business, with a little vacation mixed in

A couple weeks ago I went on a business trip to California. I took my cousin with me. Just as I did last time (2015), I tacked on a few extra days so I can see some sights and have a little relaxation time. It's been a rocky year, so we both needed the down time.

Before the trip I took some precautions to minimize back pain, since I knew a 6+ hour flight, followed by three days at a conference, and then another plane ride back would be hard on me. I took the steroids the doctor prescribed, used my back brace as much as possible, tried to keep moving, and brought the Percocet along in case I really needed it. My back was mostly OK for the week, although the plane rides were tough! I'll post another update on my back soon.

The view from our hotel room.
The pool was surprisingly quiet all week.

We left on Sunday at 7:30 am our time (EDT) and arrived in Palm Springs at 12:30 pm (PDT).  (Travelling backwards through the time zones is always a nice bonus on the first day, since it feels like the day lasts forever. It's usually nice while I'm at my destination, too, as I typically wake up earlier.) The airport at home was surprisingly busy and chaotic at 5:30 am, but we made it through the long baggage check line. We then lucked out by getting TSA PreCheck and were able to breeze through security pretty quickly. Our layover in Chicago was about an hour and 20 minutes, but it took awhile to get to the gate and off the plane, so we didn't have time to get a meal before we had to board the next plane. We ended up eating the cookies the airline hands out, which wasn't exactly a great meal for a WLS post-op. I was OK, though, as I just kept sipping my water.

Monday we visited The Living Desert, which is a zoo. The zoo was very nice and well-kept. There was a shuttle that you could take around the park. For $6.00 you could ride all day, hopping on and off as needed. My favorites were feeding the giraffe, and seeing the 14 year old porcupine, although he was sleeping the whole time, the meerkats, and the fossas. I'd never heard of a fossa, but it was cute and somewhat cat-like. Every time the shuttle went by the enclosure, it would run along side us. As cute as it is, though, I've learned it's a top predator in Madagascar and will eat pretty much anything in the forest.

Pretty yellow flowers, which smelled so nice! You can find them throughout the park.

I got to feed a giraffe twice. The first time the worker was using my cell phone to take pictures; however, she must not have hit the right button because there were no pictures on my phone. So, I came back later and fed him again and got some good pictures--my cousin took the pictures this time! 

One of my ancestors. This is where my height comes from. ;)

Cute little meerkat. He sat this way for a longggg time!
They seem to have no problem staying focused for long periods of time.

This guy is so cute! 

Tuesday we did some shopping, though neither of us actually bought anything. We were amazed at how many consignment and thrift stores there are in that area. Being that it was very close to Palm Springs, we had high hopes that we would find some nice things. Meh, not so much. We both decided that we're not cut out for thrift store shopping, as we don't really have the patience or desire to comb through the racks for hours looking for the perfect item at a rock-bottom price.

Wednesday, Thursday and part of Friday I attended the business conference, so there's isn't much to say here. It was very informative, the food was great and it was very fast-paced.

Friday afternoon we drove through the Joshua Tree National Park. We started at the west entrance, which is actually the north end of the park, and exited through the south entrance.  It was a really nice ride, but you must appreciate the desert landscape in order to enjoy it. The weather was beautiful. I was surprised that it was cooler than in Palm Springs. It was about 75 degrees with a very nice breeze.  We stopped and took some pictures here and there. We made sure to use the bathroom before we entered the park, as there are no bathrooms within unless you're at a campground. There were lots of campgrounds, though much different from campgrounds I'm used to.  Here's a link to the maps on their website if you're interested in looking:  https://www.nps.gov/jotr/planyourvisit/maps.htm

A Joshua tree, for which the park is named.Sections of the park look like a Joshua tree forest, whereas others have just a couple here and there, or none at all.

Seems like a road to nowhere. Gorgeous scenery, though!

