christins73's Friends

Soo sorry for the unexpected absence. I'll explain later

Long story short - I went the doctor and they admitted me to the hospital with congestive heart failure.  That was some surprise!  I had no time to let anybody know.

I should write an essay on how to drop 10 pounds of water weight in 2 days.  It involves a lot of nurses and an IV of diuretic.  I don't think it will sell.

Talk to you all later!

The Post Impressionists - Paul Cezanne

Father of the Artist Reading L'Evenment ~ Paul Cezanne
(an early work which received harsh criticism)

Paul Cezanne January 19, 1839 - October 22, 1906) was a French artist and Post-Impressionist painter whose work laid the foundations of the transition from the 19th century conception of artistic endeavour to a new and radically different world of art in the 20th century. Cezanne can be said to form the bridge between late 19th century Impressionism and the early 20th century's new line of artistic enquiry, Cubism. The line attributed to both Matisse and Picasso that Cezanne "is the father of us all" cannot be easily dismissed.

Cezanne's work demonstrates a mastery of design, colour, composition and draftsmanship. His often repetitive, sensitive and exploratory brushstrokes are highly characteristic and clearly recognisable. He used planes of colour and small brushstrokes that build up to form complex fields, at once both a direct expression of the sensations of the observing eye and an abstraction from observed nature. The paintings convey Cezanne's intense study of his subjects, a searching gaze and a dogged struggle to deal with the complexity of human visual perception.  (Paul Cezanne,.org)

 Yesterday I ended up staying in because I didn't feel well.  I was so short of breath after my shower that I put on clean PJs and went back to bed.  Once again, my doctor is nagging me because I delayed my blood test.  The weather forecast today is pretty bad, so I know I have to get over there and get it done early. 

I didn't do too badly with eating, at around 1200 calories for the day, a grade of A, and ok nutrition.  I changed the menu around and didn't cook, just warmed things up in the microwave and ate cold things.  Supper was cottage cheese, melba toast, V8 juice and fruit. 

Plan for today - get that blood test, drop in on my mother, and then take it easy.  I think I'll call my cardiologist and try to figure out why I'm so short of breath.  I'm still retaining a lot of fluid, so it could be a little congestive heart failure.  He could maybe adjust my dosage of diuretic - that's all they'd do in the ER anyway.

Menu for today - hot cereal of some kind for breakfast.  Am Snack - banana.  Lunch - chili with extra bell peppers and a tortilla.  PM snack - tangerine.  Supper - veggie platter - baked potato with yogurt, steamed mixed vegetables from the freezer, beet salad.  Extra snack - cocoa

I'm starting to read the Marian Zimmer Bradley books in sequence.  I'm hoping that I'll be able to just get lost in a book the way I used to.  I'll try not to get distracted by that very old Clifford Simak in the book bag.  The temptation to start multiple books is there, like the urge to snack.

Today - watch the weather and be safe. 

Pont de l'Europe ~ Gustave Caillebotte

This painting shows Parisian life on the street with an industrial background. 

Caillebotte was a painter of great originality. Like the Impressionists, Caillebotte pursued an instant of vision, recording it with detail. Caillebotte attempted to portray the rhythms of an industrial society with regimented figures and the detailed precision of his Paris. In this aspect, he was very much like the Realists.

Wealthy and generous, Caillebotte supported his Impressionist friends and collected their work. 

In 1876 he drew up a will providing money for an Impressionist exhibition to be held after his death, and bequeathing his collection of Impressionist paintings to the State. This bequest was made on the condition that the paintings should first be exhibited in the Luxembourg (the museum dedicated to the work of living artists), and later to the Louvre. He intended that the State should not hide the paintings away in an attic.

Later in life, he became less interested in art, giving it up almost entirely to pursue his interests in gardening and yachting. However, his collections of Impressionist paintings were donated to the state upon his death, and now form part of the Impressionist collection of present-day France.

Bill came over yesterday and took me shopping.  It was such a help having someone to lug the heavy cat litter.  Now I'm pretty much stocked up and ready for any kind of weather. 

He also brought my my first installment of science fiction books.  There are going to be a lot of them!  I've got Marian Zimmer Bradley, Andre Norton, Clifford Simak and a few others, about 15 books.  I guess I'd better start reading!  When I'm done with them they go to Tim, who was Rob's best man at the wedding. 

I did better with my menu and reached almost 1300 calories.  If I can do that consistantly I know the weight will drop off.  I need to improve in the nutrition department though.  I was too high in fat and didn't get enough calcium or vitamin A. 

Plan for today - get my protime test as early as possible then visit my mother, maybe for lunch.  If I have the energy I'll do a load of laundry before it piles up.  I'd like to start a pot of vegetable broth too, since I have a odds and ends of things. 

Menu for today - breakfast - Uncle Sam cereal with skim milk and banana.  Am Snack - cheese and a pear.  Lunch - sardine sandwich with carrot sticks.  PM snack - tangerine.  Supper - braised pork chop, millet pilaf, green beans.  Extra snack - cocoa.

