite my efforts to stop time, I've had inspiration from a couple of sources.

    My sister had me watch Forks Over Knives, which convinced me that I could be healthier if I ate better. I bought the book, which has been especially helpful for recipes.

    From an exercise standpoint, having a dog has helped a lot. Even when we don't do our 3.4 mile rectangle, we still get in a good amount of walking each day. Toby has to go out—there's no arguing with that—so we go. Even my husband is noticing that he's having an easier time walking up our hill now, despite the fact that he only takes the dog for short walks.

    So that's where things stand today. I'm not sure how winter will affect the exercise portion of my regimen, but I'm getting very comfortable with my new diet. I'm actually rather surprised at how easy it has been to make such a big change.

  • Average Jane, Noncompliant Patient

    I had some minor outpatient surgery yesterday morning and proceeded to spend the rest of the day ignoring all of the doctor's post-care orders. Okay, maybe not the whole rest of the day, but I certainly bounced back quickly enough that most of the precautions seemed pretty silly.

    When I got home, I did take the opportunity to nap for several hours. They'd given me a pain pill at the surgery center (not to mention the anesthetic that was no doubt still lingering in my system), so I had no problem curling up with the husband and the dog for some sleep.

    Then the cleaning ladies arrived a full hour early, which drove me to the back patio with the dog until my husband came out to take me to lunch. I really, really wanted a Chipotle burrito, but because the little sheet from the doctor said I should eat stuff like broth and Jell-o, we went to the deli and I got soup (and a cookie) instead. I was ravenous again within two hours.

    After lunch, my husband went back to sleep and although I had taken one more pain pill (which was to be the only one I took from the prescription we filled on the way home that morning), I wasn't sleepy. 

    I surfed the 'net for several hours and then sneaked downstairs to see if my official driver was awake yet. He wasn't, but I got a priceless photo of Xena and Toby sleeping next to each other and actually touching. Ha, ha!

    Snuggles

    Finally, my husband got up and THEN I had that burrito I'd been craving.

    We ate our dinner in front of the TV before my husband's recording session client arrived. I spent the evening doing laundry, taking the dog outside and playing with Flipbook on my iPad. 

    I forewent my morning walk today because the doctor had said I should (see! I can take direction!), but I'm pretty sure I'll be back on my regular schedule tomorrow. And that's the end of that non-story.

  • Average Jane’s Accent Vlog

    I've been meaning to do this meme since it first popped up earlier this year (or was it last year) and I finally took a couple of minutes to record myself talking this evening.

    My accent is unusual for someone who has lived in the Kansas City, Missouri area since birth. My mom's side of the family was from South Dakota (and she had some Chicago influence growing up) and my dad is the son of Swedish immigrants. I grew up on the outskirts of town, mostly around my own family, so they had much more of an impact on my pronunciation than the "locals."

    Say the following words: Aunt, route, wash, oil, theatre, iron, salmon, caramel, fire, water, sure, data, ruin, crayon, toilet, New Orleans, pecan, both, again, probably, spitting image, Alabama, lawyer, coupon, mayonnaise, syrup, pajamas, caught

    And answer these questions:

    What is it called when you throw toilet paper on a house?

    What is the bug that curls into a ball when you touch it?

    What is the bubbly carbonated drink called?

    What do you call gym shoes?

    What do you say to address a group of people?

    What do you call the kind of spider that has an oval-shaped body and extremely long legs?

    What do you call your grandparents?

    What do you call the wheeled contraption in which you carry groceries at the supermarket?

    What do you call it when rain falls while the sun is shining?

    What is the thing you use to change the TV channel?

    (Note: Damn, I have smeary eye makeup and dark circles! Next time I do a video, I'm going to fix myself up a little first.)

  • Average Jane Reads

    One of the main reasons I wanted an iPad was so I could get the Kindle app. I'd read several books on my sister's actual Kindle, but I wasn't a big fan of the interface. I couldn't get used to pressing the buttons to turn the pages and I didn't like that the device relied on outside illumination.

    The Kindle app on the iPad feels much more intuitive to me: to turn the page, you swipe your finger from right to left. Because I'm used to reading a glowing screen when I'm online, I don't have any problems reading books that way as well.

