The Curious Housewife

The New Social Visit: This week my one "social" visit consisted of a trip to the cardiologist's office.  (For those reading who don't know, I have coronary artery disease and a history of having had a heart attack and bypass surgery.)  I see him twice a year for a check up. He tells me that the blockage in my carotid artery has not advanced and that he is happy with my lipid panel and liver values. I tell him about some anxious heart related problem that I have been pondering and he politely shoots my worries down. It's a pleasant time though because he is a really congenial guy, nice looking, my age, and possesses a very calm and reassuring demeanor. He usually enters the exam room and shakes my hand warmly. He is the only one who gets to call me "Liz." We chat, he listens to my heart and kind of checks to be sure nothing has changed in my activity level. Nothing ever changes in our routine. Until now. As can be imagined, things were a little ...

A portion of my pantry. Don't judge! This last Wednesday, I finally went to the grocery store. I had been putting it off. The first excuse was the rain. The next excuse was a doctor appointment. Then I was simply too tired. I knew that I was running out of reasons to not go. Finally, Wednesday came and that was my day. I girded my loins, got in my car, drove to the store, and guess what? It wasn't that bad! Why all of the delay then? What would cause someone to put off a normal everyday kind of activity? The reason is that now things aren't normal. Things are very, very not normal. I knew there would be empty shelves. There might be a crush of people running around with toilet paper rolls in their arms, grabbing canned beans and packages of meat. There could be people walking around with a silent virus or worse, outright sick and obviously infectious. But, as I said, it was fine. Mulling things over, for me, is a way to work through a problem. It was indeed a probl...

Recent haul from Sprouts market The other day I told a friend that veganism is an imperfect way of living. At best, you can only hope to do so much. Each decision is fraught with a "good, better, best" type of mentality. It's OK though (even though it doesn't feel that way but it has to be for my own sanity) because I feel that in the long run, each day I am helping some animal somewhere to stay alive, even if my decisions aren't perfect. I think my take on veganism can be extrapolated out to life in general. Life itself is imperfect. Living is imperfect. There is no other way. Take the above photo as an illustration of the point. (And bear in mind that this is just one example.) Today was market day for me and the above pic shows part of my haul. Do you see anything wrong with anything there? I do. I see stuff  that I hemmed and hawed over, grappled with a bit and then settled for the lesser of several evils in my choices. Let's take things apart, OK? ...

Something positive to think of along with the tips in the article:) Why is it that shopping at Costco leaves me drained and depressed? Is it the overwhelming and insidious quest to consume? Marketing mayhem gone mad? Packaging overkill? I don't really know. Whatever it is, it gets me down. And what happens when I get down? I reflect. Reflection can be the antidote for anxiety. So that is just what I did after my last trip to the store. I turned things over in my mind and came up with some reasons for why a trip to this store is so bothersome and then some solutions for making those trips a little easier.  Costco really can upset me. Part of my distress has to do with trying to live a "healthy" life and the way I feel grocery stores  undermine those efforts. There are whole aisles to avoid in a grocery store because the food there simply doesn't carry much nutritional weight. Those aisles contain "treats" (things that are for once in awhile) or foods t...

This is hardly a revelation, but everything you own and everything you do takes up space and time.  I just purchased a new toaster oven. After years of owning a traditional toaster, I decided to try something different. My move was prompted by a bread recipe. I make this bread that doesn't contain whole wheat flour and hence, no gluten. Gluten gives structure to bread. I like gluten, nothing wrong with it, but I started to make this quinoa/oatmeal bread to broaden my nutritional horizons. The issue is that the bread tends to fall apart in a traditional toaster. It just doesn't have the wherewithal to stand upright and to be subjected to the toasting process. So, laying the bread flat in the toaster oven works really well. The toaster oven works great for this purpose but now, what do I do about that toaster? (My husband still wants to use the regular toaster so it has to stay.) The answer is that I had to make room for it on the shelf in the pantry. That means that I...

Lots of wildflowers! Seems peaceful enough... Bad selfie taken shortly before incident It was bound to happen sooner or later. I have been hiking regularly for about 3 years now and I have been lucky. Let me tell you what happened. On Friday I took myself off to Big Trees State Park in Arnold. I needed some Libby-time. I know that I am home with myself all day and that should be enough time but really, I just needed some space not to think about the laundry and dinner and everything else like that. So off for a hike I went. I have been to Big Trees State Park many times over the years and have always felt very safe. The park, particularly the North Grove where the visitor's center is located, is well populated. I haven't ever really been nervous. Yesterday was no exception. I hiked around the floor of the North Grove and headed up to the overlook. I got up there, slowly, and hiked out onto a kind of plateau/rock outcropping to eat my apple...

Carol Fahrbach, my mom Photo by my Aunt Corliss 1932-2014 That is my mom pictured above. She sure loved her Red Hat Ladies and all of their fun events. Yesterday marked the five year anniversary of my mom's passing. I can't believe it has been that long. In many ways, the night she collapsed and was hospitalized and the following day that she died seem like things that just happened yesterday. Though there is an immediacy to my memories of that time, there is also a remoteness. The passage of time can soften the edges of things if you allow it to. There really is truth to the fact that there isn't a day that goes by without thinking about someone who you have lost.  Wednesday was no exception. The days leading up to that day were kind of vaguely hard for me. I couldn't really put my finger on why though. The best I can do is to say that I miss having someone to "mother" me. The last couple of days I have been considering how most of us need some kind of...