Today, eat right.   (actually, do that every day)

I got off to a very slow start yesterday.  I guess I didn't get enough sleep.  I finally made it over to my mother's at 1 pm.  My brother was there, just returning from the funeral of the eldest of my father's sisters.  Mom was in a weepy mood.  However, one of Dad's sister in laws and her son said they would stop by on their way back home.  That perked her up.  I stuck around to see my aunt and cousin.  She's one of these petite, very pretty Italian women and she hasn't changed much - certainly doesn't look 88.  She and my mother were good friends while we kids were small, then they moved to New Jersey and we hardly ever saw them.  By the time they left it was time for supper, so I stayed and we fixed a quick meal.  I got home by 6:30 and fell asleep in front of the tv.

Yesterday's menu - I couldn't finish my breakfast quesadilla and didn't want my snacks.  I finished the day under 1200 cal, which I could have fixed, but just wasn't hungry.

Plan for today = Bill is coming to take me grocery shopping and help me with heavy stuff like cat litter.  That's the only plan.

Menu for today -  breakfast - yogurt & Uncle Sam cereal.  AM snack - tangerine.  Lunch - miso soup with soba noodles and vegetables.  PM snack - whatever fruit I buy.  Supper - piece of roast chicken from the freezer, brown rice, steamed snap peas and carrots.  I might make Asian peanut sauce to go on the rice and vegetables.  Extra snack - hot cocoa if I want it.

Have a peaceful Sunday! 

(art will continue on Monday)

My plans yesterday didn't work out. Gale had to switch weeks and won't be here until next week.  Just as I got ready to go out, it started snowing hard, so I stayed in.  I did get two loads of laundry done, but not put away. 

As for eating - I didn't feel like having what I'd planned and ended up nibbling and not knowing what I'd had.  I'm having a hard time getting back to my regular meal plan.  I think it's because I've had no appetite for months and the weight just came off no matter what I ate because it wasn't much.  Now, the appetite is back but not the discipline.  I think I'm going to have to resort to fixing everything and having it ready, then putting a schedule on the refrigerator as I did when I first started.  I know that if I don't do something fast, I'm going to end up gaining back weight. 

Plan for today - prepare my meals and snacks.  Visit my mom. Saturday is going to be the day I set up her meds for the week from now on.  Buy some milk and produce. 

Menu - breakfast - folded quesadilla made with 1 yellow corn tortilla, 2 scrambled egg whites, 1/2 oz cheese, salsa and sweet onion. (put everything on a hot tortilla, fold it over and toast on both sides.)
AM snack - yogurt.  Lunch - chili from the freezer.  PM snack - tangerine (easy to carry with me)  Supper - chicken, carrots, brussels sprouts, quinoa pilaf.  Extra snack - hot cocoa

I'm going back to bed now to catch a little more sleep, but I'll be back later to visit your journals.

Portrait of Manet ~ Henri Fantin-Latour, 1867

Manet chose to pose as a bourgoise gentleman rather than the renegade artist he was perceived to be.

What is the Salon des Refusés ?

The Salon des Refusés (Salon of the Rejected) was an art exhibition in Paris.

In the 1860s, artists of the nascent realist and impressionist movements submitted over 4000 works to the Salon de Paris, the official exhibition sponsored by the Académie des Beaux-arts, only to be rejected. The resultant complaints of bias and the immense attention from the press led French emperor Napoleon III to allow the rejected works to be displayed in a separate exhibition. It is said that he walked past the rejected paintings and said 'I don't see a difference'. And so the Salon des Refusés was born.

The first Salon des Refusés in 1863 invited art-works rejected for display at the Salon de Paris.

With over 4000 works from 687 artists the Salon des Refusés was considered to be of low quality. The two paintings who were ridiculed the most were Édouard Manet's "Le déjeuner sur l'herbe" (The Luncheon on the Grass) and James Abbott McNeill Whistler's "The White Girl". It is important to note that back then these paintings were very unconventional, something that hasn't been seen before. Today these paintings are symbols of that time and remain absolute masterpieces.

Other famous artists who showed at the Salon des Refusés include Henri Fantin-Latour, Paul Cézanne, Armand Guillaumin, Johan Jongkind, and Camille Pissarro, Edgar Degas, Berthe Morisot and many more.

Salon des Refusés was held in 1874, 1875 and 1886. In 1881 the government withdrew official sponsorship, and a group of artists organised the Société des Artistes Français to take responsibility for the Salon de Paris. 

(from Art in the Picture ) 

I had a very quiet New Year's Day with just my mother, my aunt and my brother.  We fixed a very simple, homey supper of angelhair pasta dressed with oil and garlic, fried red peppers, chicken cutlets and a salad.  As usual, I planned to eat as much pasta as I wanted, and as usual lately, only ate about a cupful.  I'm still amazed that I achieved that kind of automatic portion control, what with my big appetite.  Now it's back to basics for me.

