“Stop Whining and Find Something to Do”

Downton Abbey fans may remember that advice from the Dowager to her granddaughter (Lady Edith, jilted at the altar).

My summer hasn’t been what I intended.  After my stupid (hard to diagnose) leg injury, I’ve been in rehab for 4 weeks.  While there has been improvement, I have not been able to return to my normal fitness routine without setbacks.  So now I’m scheduled for an MRI AND been prescribed Diclofenac, an anti-inflammatory drug a lot stronger than Advil.  Overnight I felt almost normal but will follow my doc’s advice “do not stress your leg.”  Rehab is on hold except for easy home exercise until the MRI discovers exactly what damage I did to myself. 

Here is part of my project

These are 2 boxes of the 100+ cassettes I have recorded of my 3 children’s music competitions and performances (1975 – 1993). 
After that they were on their own. 

All are labelled with date and event and the majority have detailed contents of repertoire on assorted index cards, note and legal pad paper.

My goal is to transcribe all this into organized spreadsheets and arrange to have the tapes transferred to digital format of all those they want to keep.

Many are tapes of lessons and assorted practice.  Surprisingly they are quite interested in those as well. 
We have the equipment to do this ourselves and have done a few over the years, but this is WAY too many.  Time to pay a guy.

I have several reel to reel tapes too.  Once upon a time cassette recorders were “new technology”
We bought a VCR way back in 1978 to record their local TV appearances.  Never did buy a video recorder though.  Never could have imagined how easily it is done now.

Fortunately, the later years, including Jeanne’s return to competition in 2016 (Cliburn) were automatically recorded for purchase. 
When she performed in Europe, it was great to be was able to sit back and enjoy it without dealing with the old, very bulky recording devices that I remember using. 

This will be pricey, but considering we haven’t travelled since Feb 2020, it’s worth it to spend some money to preserve an important part of family history.

So between my injury and our increasing Covid numbers it’s time to follow the Dowager’s advice.

The entire quote began “You are an intelligent woman with a brain…”  so I better stop whining and complete the project in front of me.

Still Playing the "What If" Game

The venue may have changed (from Spark to MyFitnessPal) but the goal is still the same

Every morning I log in somewhere for my daily dose of motivation.  For 12 years it was Spark, now I am becoming quite comfortable in my After Spark life.

Now I check in with my 2 lifeboat google groups of refugees.  I like keeping up with old friends and learning about possible final destinations.  The more info the better
My reading list of blogs keeps me connected as well as reading the comments on my own blogspot blog.

Then I check in with my new teams of Sparkers over at MyFitnessPal.
More friends being found every day.

While I love the connections with friends old and new, I know that for me nutrition is most important. 
I learned long ago that I cannot outrun my fork.  Also I have an innate tendency to underestimate the calories I consume.  Occasional checks with my food scale bring my portion distortion back to reality.

Fortunately, I like data and playing the “what if” game – also know as “Adventures in Food Tracker Land”

I have essentially disengaged from Spark and now use the MyFitnessPal food tracker.
It’s hard for this long-time Spark cheerleader to say this, but I like it better than the SP version
If there are complaints about it, I haven’t found any yet.  Note that I use a laptop and not my phone. 

This is my plan for today. Always keeping an eye on sodium and sugar.  It’s in everything!

I can easily adjust it to reflect changes during the day and when done I will be informed what my weight is predicted to be if I ate like this every day.

Whatever I decide today, I will know the facts going in. 
I prefer that to being blindsided or retreating into denial – Very easy for me to do.
One day won’t hurt but over time THAT does NOT end well.

I’ve got to have a plan I can LIVE with.

My goal is to make my choices and own them, NO SURPRISES, NO EXCUSES

Be Careful What You Google

 As an early tech adopter way before the Internet became a household word, I was aware of unexpected search results.  I was teaching a STEM summer course for Middle School girls for a local university which they advertised as “Girls Online.”   I told them that wasn’t a smart title.  Sure enough, a search of “Girls Online” did NOT bring up the projects of my girls interested in Math/Science/Computer careers. 

Fast forward 20 years
I have been rehabbing a stupid injury for several weeks (details at end). My treatment includes a device to electrically stimulate my leg muscles for 15 minutes after my workout on the machines.  I remember that device from my last injury 5 years ago.  Now I learned that I can buy that device for home use.

