Old School or Just Old


I am finally beginning to feel old.  Not old in that decrepit, old crone way -- just old enough to start comparing life today with the life of my youth.  It has come to my attention lately that, without much thought given to it, I have reverted back to doing things the way I used to when I was a young bride (no, we didn't have a pet dinosaur) or even back to the way my mother did things.

I noticed this the other day when I told my husband that if he wants to do any changing of things in the kitchen, he could do away with the microwave and have a double oven put in.  I find the microwave to be the most useless appliance around.  However, I could use two ovens.  I had two ovens in my old house and loved them but I barely had room for a microwave. 

I no longer have an electric can opener, haven't for years, nor do I have an electric skillet.  I cook on the stove and in the oven -- I have even taken to making toast in the oven like my mother used to -- you can make much more at a time.  When the pop-up kicks it, I am not sure I will replace it.

I don't care for commercial bread.  I just don't like the taste of it and Hubs rarely eats it when I buy it so we toss copious amounts of the stuff in the trash.  I don't even feed it to the birds because I am afraid they would just keel over from ingesting it.  So, I make bread, in a bread machine.  A noisy, big, clunky bread machine that is hard to store.  So, I was reading some blogs the other day and realized that making the bread like I used to when my children were little (I was a real Earth Mother back then) was just as easy and not nearly so noisy.  So, I sat about doing just that and it was wonderful.  The bread lasted longer than the bread machine bread and it looked normal.  So, this morning I quickly mixed up another batch and am enjoying the smell of the rising bread as I type this. 

I also have a real dislike of emptying the dishwasher.  So, I have taken to washing the dishes by hand.  There are only two of us so how long does it take to wash a couple of bowls in the morning?  It seems like I get jobs finished completely when doing things "old school" rather than with all the labor saving appliances we have now. 

I sweep the floors with a broom and use an old fashioned dust mop that I bought online -- I only vacuum occasionally.  I dust with a lambswool duster -- I don't use swiffers or anything of that manner.  My husband prefers to dust with the vacuum cleaner but I find that to be exhausting -- too much arm work.

I have discussed here in the past that I tend to line dry more of my clothes than I tumble dry.  I just prefer not to be a slave to the dryer.

I have tried all sorts of exercise equipment over the years to get myself in better shape but they have all been an epic fail.  Our latest acquisition of about seven years ago is a Tony Little Gazelle.  The concept is great -- low impact on knees that are aging quicker than the rest of me.  Uh, not so much.  It completely wrecks my knees and back so I decided that walking, on my feet, on the ground is the best exercise with a few pilates thrown in.  Pilates is fantastic -- did it in college in a dance class I took and it completely changed my body.  I finished the semester, quit doing the pilates and the old body snapped back just like a rubber band.  Note to self - don't quit doing the pilates.  Anyway, I digress.  So, I decided that a fitbit would be a great thing to have -- linked right up to the computer to download your activity through the day.  Again -- not so much.  It wouldn't sync to my computer since we don't use windows and back to the store it went. 

What I ended up with is this

and this

oh, and a pencil but I didn't think I needed to show you that.  So, I am counting my steps with the pedometer and writing down the information daily.  It is working just fine.  I am keeping track of my water intake, my steps, my calories expended, etc and it doesn't involve a computer.  I was surprised that yesterday I walked almost 9000 steps, about 2.63 miles -- just in my house doing my daily chores.  So....

So, anyway, am I just getting old or could it be possible that doing things "old school" is really easier?  I am thinking it is. 

 Musing Mondays -- January 13, 2014

 
 

Question: Are “best” and “favorite” the same thing? If someone asked you “What’s the best book you ever read?” would the answer be the same as for “What’s your favorite?” {source}



I would assume that by "best" you mean the best written technically and "favorite" is the one you like the most regardless of the quality of writing.  I think these terms are probably more interchangeable in younger readers than adults.  A child can read a book (do they even still do that?) and declare it to be the best book ever but an adult will be more discerning. 

How would I answer that question?  I have no idea.  I don't know that I can answer because I don't know that  I have a favorite book although I have many that stand out in my mind.  As far as "best", unless the writing is just completely horrendous (like you can't understand what is being said because of lousy syntax) I tend to not be particularly critical if I am "into" the story.  However, if the writing is really awful, there is no way I can get into the story if I have to work too hard at figuring out what is trying to be said. 

My Book Beginnings on Friday today is from "The Christmas Candle" by Max Lucado.

"Light exploded in the small house, making midnight seem as daylight.  The bearded candle and his wife popped up in bed.  Wh-wh-what is it?  she said, trembling."

These are the first two lines in the prologue.  Unfortunately these aren't the most  compelling lines but trust me, it gets really good quickly.  Hope to finish it this weekend.

