Kickin' It Keto Style

        The Redmond House will always be home to me. Anyone who knows me knows that I loved it there and I speak about it often with such heartfelt memories. I loved that the kitchen stretched the whole distance of the house. I loved that the dining room was nestled behind an 80 foot window where you could sit while watching the squirrels play. I loved the living room was just the right amount of space for my cat, Midnight and I to lay on the floor together, watch t.v. while enjoying the cozy fireplace that held the tea kettle that had a slightly rusted ring on the bottom, worn but still served us the hottest of water for the best hot chocolate anywhere within hundreds of miles. I love there was a huge carport with a "shed/garage" that was the serious work place of my Grandfather where the wheel barrow leaned against the entering wall just waiting to catch any tool that leapt from its resting place between the two carefully  placed nails. Other then that fact of...

     Serious matters of the Heart. I have 5 Children. The youngest 24 and the oldest 33. The other three are in-between  those ages. Obviously . My question is: How long is to long before you relax and let go of their hand?      Growing up, I never understood why my Grandmother would walk to pick me up from High School OR how she would watch me at 18 years old cross our much less then busy street to get the mail OR how whenever I went anyplace whether it was out with friends or on a date, I would always have to call to check in with her. I only know I hated it. I. Hated. It. I was always so embarrassed  when someone would ask me why she always had her eyes on me. I could never explain but to answer with "You know how old people are."  As I got older nothing changed she still would make me call and check in. Jeeze! Come on Grandma. I am married now but she wouldn't hear of that or any other excuses. I still had to call & let her know where...

        Growing up in The Redmond House with my Grandparents was more then a blessing. I will play that phrase on repeat as much as I feel the need to through out my adult life. I didn't know it at the time but the lessons that I would be using years later were all things they seemed to teach me on the sly because if I knew back then I was learning something, I surely would have set the "lessons" out.      My Grandfather was the most wonderful man. He was kinder then the bees to the rose petals and more gentle then any old grizzly bear. He was the kind of man that you had no trouble believing he was a hero. The kind they talk of when they say "When God made "you/him" he broke the mold." I know there were more times then I could count that I drove him to the brink of insanity yet he never let on that I was just 2 hands away from being choked out on many occasions.       Every Sunday you could catch him dancing down the hall in his wh...

        In all honesty, don't you think Washington State has suffered enough? Oh! I guess not so lets just pile on a heat wave so strong that other parts of the World can feel it as well.  Alright. Enough complaining about it. For now. My X *cough husband used to say to me that if I shut my mouth it would drop the temperature  about 20* so whatever.      I thought today I would do a little something different with my writings. Usually I engage in talks of things like memories and such but this time I thought  I would give you a small treat, doing a Question & Answer so you could get to know me a little better. Not to be rude or anything of the sort and if I am then I apologize  a head of time for it but y'all might wanna feel a little privileged because I truly do NOT share myself with anyone. Somethings maybe but everything ... No. Not now nor ever. You might think by reading some of these Q & A that you will be able to say...

       Growing up in The Redmond House, I always believed was much better then other places I had seen or was able to visit. Everything there seemed larger then life & fairy tale perfect. Our house was almost "the White picket fence" dream type only the boards around my home were stained a Redwood color. I lived up a long windy road which mind you I just HATED to walk back to from school during the pre-Summer vacation days. The back yard was huge! 80 feet of window stretched from the kitchen to the Livingroom where you could sit inside watching the squirrels, possums & racoon play. We had a hammock that tied from one tree to the other so that when it got really hot the shade of the old maple would let you think it was always a cool, crisp Autumn day. There were cherry trees, plum trees and a old worn circular dirt path my dog used to run on. We had a grape arbor, a swimming pool and a slightly rusted shed that held torn boxes of things that once were des...

             Summer has always reminded me of memories like those from an old trunk being opened that was found in the garage before moving. Memories that are so bitter-sweet they can make you smile while crying. The best of days, the favorite part of nights and all the moments in-between.      We all have that one "favorite" Summer where everything comes flooding back. The best stories kept secret held close to our hearts. My favorite Summer's always pull me back into the 1980s. Heck if truth be told, everything takes me back to that decade. That wonderful, perfect, carefree, top of the World time when the temperature only hovered in the high 70s and the swimming pool was but a reach away. Green grass as far as the eye could see. Old worn faded out lawn chairs. Bottles of Sun-In with a perfectly placed Playboy Head sticker (you know, just to make sure you were getting your burn on) & KJR blaring out tunes so loud you swear you ...

  I can tell it's Summer. The heat penetrates my skin turning it from Winter white to a Caramel brown glow. Dogs bark around me at mysterious birds that can not be seen through watery crystal eyes. Kids scream as splashing echo's through my blank mind taking me home to my childhood with a thirst that is unable to be quenched without submerging myself into a dirty lake full of water with a zillion other people foiling with comradery. I dislike water. I dislike getting wet. A hot ball continues to burn in the sky like that of 1,000 fireworks every July 4th. Footballs swish past leaving slight breezes in their trail. The scent of watermelon dances through the stagnant air. It is beautiful.  I am not found of this Season. How many days until Autumn? For that my friend is where my being alive truly takes place.                                                 ...

