A Quick Review of the Last Week

The past week has been a whirlwind of activity at our place. It has taken all my available time to exercise, get food on the table and keep life from swirling out of the control over the last few weeks. Hopefully the worst of it is behind us now. Here is a brief summary of what we have been up to lately.

Sickie Update:

Massimo only has 2 doses of antibiotics left which we are thrilled about. Masi is very good about taking pills but I am sure taking them twice a day has not been fun for him either. Thankfully he seems to be feeling much better and has been running around and playing with his brother since Monday of this week which has been wonderful to see.

Luca Belle is on a reduced dose prednisolone and that is also going well. It looks like she will be ready to go to the doctor to have dental work done this month. *fingers crossed* This is something that we have been putting off until we got her asthma under control.

My mother is also doing better but she hasn’t rebounded as quickly as my fur children. However when you are in your 80’s rebounding at all is probably the best we can expect.

The Food:

I haven’t been making anything exciting at home. We have been existing on oatmeal, green smoothies, raw zucchini pasta, sesame noodles (pictured above), frozen grapes, peaches (it is the season) salads and soup.

We did go out to eat this past week since I wasn’t home to cook. Yes of course we went to see Ian and the gang. Why would be elsewhere when we know we can get something creative and vegan to eat around the corner?

By now you know that Ian likes to have notice that we are coming in and the more the better, which of course he didn’t get. You also know that Dan loves pizza which will explain what you are about to see. Since Ian didn’t get notice I used the ingredients Ian had on had to come up with a crazy pizza that we both loved.

We decided to order a similar pizza to the one we had the prior week (see the last post) but modified based on what Ian had in the kitchen to play with. This one had the same cilantro lime sauce a base. It was topped with roasted portabella mushrooms, tofu, julienned carrot, julienned radish, golden raisins, sliced almonds and candied jalapenos. The best part was the Swiss chard that they put on top which got crispy like kale chips. Who says pizza needs cheese? Isn’t our special hibiscus and green tea in the background a gorgeous color? Imagine my omni friends think we are deprived. Huh? Can’t say I ever feel like I am missing anything eating this way.

To accompany the pizza we also asked for a vegan antipasti plate. I hope you are all starting to see why we like to stay close to home for food. :-)

Sailboat:

Things in Grenada are progressing well. Like everything in life things are taking longer than we would like, but that is because we are both impatient when it comes to the boat. We are getting to the end of the to-do list which is a good thing.

Dan and I signed up for a boating course which we will be finished with this week. We had been out of boating long enough that we thought it made sense to get a refresher. Fortunately it is a bit like riding a bike and is all coming back to us quickly.

Happy thoughts:

Overall there are so many things to be thankful for it sometimes hard to know where to start but here goes:

• I was able to sneak in cooking class this week which was lots of fun because the class was grilled pizza and we all know how much Dan likes pizza. I will tell you about that in the next post. As always it was great to see the regulars at class.  It was too bad I had to step out of class for an hour to make a phone call. But life doesn't stop because I am busy.  ;-)  Sometimes we all need to do the best we can and not worry about what we can't do.

• It was a huge relief to see my precious little angel Massimo behaving like this usual self. I get very upset when my babies are sick. We are very fortunate to have a vet who we have known so long that he practically a member of the family.

• Given how busy I have been I am also thankful that I have had to at accomplish the critical tasks that have been on my to-do list. Somehow I found time to exercise and cook in addition to taking care of the cats, my mom and things with the boat. Overall that is a minor miracle in my book and one that I am grateful for.

• I am also thankful for PBS for introducing me to the author of the book “Younger Next Year”. I checked the book out from the library a couple of weeks ago and have been enjoying it. Unfortunately I am not finished with it yet because of my schedule. However what I have read so far is quite good. If you haven’t read it check to see if your library has the book. There is also a second book by the same author (Henry Lodge MD) written for women.

• Earlier this week I found that David Sanborn was coming to Maryland and managed to get great seats for the event. I have been a David Sanborn fan for ages. For those of you who aren’t familiar with the work of this 6 time Grammy winning artist I included a YouTube video of a song of his that love. It is a very upbeat song that makes me want to dance.

• I often reflect on how much our lives have changed in the last few years and I am thankful for our new healthful approach to life. On some level I am confident that all things happen for a reason. I won’t say that cancer has been a blessing in disguise, but it has resulted in powerful changes for us that I hope inspire some of you. If Dan and I can pull off a healthy vegan life I am certain that it is possible for anyone.

Signing Out:

I need to get a few things done before winding down for the evening. I hope you have something fun, or at least restful, planned for the weekend.  Personally I am looking forward to a little rest and relaxation.