Plan for today - Gale should be here early this morning.  I need to go to the store for fresh foods and plan to invite my friend, Mamie.  Mamie is going to have a stent put in her heart next week and I know she needs easy to fix meals.  After that, I'm staying home.

Menu for today - breakfast - oatmeal with raisins and milk.  AM snack - yogurt.  Lunch - chili from the freezer and a corn tortilla.  PM snack - tangerines.  Supper - chicken, sweet potato, broccoli.  Extra snack - hot cocoa.

Today really is the next day of your life.  Make the most of it. 

Hey, Happy New Year everyone!

All is well.  Family is great.  Kids are delish - even after today's snow day, believe it or not - and the only negative is that I'm still fat.  Oh, well.  Working on it, yeah.  What else is new.

How is everyone doing?  I miss being around here!

Mme Monet and her son in their garden at argenteuil, 1874 ~ Auguste Renoir

Renoir was a specialist of human figures among the Impressionist artists; he was an admirer of what was beautiful in the human body and what was pleasurable in human life. Dance halls, concerts, cafes -- were all his favorite subjects.

By 1873, Renoir became a frequent visitor at Claude Monet's home in Argenteuil.  Freed from the desire to make paintings that would match the Salon standards, he assimilated Monet's techniques. Artistically he moved to Monet's aesthetic sensibilities.  Renoir created brilliant surfaces made up of small dabs of pigment applied with uniform brushstrokes in his paintings of that period; the dappled sunlight effects were also executed through his feathery brushwork and colored shadows. (exerpted and edited from http://gallery.sjsu.edu/paris/breaking_away/index.html)

 I ended up staying home yesterday.  I talked to everybody on the phone and both the physical therapist and the home health aid were there right after lunch.  I'll be going over today to stay with Mom while my brother takes my aunt to the store. 

I did two loads of laundry and while that was going, went to the monthly birthday party in the community room, where I blew my food plan away.  They had ice cream cake and I ate a regular size piece with a cup of coffee.  The social part of it was nice and the timing was perfect.  I left that room, walked a few steps and got my laundry out of the dryer, then up the elevator home.  I do like this aparment living.  I didn't feel like supper so I nibbled on grapes, carrots and celery, then had cheese and crackers.

Plan for today -  Visit Mom and have lunch there.  At home, pay bills and get them all in the mail.  I'm invited to a private party in the community room from 5 to 7 pm, then home and fall asleep in front of the TV as the ball drops.

Menu for today - Late Breakfast - oatmeal with raisins & milk.  No AM snack.  Early lunch at Mom's - whatever they have.  PM snack - tangerine.  Supper - that leftover salmon, a baked potato and those leftover brussels sprouts - last chance to eat up the leftovers!  Extra snack - yogurt.

Time to reflect on the last year and look forward to the new. 

Mary Cassatt was exposed to art early on, first by traveling in Europe with her family and then studying art at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts as a young woman.

She continued to travel on her own and then moved permanently to Paris in her thirties. There she became influenced by—and directly involved in—the Impressionist movement.

Summertime ~ Mary Cassatt

Time for a little catch up.  For those who asked about miso soup - miso is a Japanese staple food made from fermented soy beans.  One of its uses is a broth of miso and a piece of kombu, a thick seaweed.  This is strained and is either served plain or with little pieces of tofu and thinly sliced vegetables.  It's salty.  The minerals and vitamins in it help with energy, immunity and benefits the bones and blood vessels. It does affect the thyroid which is why I'm only drinking 1/2 cup.   Japanese people drink it every day.  I found prepared miso soup at Whole Foods, their store brand, in a quart carton.

My cocoa recipe:  to heaping teaspoon of unsweetened cocoa powder, add a teaspoon of any sweetner and 1/4 cup of water.  stir together and heat in the microwave, stirring frequently, until it boils up and gets thick.  Stir hot fat free milk into this.  Watch out because it will boil over and make a mess.  You can add a little vanilla extract or cinnamon.

I got a lot done yesterday after a late start.  I visited my mom, got my blood test, got cash from the bank including some quarters for laundry, remembered to buy stamps and picked up a prescription.  At home I have a big pile of mail and documents all sorted ready to take care of.  I also did a load of laundry after supper.  I think some of my energy is back.

My Christmas present arrived - a Cuisineart combo blender food processor.  I got it with my accumulated rewards points from my credit card.  It has one base and two tops with blade assemblys.  I thought that might be space saving.  I especially like the wide mouth blender.  The food processor might be a little small, but it looks adequate for what I need.

 Plan for today - do another load of laundry or two.  Pay and mail some bills.  Visit my mom at lunchtime in the hopes of meeting the physical therapist.  That's about it.

Menu for today - breakfast - oatmeal with raisins.  AM snack - grapes.  Lunch - a sandwich?  PM snack - tangerine or carrots & yogurt dip.  Supper - salmon again with baked potato and brussels sprouts.