    Heartless In some ways, downloadable literature is a little too convenient. On September 13th, A Librarian mentioned on Facebook that Soulless by Gail Carriger was the Amazon deal of the day for only $1.99. I downloaded it immediately and started reading it as soon as I got home from work that evening.

    A mere 10 days later, I have made my way through the entire series and just finished reading the fourth book, Heartless, this morning while I waited for the hardwood floor guy to nail down our new shoe molding. (Incidentally, I've had this song stuck in my head ever since I borrowed the paperback from A Librarian yesterday).

    It's a fun series set in a version of Victorian England that includes vampires, werewolves and a good-sized helping of steampunk. It's also quite funny. I enjoyed them a great deal and burned through the existing books in the series so quickly that I'm chafing a bit at the thought that I'll have to wait until next spring to see what happens next.

    By the way, since the first book isn't on sale anymore, if you want to read the series I'd recommend buying the first three books as a bundle for $19.99, which will save you money. And just so you know, the Amazon links are merely for your convenience–I have never bothered to set myself up as an affiliate, so I have nothing to gain if you click through and buy something.

    Now that my busy summer is over, I'm looking forward to jumping back into my many and varied book clubs. The Kindle app will make it much more convenient to get my hands on the books and get them read in plenty of time.

    I just need to keep an eye on how much I'm spending with Amazon. When you combine one-click Kindle purchases with the frequent streaming video purchases that facilitate most of our cable TV show viewing, it can really add up.

  • Incremental Improvements at Average Jane’s House

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    This was hardwood floor refinishing week at my house. Here's what the bedroom floor looked like once it had been sanded, filled, stained and covered with one coat of finish. I should have taken a "before" picture so you could really appreciate the difference.

    Here's how it looked during the sanding phase. You can see the original finish (such as it was) around the edges:

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    I believe it's now almost finished except for buffing and the replacement of the shoe molding.

    I worked from home part of that first day, and on my way back to the office I stopped by City Hall to start the process of getting a building permit for my replacement windows. Red tape-o-rama. I think I've done everything I can do and the rest is up to the contractor. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it'll all get sorted out by the time the windows arrive from the factory.

    My husband and I have agreed that we'll wait to move back into the bedroom until everything is finished. We've gotten used to sleeping in the living room and it'll be more satisfying to put everything in its place when the room is completely ready.

    While I was cleaning out my husband's closet in preparation for the closet floor refinishing, I noticed that there was a small paper bag stapled to the dry cleaners' plastic draped over a pair of black slacks. I tore it open and discovered the iPod Shuffle that I'd lost a couple of years ago. Makes me wish I'd been more observant when I was putting away that batch of dry cleaning way back when.

    Once the floor is adequately cured, I'll be ditching those robin's egg blue walls in favor of a chocolate shade and probably going with a cream color for the trim, door and closet doors. I still need to get with our buddy who sells blinds and order some window shades, and I have a piece of artwork I bought from May that needs to be framed. We could probably use an area rug or two as well.

    At this rate, it looks like we'll be moved back into the bedroom by mid-October, barring any unforeseen problems. Once we no longer have a huge bed in the middle of our living room, I'm looking forward to inviting people over to meet Toby.

    Speaking of Toby, here's a quick update on him. We haven't finalized his adoption yet, but we probably will next weekend. Here's how he looks in his fall jacket on cool mornings:

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    And here's his first exposure to the new winter coat I got him. He has a few doubts, but I'm sure he'll appreciate it when it gets colder:

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    Have a great weekend!

  • Average Jane and Her Little Dog

    Was it fate that I ended up with an Italian Greyhound? Maybe not, but I thought it was interesting that I happened to take this photo of an Italian Greyhound statue on my trip to Eureka Springs back in July.

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    And now I have a real one:

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    Today is a test of our new relationship because it's raining outside and Katharine had warned me that IGs don't like to be wet or cold. That means they don't want to take care of any biological business outside in bad weather, even when they really need to.

    We've been outside twice this morning and Toby wants nothing more than to go back inside. We're going to have to figure something out or it'll be a long fall and winter.