Friday Finds is hosted by Miz B at Should Be Reading.  The premise of this exercise is to post about books you found this week to add to your TBR list.


I was reading a blog that I frequent, Brandon's Notepad, and the author was writing about "The Christmas Candle" by Max Lucado.  I decided, on the strength of the blog post, to read the book so I downloaded the book to my nook immediately and began reading it.  It isn't a long book so I am sure it won't take long to read it and I am already hooked.

While doing some genealogy research recently I happened across a library card catalog card on Ancestry.com that made reference to a book in which one of my ancestors was mentioned.  It is actually a compilation of books of papers involving the Indians in Texas.  The title of the collection of books is "The Indian Papers of Texas and the Southeast".  I did a little research and found these books available on Amazon for the tidy sum of about $85.  I am still thinking if I want to purchase these books or see if the library has them but, at any rate, I would like to read them and they are on my TBR list.

Fitbit -- Not

Ok, I caved and bought a fitbit.  However, and I should have known, it won't work with our computer operating system.  No way.  Doesn't work.  So...back it goes to the store and I guess I will just try a regular pedometer.  Not as much fun, for sure.  Blah.

2014 Goodreads Reading Challenge -- 90 Minutes in Heaven by Don Piper

Yesterday I finished my first book in the 2014 Goodreads Reading Challenge.  I started the challenge by continuing to read down my Nook queue and this was the next in line.  There are so many books and so little time that I have to figure out a way to get all the reading done in some orderly manner -- gone are my days of just reading for fun -- I now have to have a plan.

So, I have to say that I picked a very painful book to read.  It is an account of a man, Don Piper, being involved in an horrific auto accident, his death and trip to Heaven and his return to tell the tale.  I have to say that I was a bit disappointed because the time spent on his account of Heaven.  There wasn't much there but I don't really know what I expected -- I just expected more.

The account of the accident was graphic and painful.  The account of his recovering was long and grueling and he was honest about his depression.  Toward the end he did discuss how the accident had affected his faith and how he realized that he was allowed to live so that he could use his experience as a ministry.  However, the whole book has a depressed tone to it.

Would I recommend the book?  I don't know.  I read it, I didn't find it boring but I didn't find it uplifting either.  It was simply painful, beginning to end.  

To Fitbit or Not to Fitbit


A huge part of a successful marriage is patience.  My husband had to test his patience first thing this morning.  Now, I go to bed early and get up early -- generally earlier than him -- so I have lots of time for my brain to work before I see him.  I can formulate honey-do lists, grocery lists, places to go lists -- in multiples -- before his feet ever hit the floor.  I am raring to go and he only has one eye open. 

Today was the ultimate test.

I handed him a math word problem.  I completely expected him to break into the Tammy Wynette song "D-I-V-O-R-C-E". However, being the gentleman that he is he simply begged ignorance -- like he didn't quite get what I was asking. 

Well, what I was asking was -- how long (in time) do I have to walk a predetermined path to total 10,000 steps.  I got THE look -- the blank look so I sat about doing the math myself.  My path is 100 steps.  Clearly I would have to walk it 100 times.  I timed myself with my trusty Timex and it takes a second or two over 1 minute to walk it so......drumroll....I would have to walk it  1 hour and 40 minutes.  Yes, I know that is simple arithmetic but in all fairness to me, I adjusted the path.  My original path was a bit longer and wasn't as easy to calculate so here I am.

So, here is the next consideration.  In the last six months I have had major surgery and I have arthritis but I need to exercise.  My exercise of choice is walking.  No, I don't have room for a treadmill and while walking outside would be preferable it is too cold or too many allergens or too hot -- most of the time. We have a Tony Little Gazelle

 but it just kills my back.  After I got the go ahead from my doctor to exercise I climbed on it, walked for 30 minutes and felt great.  Repeated the next day I sent my back into all sort of discomfort -- not to mention my hip which hurt all the way through me.  So, I rested.  I did the same thing, half the time, night before last and the back was zinging me again so I have now given up on the Gazelle. I don't have any problem walking through my house, however, and the way the floor plan is laid out  I have almost a track like path to walk so that will be my exercise of choice.

Now, after all the math is done and the decision to wear out my floors has been made, I have to decide whether to do it the frugal way by just timing or do I buy some sort of a tracker to wear to track my steps for me.  I have been looking at these

but other than the pink color catching my eye and noting the price differences, I have no clue which one would be the best.  I think I can link it to myfitnesspal on my Nook so that would be good if I were wanting to count calories which I don't really want to do particularly but it would be a good feature. 