Saturday we packed up and headed back home. Unfortunately our flight taking off from Palm Springs was delayed 45 minutes due to weather in Chicago. Then when we got to Chicago, our flight home was delayed about an hour and half, which was good because there was severe weather:  torrential rain, lightning and high winds. Oh, and a tornado watch. The whole plan was rocking from the wind. I was really annoyed, though, because they put us on the plane knowing that severe weather was coming and we couldn't take off--it was already pouring rain outside--and made us sit on the tarmac for two hours. Then once we got moving, there were at least 10 planes ahead of us for takeoff. Obviously I'm glad we didn't take off during severe weather, but it was annoying that they didn't just have us wait in the airport and then board the plane when the weather started to improve. Anyway, instead of getting in at 10 pm, we got in around 12:30 am and we finally got to bed around 2 am. Between the time change and the late night, we were exhausted on Sunday.

So, that was my trip. We had a good time, saw some nice sights and spent some quality time together.

baked oatmeal: a newfound love

Never in my life had I heard of baking oatmeal until I started following Budget Bytes. I follow her on Facebook, as well as browsing her website from time to time. She has lots of budget-friendly recipes.

A couple weeks ago I saw on her Facebook page a recipe for what looked like a dessert:  Peanut Butter Brownie Baked Oatmeal.  It looked so delicious! I figured it would be loaded with sugar, but it called for only 1/4 cup of brown sugar.  She has lots of baked oatmeal recipes and most of them use bananas, unsweetened applesauce, or sweet potatoes as the main source of sweetness.

I decided to give it a try since I had all the ingredients on hand and I'd just bought a massive bag of thick-cut rolled oats.  It was really easy to put together. I think the most "strenuous" thing was mashing the bananas, and that only took a minute. The rest just gets tossed into the bowl and mixed, then milk added, then oats. Then you put it in a casserole dish and bake it for about 45 minutes. Baking time depends on the depth of your pan. I used a 2 quart smallish square dish and it took almost an hour to bake.

The results were delicious!! I tried a forkful right out of the hot pan; however, I've discovered I prefer it cold, sliced off like a brownie. The texture is much more like a brownie than it is oatmeal, though you could eat it warm or cold.  It's also very filling, especially for me since my stomach in so small.

One thing to note:  even though most of the sweetness comes from the bananas, it still has sugar. Anyone who is a WLS post-op and has an issue with sugar will need to test the waters as to how much you can eat at once. I find a can eat the standard brownie size, about 2" x 2", without an issue. (Note:  standard brownie size! Not pre-WLS brownie size, which typically meant almost half the pan back in the day.) 

Here's the recipe for the oatmeal I made last weekend:  Peanut Butter Brownie Baked Oatmeal.

And here are the search results for baked oatmeal:  Baked Oatmeal Search Results.

update: the war on back pain

I posted a while back about my chronic back pain and promised I'd give an update after my visit with the orthopedic doctor.

My appointment was on September 22. My doctor was so booked up that I had to take an appointment at his other office, which is an hour away. That meant sitting in the car for an hour each direction, and sitting is what aggravates the pain the most. So, needless to say, I felt just fabulous by the time I got to the office. But that wasn't a bad thing, because I was able to describe exactly where it hurts and how it feels. He looked at my records and saw that I'd already been through physical therapy a couple times with another doctor, chiropractic care off and on since I was maybe 12 or 13 years old, Celebrex and muscle relaxers. I told him I think it's time for an MRI and he agreed. I was happy he agreed; however, I was also a little nervous about the cost, because I'm now on an HSA and it's my first year. He recommended an open MRI facility, as it tends to be much less expensive than going to the hospital.

