#225 Nomad Diary. 8-14 February 2025. My Tempo. Rest. Enjoy Family. Enjoy Friends. Enjoy Learning Watercolor.

Owen (3 yrs + 5 mos) Sitting Next to Grandpa at Our Athens Airbnb

Geese on the Reflective Pond View from Our Airbnb in Athens, Alabama

Watercolor Supplies From My Class with Artist Friend Dawn Rosengren

Dawn and Me at Her Class with Young Budding Artist Girls!

Dawn and Me with Her Budding Artists Watercolor Class

Saturday. 8. This morning Eric, Erin, Owen and Esther came over for breakfast. Darrell made pancakes. We enjoyed their company and visited for a couple of hours. It was a beautiful time. 

Sunday. 9. We had a beautiful time worshipping God with others at church this morning. The building was about full and the congregational singing touched my heart. In the early evening we went to dinner at a church friend’s house. There was the couple we had over for Friday night! So we all enjoyed our dinner that Darby had cooked for us and sitting around the table asking questions about each other and telling some of our life stories. 

Monday. 10. Tonight we went to a gospel meeting at Parkway church of Christ. Our friend Alton was preaching. We went back on Tuesday night too. We met Alton and his wife Diana (pronounced Dinah), 2-3 years ago at an online Bible class with the Tunbridge Wells, England church of Christ. All of us have been to that church in England and also attend their online class. It’s great to see Alton and Diana in person when we come to this area of Alabama. They are always so nice to invite us to meet up and have a meal together. 

Tuesday. 11. I went to my sleep doctor today for the results of my sleep study. It was great news. I’m having some episodes of apnea, but they are in the mild range. The biggest reveal was that my apnea seems to be positional and show up when I’m on my back. So he said I could try to learn to side sleep to reduce my apnea episodes. That made me happy that I’m in this range. I made an appointment in one year to come back for a check up. It is hard to get an appointment with this doctor so I got on the calendar. After this we went to play with Owen and Esther for a while before lunch. It was so nice to enjoy these little ones. 

Wednesday. 12. We went to play with our grandchildren Owen and Esther between breakfast and lunch. Darrell had his check up and blood report with his doctor today. It was a very good report. Last August or September he was told he had NAFL (non-alcoholic fatty liver) because of the liver enzyme numbers on his blood work. The doc told him to lose 10% of his body weight to correct it. Darrell had never dieted before, but I have often throughout my life. I got him started on a food and diet tracking app. Darrell researched what he had and how to go about this dieting and losing 20-30 pounds with being able to keep the changes and live with the changes. He discovered that he wasn’t eating enough protein. He focused on increasing his protein and how. I helped a bunch with what I know about foods and how to make it work. I also discovered that I wasn’t eating enough protein either. I decided to suspend all of my apprehensions over this more meaty diet. We began with eating much lower fat meats. We increased fiber. Our diet has morphed some since we began. Darrell’s lab was good with no more fatty liver showing up. He’s lost almost 20 pounds. I’ve lost almost 10 pounds following higher protein and fiber. I’ve discovered that my threshold of protein at a meal is over 30 grams. What I mean as my threshold is that I need at least 30 grams of protein to feel satisfied. During January, several months into our dieting and weighing and measuring meal components I found a diet called 90-30-50. It’s close to what we are doing and I’d never considered this because of the amount of protein and my bent to try to eat low meat and more veggies. The diet is 90 grams protein (or more), 30 grams fiber (or more), and 50 grams of healthy fats (avocado, ev olive oil, etc.). I’ve been hitting closer to 100 grams of protein. I use my tracking app to show me what my meal nutrients are and where I am for each meal and for the day. During this 5 months of dieting, my bladder issues have cleared up. I’ve lost close to 10 pounds. I had an eyelid problem that I will call a wart for way more than 10 years and it’s gotten much much better! I’ve discovered that I resisted eating this much protein and meat for much of my life. While I still love veggies and the healthful promises of all the alternative diets, I have been benefitting in my protein/fiber diet. I’ve learned that eating 35-40 grams of protein is very satisfying for me and keeps me most of the time to my next meal. So for now, I’m continuing with this and so is Darrell. 

Thursday. 13. Mid morning I packed up a lunch of turkey sandwiches and drove 45 minutes to Green Mountain in Huntsville to visit my friend Kim. Kim, I had seen on facebook, was staying at home for at least 2 weeks or more. She is in recovery from a recent surgery at Vanderbilt in Tennessee. We spent time together having lunch, and catching up between us. 

Friday. 14. I went to a watercolor art class given by my friend Dawn Rosengren. She’s a watercolor artist and in the past few years she’s become a fabric designer. She was telling me about giving art classes to some young girls and I asked if I could come to the class and learn too. She let me come and I had a wonderful time learning some watercolor basics and getting ideas too!! The girls were so wonderful at listening and learning. They taught me to sit and be quiet and learn! Lol. 

Nomad Notes. My tempo seems off. What I mean by that is I feel off, out of sync. For a couple of days I haven’t been breathing deeply and well. I get a good deep breath every so often and when I’m stretching and exercising too. I’m into an old pattern of feeling sad and tired. I want to retreat into myself and shut out the world at the same time I want to go-go-go. I’ve enjoyed my social times: having phone calls with friends, eating out with friends and family, hosting meals at our house here (3 in two weeks), setting up my calendar to visit with friends in person and taking a beginner watercolor art class. I’ve enjoyed my quiet times with Darrell and taking long, medium and short walks together. I enjoy it. I enjoyed it. This is my self-perception and I pray and ask God to make me ok with me today, to grow me in Him, to be content and daily do good in Him. 

“Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” I Thes 5:23