Reflections, Updates, & Other Stuff

I like to repurpose barely used planners – because I suck at using planners (but am getting better at it!). I can use them for outlines, or whatever I want. So… I was going through some the other night … and opened the page in one to February 2020. Every day had something written on it, from my daughter’s work schedule, to appointments, to promos for The Daddy Pact and A Prince on the Run. Those are affiliate links, by the way. Learn more about them here.

But my gaze was drawn first to the fourth, then to the fourteenth, and finally, to the eighteenth. The fourth was the day I learned about the skin cancer. Valentine’s Day was when I was admitted to the hospital, where I spent the next fifteen days. And the eighteenth was when I had emergency surgery for colon cancer.

A month of anniversaries. And as I gazed at everything I’d had planned for that month, then thought about how those plans had been thrown out the window, I felt a little … I don’t know. Maybe melancholy?

It feels like so much longer ago than a year. It also reminds me of a few things. That even in a perfect world, life is too short. That improving health should be huge priority. And that you just never know what might happen, so make the most of every day. Spend time with the people you love, and doing what’s important to you. Because sometimes, you don’t get a second chance. Thank God, I did.

One thing really hit home today – again. I was watching a YouTube video by Keto Rewind. I like her channel because she’s always so upbeat and has great tips that motivate me to keep the sugar and carbs out of my diet – which will be a key in helping to prevent a recurrence of the cancer. For those who don’t know it, glucose (sugar and high glycemic carbs) feed a number of different cancers, and colon cancer is one of them.

I also feel better when I’m eating low carb. More energy, more motivation. But because of Oreo, another heartbreaking event, and just everything that’s going on in the world today, I spent much of January eating things I shouldn’t. Not very smart, I know, but I did. Already dealing with stress and sadness over everything that happened, the sugars and carbs pretty much wiped me out. And last month’s plans? Let’s just say that while I made progress, it wasn’t as much as I’d have liked. It’s hard to accomplish much when you’re dragging because the wrong foods deplete your energy.

But thanks to the Keto Rewind and blog, I’m back on track. Just a few days eating low carb again and I’m feeling better – and sleeping better.

Just quickly, a couple of things that really help me stay on track with keto/low carb: Lily’s semi-sweet chocolate chips (another affiliate link). Most of the other varieties of Lily’s contain chicory root, which gives me the mother of all stomachaches. But the semi-sweet? I doubt anyone could tell the difference between those and the ‘regular’ ones.

The second thing is a mug’ brownie recipe I found a few months ago. Most seem to use almond flour, and I just have never really an almond flour dessert I liked. Not as much as this one, which uses coconut flour instead. And when I melt the Lily’s chocolate chips with the butter and cream, then use my stick blender to mix the rest into it? Oh my word! It’s fabulous. I’ve also made a keto German chocolate frosting (pecan/coconut) for it a couple of times. SO good!

Ignore how yucky the bowl looks please. You mix and nuke it in the same container. In my opinion, it makes two servings, not one, so I do it in a cereal bowl and save half for another meal. But just look at how great the brownie itself looks! Does it taste and feel 100% like a ‘real’ brownie? Nope. But it’s super good, low carb, and sugar free!

But enough about that…

The updates? The Weko prequel is nearly finished. The newsletter signup on the new newsletter site? Still trying to figure that out. It shouldn’t be much longer though.

The other stuff? My granddaughter is a HUGE fan of Tiny Tim Adventures on YouTube. Especially one where he puts on a hard to remove facial mask. She giggles up a storm over that one (and NEVER gets tired of watching it – unlike me). But the one we watched last night? I literally laughed until my sides ached and I had tears in my eyes. So I thought I’d share it here. And then I’m going to watch it again. For the third time. 🙂

Like Be the first one who likes this post!
This entry was posted in Love and tagged , , , , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

Leave a Reply