       Todays reflection.  Sitting in my chair as the scent of Pumpkin Pecan Waffles pushes past me. It is getting late. I am tired. This is my way to wind down before sleep. Most say to stay away from television and or the computer/cell phone screen awhile before bed, that is not for me though. This is my calm after a hectic day.      Word is this next week is going to be in the high 90s. Again something I am not nor will not be fond of. Ever. The heat. It's not for me. I am told an air conditioner is being delivered tomorrow. Still even though there will be a chill within the walls, the sun will continue to beat down until it is twilight, I will remain suffering. Today though, it was only in the upper 70s so that meant it was still a fine time to get outside for awhile. The bit sun I partook in made my tan turn a little more red then brown. It wasn't for long. No burns this time. After awhile though of listening to children's screams rip th...

             Ground Hogs Day 2022 - Have you ever lived the same thing over and over again thinking it might never end? Wondering if it will ever end. Hoping that it never does end? Que in (movie) Ground Hogs Day but not the one from yesteryear, the one from here in the now.      Each evening as night falls swallowing my surroundings in a darkened black hug much like that of the happiness found within the darkroom that is my life. ;) Slumber holds my shoulders tightly to the bed where dreams fly, "I'll get you my pretty" spearing through my mind.  I am sure I sound like Ozzy after biting the head off that bat (ugh!) but be it known that this is nothing as uncolorful. I am simply referring  to Keto-ing through the days. Don't get me wrong, I love my Zero to No Carb way of eating but somedays it just seems to continue on repeat like a favorite old 45 covered in dust now.        I am not talking about the ...

       Can anyone please enlighten me on the fact why it is we need to consume enough water in a day to be able to house 7 Whales & 3 Dolphins comfortably? Don't get me wrong but come on: the Mayo Clinic feels we should be drinking 1/2 a gallon a day. Seriously? Like 12 cups. I can barely force down 2 but I am needing to add 10 more to that? Whos idea is this for real?        I understand that water is good for you. Somewhere like in the range of 60% of it makes up our bodies. So, if our bodies are made of 60% water WHY is it still so crucial to keep adding more to it? Mmmm, Save the Goldfish, okay?      I get it, like I said but here is another point: everyday foods we consume contain water. Check this out and try not to be as baffled as I am. 1.  Watermelon is 92% water 2.  Strawberries are 91% water 3.  Cantaloupe is 90% water 4.  Cucumbers are 95% water 5.  Lettuce is 96%      The list...

        In my house it is never quiet. Something always has one of the kids screaming like they just encountered A Figure Four from Ric Flair, himself. I don't get it but honestly & secretly there are days I wish that, that wrestling move was more on the end of a Throat Chop. JUST KIDDING! I will never understand why everything has to start with chaos and I won't say end with it because here it is like a ball rolling down hill after hill never coming to rest. No. Rest. Ever. If Oakley isn't throwing things threw the air like he is trying out for a shot as the newest Mariner's Pitcher it is Lucee' screeching at the top of her lungs thinking that is the best way to get to meet Simon on America's Got Talent. * Shaking my head: I don't know? I won't even add the two newest additions being the kittens into the mix. The ones who jump on the cat tree to lunge towards the television, knocking down any and all things that cross their paths. The ones who jump ...

             Do you ever think about it? When the night is still, your breath dancing on the light frosty covered breeze gliding from star to star. Do you ever crave it? When you feel like hope is but a word that someone who was a little to happy just might have made up.  In the middle of Summer when there seems no end in sight to the day after day 90* heat strokes. Do you look for  it? Do you look for Christmas and wonder where it is?     Growing up in The Redmond House, Christmas was always a guaranteed  happy place for me. The very moment the last piece of turkey was made into a final sandwich & the last bite of pumpkin pie crumbs were consumed - Christmas started at home. Home. What a blessing it was. I lived in a huge house or at the time it was huge to me. I loved it. Every moment of it. Every memory left behind from it. Though  it was "only" a three bedroom it seemed like the eating area went on forever. We live...

     Today was nothing out of the ordinary. It was another "to warm" of a Summers day for me. I enjoyed it none the less. Or at least the best I could with little droplets of water that might have been sweat taunting me.   This was the day that was marked on the calendar to go into Monroe to pick up our Evergreen State Fair tickets for this years fun. Such a great idea so I will give kudos to whoever used their brain to follow through with the thought: All you need to do is bring 5 cans of non-perishable food items to trade for one admission on your weekday of choice. Now, I remember when the fair barely cost much to get in yet now it is quadruple that price. Sad too. It is so much smaller now. I was always so excited to go as a child. I swear that it would take the whole day to go through everything. Hours upon hours of walking. Hoping to take it all in before the Ferris Wheels lights were turned off for the night. I never was much one for the rides. I jus...

         Closing time. Another day just about coming to an end. The sky is turning one of my favorite colors of gray. The kind that when you look out at it, you think of Winter and snow. The temperature is starting to dip now just like the sun that is waving adieu before being shaken awoke by dawns breaking song.      I am once more swayed to somehow talk another line or so about Keto. I assume because right now that is my subject of passion. That is okay with me. I let it consume my being each hour of the day. I like it. I like knowing things. I like letting people know that I know things also.  My topic today is Bang! 3:16 but not the Bang! 3:16 as in the famous Stone Cold - McMahon war from the Attitude Era. I promise you, you do NOT want to get me started on that one and anyone know knows me knows my opinion about that SOB so ... lets get to the real barn burner that I want to discuss tonight.       Bang! Energy D...