    Otherwise, things are going swimmingly. Toby has found a toy he likes among the BlogPaws swag haul. It's a stuffed animal that squeaks when he bites it, and the cats are fascinated when he plays with it. Apparently the simulated sound of terrified prey is a big hit across all carnivorous species.

    Now that it's gotten chilly outside (and in the house), Toby has moved from sleeping next to me on the bed to sleeping under the covers with me. Fortunately, he does not have any kind of doggy smell. Unfortunately, he tends to drool a bit when he sleeps, but then again so do I. It'll be a good incentive to change the sheets regularly.

    Right now Toby is curled up in a little ball under my desk while I'm typing. What a cutie.

  • Average Jane Is Literally Living In Her Living Room

    IMG_1423 Who is surprised to learn that my bedroom remodel is taking longer than I estimated? No one? I didn't think so.

    The good news is that one of my good blogger buddies saw my previous post about our bed breaking and offered me a bed frame and box springs she wasn't using. So although our bed is still in the living room and will be for the next several weeks (at least), it is no longer in imminent danger of collapse.

    My husband and I recruited a friend with a truck and picked up the bed stuff after work. After a nice dinner of Chinese food, I spent the rest of the evening dismantling the innards of the old frame so that it is now a literal frame: it surrounds the structural metal frame decoratively but no longer has any role in supporting the mattress.

    Right now our schedule for the rest of the bedroom remodeling work is as follows:

    • I will go ahead and caulk around the trim and paint the walls, probably this Saturday.
    • Hardwood floor refinishing begins next Thursday, September 22nd.
    • Once the floor cures, I'll paint all the trim and maybe move the bed and dresser back in.
    • New windows will probably be installed the first or second week of October, but most of the work takes place outdoors so the room doesn't need to be completely empty.
    • I haven't ordered window shades yet, but that's on the agenda between now and new window day.

    It's going to be worth it, though. That's what I keep telling myself.

  • Average Jane Adopts A Dog

    This post is my entry into the BlogPaws Blog Carnival Contest sponsored by BISSELL Homecare, Inc.

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    When this much cuteness comes into your life, you have no choice but accommodate it.

    In less than a week, we went from "we're fostering Toby to see how it goes" to "of course we're keeping him." The adoption will be finalized next week, but he's been "our dog" almost since the beginning.

    I've never had a dog before. We had dogs when I was growing up, but none of them were ever mine. I was always a cat person and I figured that our unfenced yard was a dealbreaker when it came to getting a dog.

    As it turns out, there are plenty of types of dogs that aren't suited for being left unattended in a yard, and Italian greyhounds are among them. That means we take Toby on lots of walks. He's well trained to walk on a leash, so our walks aren't a struggle in any way. He really needs a long walk each day; otherwise, he gets restless and bored. Have I mentioned that he's already shaved a minute off my average mile pace when we do my 3.4 mile morning walk together?

    When Toby is indoors, he's very well behaved. He likes to lie next to me or sit on my lap while I'm reading. He'll follow me up to my office and curl up under the desk to sleep once he's been petted to his satisfaction. I haven't seen him get into anything, chew anything or otherwise misbehave in any way.

    He wants to meet everyone he sees. Fortunately for him, the sight of a well-mannered small dog on a leash is a magnet for passers-by. He's also a magnet for free roaming dogs. Twice I've had big, unleashed puppies come bounding up to introduce themselves. Toby is not one of those small dogs who thinks he's a big dog; he's rather intimidated by larger dogs, so I have to be cautious when we encounter them.

    I never realized we had a dog-shaped void in our lives until we met Toby. He's so different from our cats, but we love him just as much already. I look forward to many years of his companionship and I'm glad we can provide him with the attention he so clearly needs and enjoys.

    Welcome home, Toby!

  • It’s Remodeling Time Again At Average Jane’s House

    Hey, remember when I took all the wallpaper off my bedroom walls back in May? Well, we've finally gotten around to having someone complete Step 2 of that process, which is take down the lath and plaster ceiling and replace it with sheetrock.

