Nothing New by Bonnie Le Hamilton

 

The hardest part about writing this post, or any post here, is that very little ever happens around here.

Konnie has a houseful of people, and honestly, something is happening at her place every day. Around here, nothing really happens most days.

Case in point, the most exciting thing that happened around here this last week was the semi-annual conference of our Church. No special travel arrangements, nothing to do except remember to open up my laptop at the right times to watch each session.

The only other thing I’ve done this week was spend several hours on Monday cutting and dicing a bunch of vegetables and making a big pot of vegetable soup.

Epic for me, ordinary for Konnie’s household. Though I admit, Konnie would be part of the team putting such a meal together. She would, in fact, be the one doing the chopping and dicing while her daughter actually does the cooking.

Here I had help with the major chore only as long as my aide was on the clock.

I had to finish the soup by myself. And as Konnie can attest, I found that extremely tiring.

What happened Tuesday?

Not much, still recovering from Monday.

Which would be another thing.

At Konnie’s house cooking happens several times a week, if not a day. At my house, the microwave gets more work than the stove does, and when I do cook something, most of the time it’s something for which I’ll have leftovers, so I can just microwave it the next time I eat it.

Yes, sometimes I do get on a kick where I have eggs for breakfast several days in a row, and I don’t fix enough for leftovers then, but any other time I’m cooking, I’m cooking for leftovers.

At Konnie’s house, they always cook from scratch, at my house I have a lot of freezer to microwave prepared foods and fresh fruits and vegetables, that way meals are quick and simple most days.

It’s just me, and I don’t have as many allergies as some members of Konnie’s family have. (They cook from scratch because it’s the only way to avoid some of my niece’s allergens, which are used way too much in commercial products. Bread is a big issue due to this.)

I have food allergies, but they are easy to avoid. Soy, and dairy are very hard to avoid unless you cook from scratch.

Which would be another reason way more cooking gets done at Konnie’s house than at mine.

Yeah, I’ve gotten lazy, but cooking for one is dang hard. Very few recipes are geared toward cooking for one. I have found a few “mug” recipes, but that’s about all. I have found a few more recipes geared toward cooking for two than any “mug” recipes, and frankly a lot of the mug recipes I’ve found call for foods I’m not supposed to have, by doctor’s orders.

Yeah, I have quite a few of those doctor’s orders that have nothing to do with allergies and everything to do with my health. Like, I can’t have soda, and I have to limit lemonade and juice of any kind (too much sugar). I also can’t have caffeine. So, I’m limited to water, milk, and herbal tea. And I have to limit the milk some (it is still carbohydrates), just not as much as juice and lemonade.

Things I can’t have include chocolate. No caffeine, and chocolate does have some caffeine. Dark chocolate is supposed to be good for everybody, but it still has caffeine in it.

That’s the problem with high blood pressure and congestive heart failure (CHF). Unfortunately, I also have diabetes, so I have to avoid sugar, except my body can’t tolerate (process) artificial sweeteners, so I can’t have the sugar-free treats intended for diabetics. I have a sweet treat, and it has to count toward my carb count for the day.

And frankly, fruits and some vegetables are carbs.

Oh, the joys of growing old.

By the way, Konnie is also counting carbs now, but she doesn’t have CHF, so she doesn’t have to cut chocolate out of her diet, and she likes dark chocolate. I’m not sure where she stands on soda, because that’s still a lot of sugar, but I do know her diet isn’t as limited as mine.

Of course, mine isn’t as limited as her daughter's, who lives at home.

We all have our own cross to bear.

And on top of that, my carpal tunnel is acting up. I’m guessing it has something to do with nearly three hours of chopping and dicing.

So, I’m cutting this short before my hands go completely numb, since I can’t type with my braces on.

Happy writing, everyone!