I had the MRI on September 28. That was...not fun. Not because of the machine--I'm not claustrophobic and it was an open MRI, anyway--but because I had to lay on my back on a hard table and not move for 25 minutes. The tech put a cushion under my knees, but it didn't help all that much. After three minutes on the table, my lower back was in a lot of pain. It just got worse as the MRI went on. The first picture was 30 seconds, which was fine. The second was three minutes and it felt like double that. Then when he said the next two pictures would be six minutes each, I very seriously considered hitting the call button to tell him I couldn't continue. The three minute picture seemed to go forever, and now I'd have to suffer through four times the amount of time! But I thought about it and realized that I'd just have to come back again, or not have it done at all, which would likely mean no answers as to what's going on back there, which ultimately means no relief.  I decided to just close my eyes and zone out as much as I could. I alternated that with staring at the top of the machine, which seemed to be less than six inches from my face. They gave me earphones so I could listen to the satellite radio station of my choice (Hair Nation!), but I couldn't hear it because the machine was so loud. By the time I was done, I was in so much pain the tech had to help me up. (I seriously almost  cried, and I wanted, but I didn't. I guess I just felt overwhelmed with the current pain and just feeling exhausted in general from having pain all the time.) I was walking slow and hunched over for a bit, and my back was wrecked the rest of the day. All I did for my workout that day was 30 minutes of walking, plus some squats and lunges.

I came home with a disc of the MRI pictures, so I decided to take a look. Yes, I was Internet diagnosing myself all weekend after that; Google is such a rabbit hole! I concluded that I have at least two discs that are bulging, herniated AND deteriorating. LOL But all kidding aside, it really did look like I had a couple of bulging discs.  Here are a couple of the pictures. Pretty fascinating stuff. And I'm happy to see I have ab muscles. ;) Or maybe it's just my skin I'm seeing. We'll just say they're my abs.

I went back to the ortho Wednesday so he could read the MRI. Guess what? I DO have two bulging discs! I also have an annular tear.  It sounded super serious, like some terrible injury. Turns out it's pretty common, especially as you *cough* get older. (UGH I hate saying that!) Just part of wear and tear on the back, although it can happen because of a sports injury or something similar. I have no idea when it happened. Since I definitely didn't have any kind of injury that would lead to it, it's likely been brewing for a while and it picked the last month or so to show itself.

So, my treatment will be as follows:  a methylprednisolone pack, which is 21 steroid pills taken over six days; Percocet for the pain, as needed; physical therapy; and then cortisone shots if none of that works. I started the steroid pack yesterday and I already feel a bit of relief in that I didn't wake up in terrible pain this morning. It was more of a dull ache.

I also need to take it easy with working out, which is something I really did not want to hear; it's hard enough to stay on track without being given permission to take it easy. I can work out, but I need to be careful with weights, jumping, etc. My trainer told me to eliminate burpees, squat jumps, jumping jacks, lifting any weight over my head, and anything else that could be considered high impact, like sprints. That's OK, though. There are still plenty of things I can do. My trainer will be having knee surgery next week, so my plan is to start PT the week of the 16th, after I get back from my business trip. Hopefully once he's ready to come back to the studio, I'll be well on my way to healing.

buttered balsamic mushrooms

I don't think there's any better side dish for a good steak than sautéed mushrooms. Actually, it's a toss-up between sautéed mushrooms and creamed spinach, but I think the mushrooms win--they're probably a little more healthy.

A few weeks ago I bought some shallots at the farm stand down the street, even though I didn't have a clue as to what I'd use them for. I know they're in the onion family and can be used the same way, but have a milder taste.They had been sitting on my counter for a while. I kept ignoring them, because I was being lazy and couldn't be bothered to Google a recipe.  I finally decided it was time to use them, though. Coincidentally, The Kitchn had a post that day for buttered mushrooms with shallots. It made my mouth water just looking at the picture of the gorgeous, glossy, buttery mushrooms, so I decided it was time to defrost a steak or two and make these to have on the side for dinner.

This recipe was really easy. What's nice is that you can use Worcestershire sauce if you don't have soy sauce, and that's what I did. Also, this recipe gave me a chance to use some of the rosemary in my garden. I would say this took closer to 30 minutes to cook, but my mushrooms were big and I like mine cooked well.

As you can see, they look pretty good. Although, not as good as the picture in the recipe link. Does anything ever come out looking as good as it does on the Internet??

Here's the recipe:  15-Minute Buttered Balsamic Mushrooms.

By the way, in the picture is my most favorite wooden spoon. It just seems perfect for just about everything:  it's the right size, it has a slanted edge to scrap up bits from the pan, and a shallow bowl for tasting.  Only $4.99 at Bed Bath and Beyond.