Cat TV, Healthy Comfort Food and Silly Movies
January 19, 2009
LuLu
LuLu, our cat, is having am great winter. She is not worried about the snow and ice outside. As long as the cat TV (birds at our bird feeder) is on she is thoroughly engaged. Since we have been snowed and more likely iced in, she does not have to worry about a constant supply of food and attention.
Taking Care of yourself
I am still not into a consistent exercise program but am using the exercise tapes. We are into comfort food this time of year. I am making a lot of soups and one dish meals. However, I am reducing the fat and salt to keep them healthy.
Exploring
Our net flick movies have been of the silly romantic kind. We saw No Reservations and Intolerable Cruelty with Catherine Zeta Jones. I will admit that I was attracted to No Reservations because it was about a chef and I was attracted to Intolerable Cruelty because it also stared George Clooney. However they were both terrible and almost silly. The final romantic comedy was Laws of Attraction with Piece Bronson, also a terrible movie. We did see one great movie Slumdog Millionaire. Apparently, a lot of people agree since it has received and is up for many awards. Set in India, it recounts the story of a young man raised in the slums of Mumbi who wins the Indian equivalent of Who Wants to be a Millionaire.
Giving Back
I am continuing to volunteer at Governor’s Granholm’s office. Michigan is having difficult times with rising unemployment and uncertainty about our economic future. Many people will lose their homes and will have to move in with family and friends.
I gave my daughter a solar oven for Christmas to the county of her choice. She has decided to donate it to Tanzania. Solar ovens are a wonderful answer to many countries which have great solar resources but have been deforested due to the use of firewood for cooking. There is a wonderful Solar- Circles organization started by Judy Martin of E. Lansing. Check them out on the web, http://solarcooking.wikia.com/wiki/Solar_Circle. They not only introduce and train the people to use the ovens but set up local manufactures to produce them.
LuLu
LuLu, our cat, has had some stomach issues lately. We have tried some new caned food, which she appears to love, but it may be making her sick. Other then that, she is happily watching the birds come to our bird feeder and the squirrels trying to get to our bird feeder.
Taking Care of yourself
I have not been following an exercise routine lately. I will offer no excuses but try harder in the future. However, we have been maintaining our social contacts that are very important as you age. We celebrated the Holidays with our extended family in Petoskey. We had a great time. We also had a good Christmas with our daughter and her boyfriend. I made a Beef Wellington; (even the puff pastry was from scratch). My daughter made some great side dishes and a Blueberry-Lemon pie.
Exploring
We have been iced in a lot lately so we have been reading and watching TV. I read Dewey by Vicki Myron with Bret Witte-- a wonderful book that chronicles the life of a library cat in Iowa. Those cat lovers that enjoyed the Lilian Jackson Braun mysteries would enjoy Dewey.
Our Netflick movies for the past few weeks have been a series of Islamic movies recommended by my sister Florence who took a course on Islam. They were YELLOW ASPHALT, RANA’S WEDDING, THE DAY I BECAME A WOMEN, OSUMA, and WEDDING IN GALILEE. They were pretty depressing about life in the Arab world especially as it relates to the treatment of women
Giving Back
I have been working at the Governor’s office a lot during the last few weeks. We lost our interns due to the college holiday vacations. It is very sad to hear from people who may be losing their homes or their jobs due to the economy. We have to be supportive of the new Obama administration to help them rectify the economy.