    At first I thought I could just have someone smooth out the existing ceiling but I didn't realize that it was actually sagging. That's not what you want in a plaster ceiling.

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    Cracktacular!

    We managed to find a guy who was willing to do the labor in exchange for studio time. He decided he had time this weekend, so when I woke up yesterday I moved all our bedroom furniture into the living room and my dressing room. My husband hurt his back earlier this year, so I was on my own.

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    Dr. Jones and Velvet are enjoying having a bed in the living room.

    When the guy arrived yesterday, he proceeded to rip the whole ceiling down. I sacrificed a couple of old comforters to help insure that the heavy chunks of plaster wouldn't dent the floor when they came down.

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    It was a much messier process than this view of the aftermath would suggest.

    Here's what a 10'x12' lath-and-plaster ceiling looks like when you're finished with it:

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    The only casualty of the furniture move was our cheaply-made Scandinavian bed frame. It's been mended repeatedly over the years and apparently the move from one room to the next was the last straw. My husband and I (and Toby and Velvet) had been asleep for a little more than an hour last night when the wood holding one side of the slats under the mattress gave way with a loud CRACK!

    I got up, found the only cinderblock we have, wrapped it in an old pillowcase and used it to prop up that side of the bed. I think I may just buy a standard metal bed frame, remove the slats and side supports from the old bed frame, and just use the decorative frame as a surround. But that'll have to come later.

    Because I didn't know the timeframe of the ceiling work until late last week, I hadn't lined up the other workmen we'll need to get the bedroom completely finished. I have appointments on Tuesday and Wednesday to get bids from a window company to replace the two bedroom windows and a hardwood floor refinishing company. I hope we don't end up spending more than a couple of weeks with our furniture piled up everywhere.

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    Toby can make himself comfortable anywhere.

    The sheetrock is all up now and being mudded right now. It'll get sanded tomorrow. I have a $30 Groupon for a paint store, but I won't be able to paint until the floor and windows are finished. I guess I could go ahead and buy the paint, though.

    I'm really looking forward to having a bedroom that doesn't have to be hidden behind a closed door when company comes over. It's worth the inconvenience. I think.

  • Average Jane’s Doggie Boot Camp

    IMG_1409 As soon as I met Toby, I could tell he was significantly overweight. A little research revealed that he's at the tall end of the range for an Italian greyhound (15" at the shoulder), but should still weigh no more than 15 pounds. He weighs almost 20.

    That means he and I are doing a lot of walking. I usually only walk my 3.4 mile route 3-4 days a week, but Toby needs the exercise and routine, so now we're walking the route daily.

    He walks at a brisk pace. I experimented with jogging a little on this morning's walk and he had no problem going faster.

    There's a saying, "If your dog is fat, you're not getting enough exercise." I have a feeling that his exercise program is going to slim us both down.

    Everyone I meet thinks he's a puppy. I guess his smallness is a more noticeable attribute than the grey hairs on his muzzle. All of the extra "baby fat" around his ribs probably contributes to the impression.

    One of the only things his previous owners shared about him is that "he likes treats." Yeah, no kidding. I, however, am not a treat-giver. Just ask the cats. Instead, my plan is to keep him well supplied with chews to help keep his teeth and gums healthy, and also make him think he's getting treats.

    I'm also measuring his food and giving him one portion in the morning and one in the evening. That seems to be holding him and he has thus far failed to make good on his threat of eating the cats' food.

    Once the weather gets cold, I know Toby isn't going to want to go on long walks. I think it's important to make swift progress getting some of his extra fat melted off before he spends the winter mostly indoors.

    Does all of this sound like we're keeping him? Yeah, it sure looks that way.

    He hasn't won any cat friends yet, although Velvet is willing to sleep on the bed by my head while Toby is sleeping by my legs. Dr. Jones is still stalking him, Xena is hissy yet possibly interested in playing, and Trillian has more or less vanished. I'm taking some cat food and water down to the basement to make sure she can survive her self-imposed exile.

    Still, it's only been a couple of days and I think the cats will get used to him. He hasn't done anything scary at all, and they'll realize that sooner or later.

    Now I need to head down and make myself a breakfast shake. All that walking works up an appetite!