Friday, May 17, 2013

Still Alive

 

Wesley Chapel, Florida

Yes, we’re still alive, and yes, we are still in the Tampa Bay area.

Nothing has been going on, so there has been nothing to blog about.

We’ve been working on the motor home.  Al cleaned the roof and re-waxed it.  The roof is fiberglass and we thought it was going to be maintenance free, but we were wrong.  If you don’t seal it at least once a year then the white chalky stuff runs down along the side of the coach. 

The roof is cleaned and sealed, and then we  used “The Solution” to clean and shine the rest of the coach. It looks pretty good, except for the tires and wheels.  (and inside)

 

Al got his annual physical and found out that his triglycerides and cholesterol have risen since he’s been off the Lipitor for the past 4 months.  He and the doctor were hoping that our vegan diet would do the trick.  The doctor isn’t ready to put him back on Lipitor yet and wants him to take fish oil daily,  and check it again in three months.

The more we thought about our diet, the more we realized, we have been sliding and eating too much fat and oil.  We are vegan 99% of the time, but on occasion we have meat or cheese.  We have been still managed to eat too much fat, mostly from olive oil, vegan margarine and mayonnaise.  We felt we could have as much fat and oil as we wanted since we didn’t eat meat.  We were wrong, I guess.   Of course while we were in the Keys, we cheated a bit too often.  We’re working on that and hopefully the next time he gets his blood tested, he will do better.  The doctor said some people are just genetically predisposed to high cholesterol.  If he can’t get the numbers down, he will have to go back on Lipitor.

We’re still perfectly happy eating a  vegan diet.  We’ve both lost about 20 pounds and we hope now that we’ve on a better track, we’ll start losing again.  In the meantime, we’re happy with our new way of eating, we eat as much as we want and never feel deprived.

We had Mom at the ER last week.   They ran a lot of tests, fond nothing and sent her to her cardiologist the next day, who also found nothing.  I don’t know what to do next.  The older they get, the harder it is to deal with them.

We’re having our 40th anniversary next month and we’re  talking about spending a few nights at Red Coconuts Rv Park which is right on the beach in Fort Myers, Florida.   There are only two sites on the water where we would fit.  If we can’t face the water, we don’t want to go.  Of course it always depends on Mom, so we’re hesitant to make a reservation……especially since they are over $100 a night.

We’ve already gotten our anniversary presents.  Al got a new Nexus 10” tablet and I got a  Canon Rebel T3i digital SLR camera.  It’s a really nice camera, and comes with an 18-55 mm lens and a 55-250 mm lens.  I knew the 250 zoom lens wouldn’t be anywhere near as powerful as the zoom on my other camera which has the “stalker” lens.  I like the new camera, but I really need a more powerful zoom.  (did I mention, I’m having a birthday?)

The new camera takes great pictures, but this is the best I could get with the zoom I have.  You can see I need a stronger zoom lens, can’t you?   

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If I had been using my old camera with the stalker zoom, I would have known what color under wear this guy was wearing!

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We’re sitting outside on our patio, facing the woods and listening to the bullfrogs croak.  (not my favorite sound)

18 comments:

  1. Advance Congrats on forty years of bliss!!

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  2. Wow 40 years! Did you get married in High school?? I thought your old camera took great pictures. Why did you get a new one? What did you use to seal your fiberglass roof.

    Ok it looks like my comment is turning into nothing but questions. So let me say that David too has a genetic predisposition for high cholesterol and was taking simvastatin to keep it down. We had been vegetarian for years but that didn't seem to lower his cholesterol. But when we went vegan and cut out dairy and paid attention to adding as little fat as possible his cholesterol dropped from 234 in October of 2012 to 158 in March of this year, 76 points in about 5 months. We were thrilled! We cheat too but less than twice a month I'd say, we never eat margarine or mayonnaise and use an oil mister if we use oil at all.

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    1. No Sherry, we didn't get married in high school...we're just old! I still love my old camera, but wanted a DSLR to take some higher quality pictures.

      As far as the roof, we sealed it with a product from Home Depot called Zep Wet look. It's basically a floor polish.

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  3. Ahh yes ... no matter what lens we have, we always want more reach ;-) Early congrats on 40 years together.

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  4. Yes, a big congrats on 40 years! Regarding the cholesterol, you might try coconut oil for cooking, Veganaise instead of mayo, and Earth Balance instead of butter. I have also read that a low glycemic diet helps lower cholesterol. It sure is tough to keep everything in balance! On another topic, Vic wants to know what you are sealing on the roof and what product you use. Ours is fiberglass and we have not done anything other than wash and wax.

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  5. I feel your pain about not having much to post about. Hope your mom does well and you can get away for a bit. Nothing soothes the travel itch better than rolling down the highway.

    Congrats on the 40 years. Didn't know that 5 year olds were allowed to marry, but I guess things were different way back when... ;c)

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  6. Wow - 40 years. That is wonderful. And I totally can relate to not having much to blog about when you're just sitting. Hope they can figure out something on your Mom. So frustrating.

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  7. But don't the bullfrogs eat mosquitos?

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    1. I imagine they do Merikay, but I'm terrified of frogs.

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  8. Happy anniversary! I hope that you get a waterfront site, so you can celebrate with a nice vegan salad :)

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  9. Congratulations. We need to have a celebratory drink. I say go for it at Red coconuts. We will have to check that out.

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  10. Glad you are still alive...hehe

    My dad takes fish oil and it has a done a world of good.

    WOW...20 pounds each. You look too small to lose that much weight. Congratulations!

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  11. Happy Birthday and Anniversary! Celebrate!
    My husbands cholesterol tended to be on the high side of normal, so several years ago his Doc put him on the supplement Red Yeast Rice 1200mg. and Fish Oil. It has kept his down for 3 years now. I also use Coconut Oil, Veganaise, and Earth Balance. Read up on Coconut Oil. It is wonderful for so many different things. I even use it for my night cream. My whole family is converted.

    Hope you get to go to Red Coconut. Sounds like you need a beach fix!

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  12. Congrats on your 40th Anniversary and treating yourselves to those nice gifts. Ah...the joys of a DSLR...carrying around multiple lenses to switch in and out!

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  13. Yes, make that reservation and have someone close by in case your mom needs help while you're away.

    Also - What kind of camera is your old one? I need a stalker zoom! To see the birds, not men's underwear. Although...

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  14. I have Canon 60D and have a couple Tameron lens that I really like. Canon lens are great but cost soooo much. The Tamaron lens get good reviews and are a lot less money. It might be a way for you to get that longer lens. Also with the camera you have there are enough pixels that you don't need to be shy about cropping your photos, it will bring the subject front and center and still be good quality most of the time. Have fun. I love my digitial slr, so much you can do and learning is half the fun. Having read your blog for several years it is clear that you have an eye for the shot so I will be looking forward to seeing you photos with this new camera.

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  15. Thanks for the tip. I looked at a Sigma lens and it wasn't too expensive (relatively speaking). I'll remember what you said about cropping.

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  16. Congratulations on 40 years.
    Nice to hear that you are still alive.

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