My thought process is that by using a tracker of some sort I could track all my steps throughout the day, not just the 100 laps around the house and maybe I wouldn't have to walk all 100.  Of course, I don't expect to make that goal immediately, maybe never, but it is just that -- a goal -- and any activity toward that goal is a plus.

So, any thoughts?

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is hosted by Sheila at Book Journey.  What a great start to a new year, a new week, and a new book.

This morning I downloaded a copy of "The Christmas Candle" by Max Lucado. I had seen the book many times on the shelves at my neighborhood Barnes and Noble but failed to pick up a copy. I had seen the ads for the movie that I still want to see even though we have moved past the Christmas season but apparently we are not movie goers anymore.  So the whole "Christmas Candle" experience escaped me until I read a review on a blog I frequently read.

The review, which can be found at Brandon's Notepad, discusses the book and the movie.  The author of the blog entry does an in depth analysis of the religious aspects of the both the book and the movie as well as some comparison/contrast of both.

I found the review to be well thought out and compelling -- enough to make me stop reading and download the book which I began immediately.  I will refer back to the blog as I read the book to think through the points made by the blog author.

As I generally like to read "the book" before I see "the movie" I am glad I bought the book in plenty of time to get it read before the movie is released in February.  I am sure I will enjoy both and hope that "The Christmas Candle" will become one of my yearly Christmas favorites.

Even though I just started the book, it has me hook, line and sinker.  As one reviewer, John C. Maxwell, said "Fans of Charles Dickens and Jan Karon's Mitford series, you're in for a treat!Max Lucado has penned a wholly original Christmas story complete with cbblestone streets, quirky characters and a supernatural visit that you'll never forget."  Well, that cinches it for me -- I am in and I am sure I won't be able to put it down.

So, if you have read the book or seen the movie or if you like to read religious analysis, visit Brandon's Notepad.  Perhaps his blog will encourage you to read the book again or, as in my case, the first time.  I will review when I have completed the book.

One Little Word -- 2014


Faith


Enough said.

Musing Mondays

Hosted by MizB at Should Be Reading, Musing Mondays asked several questions and you are asked to answer only one.

Today I will be talking about a new reading habit of mine -- reading in bed before I go to sleep.  My husband bought me my fifth Nook for Christmas.  Excess?  Absolutely!  NOT MY FAULT!  They need to quit coming out with new models.  However, I have been passing my other models on to family members so that is good.  Anyway, my latest acquisition is the new Nook Glowlight.  It is significantly lighter in weight than my Nook Simple Touch but more importantly, it has a light which makes it easy to read in bed and not disturb the Hubs. 

So, because I have the light now, I can read a bit in bed without the light disturbing the Hubs.  I don't read long because it absolutely puts me to sleep but it is such a nice way to end the day.  I don't watch the news much because that is just disturbing before you try to get a good nights sleep but reading is  a much gentler way to nod off.  I haven't always read in bed because of the lighting issue but now I can and I am enjoying that five to ten minutes before I drift off.  Fortunately I conk out before the urge to stay up all night reading strikes.

Anyway, this is my new reading habit and it is a nice one for sure!

Downton Abbey


Hubs and I don't watch a lot of television.  It may be "on" but that doesn't mean we are watching it.  My father was a television news announcer when I was a child and the television was always on with him keeping up with the news of the day so he had some idea of what he would be reporting on at 10 p.m.  After he left news reporting he worked as a cartoonist and, because he had always worked at night, he continued to work at night so there was always noise, either the television or the radio.  So, I became very accustomed to the constant noise factor and I still find myself comforted by it. 

We do watch a few things on a regular basis, however.  We watch my soap opera "Days of Our Lives" every evening -- we DVR.  Then, we watch "Elementary", "Revenge" and "Parenthood".  A year or so ago we got rid of all our "premium" cable channels, bought a Roku and subscribed to Acorn and Hulu Plus.  A great deal of our television viewing is done via this device as we love all the British mysteries on Acorn.  We are working our way through the Hercule Poirot mysteries now, having finished the George Gently mysteries, which I absolutely loved. 

However, there is nothing like Masterpiece Theater on PBS which usually has such wonderful offerings.  We have all been looking forward to season 4 of "Downtown Abbey" which began airing last night and we weren't disappointed!  A two hour episode of this series to start us out was pure delight  I love the setting and scenery as well as the costuming.  The characters are wonderful -- glad to see O'Brien go -- she was so devious.  And what about that dreadful Nanny?  It is so much fun to see the personalities of the staff as well as the "upstairs" family and to see them interact so personally.  I remember watching "Upstairs, Downstairs" and while both sides of the house were represented in the story, I don't remember there being such interpersonal relationships between the staff and the family. 

It was a wonderful evening for television viewing and I heard recently that they have already started filming season 5!  I hope this series is around for a long time!