So I googled something like “muscle stimulation devices” 
It was immediately evident that legs were not the only body parts people were interested in stimulating.

The search results produced a wide variety of options.  At least I was wise enough not to explore them at random.  I can only imagine the popup ads THAT would have generated in the future.

I decided to check whatever WALMART was selling.  It arrived the next day

I will take it to my next rehab session so I can be sure I am using it properly.  Situating the pads seems to be most important for the best results.

In the past I have needed rehab after a fall or accident.

This time it was stupid pride.

It was time for me to replace my custom orthotics. 
I have very difficult feet (flat, severely overpronating and with an extra bone that should have fused to another in the womb but somehow didn’t)
You know you are weird when the ortho doc calls in an intern to observe “something you don’t see very often”

Anyway, I credit my custom “industrial strength” orthotics for keeping me upright and “in the race” for the last 25 years.

No little piece of plastic in my shoes.  These are SERIOUS things
These are the 2 ½ year old ones I wanted to replace

Before I saw the ortho doc for reevaluation, I had to fill out a survey about my “problem”

I didn’t have a PROBLEM.  I wanted new orthotics.

The questions as to what I was and was not able to do seemed unnecessary. 
How far can I walk?  Can I do household chores etc.
Can I stand for an hour?  Can I stand on one leg?

CAN I HOP?    HOP?  What am I 12?
All I had to answer was YES or NO.  But I decided to HOP.

4 times on my left leg but only ONCE on my right leg when I got a searing shooting pain.
I couldn’t even put weight on the leg.
RICE (rest, ice, compression, elevation) helped some but it was obvious I did something that I couldn’t fix myself

I have a “fat pad impingement” on the right side of my knee which impacted the surrounding tendons and muscles.
I never knew a knee had fat pads. 
Supposedly rehab should be successful and I feel a LOT better than when I first started, but it will take several weeks to be back to normal assuming I don’t reinjure myself.

They remembered me at the rehab center so my home exercise sheet states in capital letters

Eileen, GENTLE NOT AGGRESSIVE!

Good advice.  I will file that along with “Rest and come back stronger” and “Slow and steady, gradual improvement”

Opening a 42 Year Old Time Capsule

One benefit of the 16 months in my hermitage has been the discovery of long forgotten keepsakes.

In 1978 QUBE-TV in Columbus, Ohio held a months long “Talent Search” where daily, weekly, monthly and grand prize winners were determined by votes of the judges and the TV audience who voted remotely.

My DD Jeannie and her piano partner Mimi were the grand prize winners and won a bunch of prizes including an all expenses paid trip to NYC for the girls and their mothers.

I always had photos in my well organized albums but this box of souvenirs was a surprise. 

I saved our airline tickets, stationary from the Americana hotel, brochures from the sites of the city and some very special drawings of our experiences by 8 year old Jeannie.
Reading the Playbill of Annie was fascinating.  By then Shelly Bruce had replaced Andrea McArdle in the title role, but Annie’s understudy was Sarah Jessica Parker who also played one of the orphans. 

Jeannie and Mimi met in a Yamaha group piano class of a dozen kids at age 6. 

Within a few months their teacher moved them to a class of 4. The following year she decided to teach them together at side by side pianos.
They performed around Columbus as soloists and together like a pint sized version of Ferrante and Teicher. 
They even played F & T’s “Theme from the Apartment”
At age 11 their teacher decided that it was time they went on to study separately with different teachers.

My next project is to convert to digital format all the dozens of cassette tape recordings I made from 1976 – 1990.
Fortunately, all are labeled and indexed with the repertoire on each one.
I was very organized back then.  Joe believes we should do the conversion ourselves. 
My choice is to pay a local company to do it for us.

While I was examining this 1978  time capsule, I got a text from a grandson to tell me that he was about to cross the Verrazano Bridge into Brooklyn. 
He is visiting a college friend whose family has a membership at Breezy Point Beach Club near Coney Island.

I replied that I watched that bridge being built and sent him these 60 year old photos below of my girlfriends and me exactly where he was going.

He said that his friend’s family knew exactly where those pictures were taken.
A very cool coincidence!