Weight and Exercise

The only downside of going  to the US for a vacation is the food for me. So, I was determined to watch what I ate and not gain weight during my fabuluous vacation. I did fine until Thanksgiving I think. Too many parties, more than usual drinking, less walking and too much food made me gain about 6 pounds between Thanksgiving and the New Year.

I love a good pizza and New York is the best place for it. I tried eating only one slice most of the time so, I have satisfied my pizza cravings without much damage.

I also love all those rich pasta dishes which I do not make or eat here in my own country. So, I decided to have pasta only at really good Italian places. Thus, I limited my consumption. Well this reminds me I must learn to make a good vodka sauce. I totally fell in love with that.

Other things that I miss and eat whenever I am in the US are, good burgers, Buffalo Wings, New England Clam Chowder, Lobster Rolls, cheesecake, cannolis and dumplings. I also love Dr. Pepper diet or not. I normally do not drink so much soda at home but I overdid that too:(

The good news is, I am back to my weight in August 2019 now! Yay! I did not do anything special for this. I am just eating the way I eat when I am home. I haven't been eating any sweets other than 70% cocoa chocolate. My uric acid level dropped back to the upper limit of the normal range which is great news.

I am going to start walking soon despite the cold weather. It is in the 30s and lower 40s here in Ankara but, it feels much colder than that. I will bundle up and just walk around the apartment complex that my mom now live in.

I feel good!

Reminders of Fragility

An earthquake hit a town in Eastern Turkey few days ago. 40 people lost their lives and there are many more under the rubble. Many people got severely wounded and a lot of people lost their homes due to severe damage.

Then came the news about Kobe Bryant and his daughter. Such a legend, so young. His daughter Gigi who wanted to carry on her dad's legacy and others who happened to be on the same helicopter...

Last week a young man, my friend's brother passed due to cancer. I have talked about that in a previous post.

Sting's song "Fragile" keeps playing in my mind.

Ups and downs in Life

Today I woke up to sad news. I have two old co-workers who are married to each other. We have been very good friends for years. The husband lost his brother to cancer late yesterday. He is also fighting cancer. I know the whole family and I am very sad. The guy who passed must be my age or may be a year or two older.

Meanwhile, I am going to see two of my babyhood friends over dinner tonight. Our dads were colleagues and we lived in the same area for years. When we get together, we always have a good time.

My mom must be feeling a lot better since she is doing some stuff around the apartment. Just a week ago, I was very concerned about her health.

My BIL's mother has been hospitalized twice due to a broken bone and she has been an invalid for a long time after two major strokes. The doctors told my BIL to be prepared for anything now because, they think her health is deterioriating rapidly.

My friend who owns the consultancy business I work from time to time has also been diagnosed with a form of arthritis at 55. She has been administered cortizoen as well. She is normally very active but now, she says she gets tired very easily.

Life has many twists and turns. We do not feel this during our daily routine but, once that routine is broken somehow, we just realize that, we are in fact very fragile.

Back breaking Cooking

Yesterday, I went grocery shopping. I bought chopped meat and various vegetables. My uncle cooks every day depending on what he feels like havng. I cannot do that. I like to cook larger batches and freeze some. This way, I always have ready to eat food on hand.

Now that mom is on a no salt diet, I decided to cook a bunch of stuff.

I started  at 1 p.m. and finished by 5:15 p.m. My back is killing me. 

I wanted stuffed grape leaves but since they come in a brine, I stuffed Swiss Chard for mom and grape leaves for uncle and me. I also made some meat balls. Cooked leek in olive oil and sauteed chopped meat for some Mexican food for later.

I have processed all the meat I have purchased. I think, I will make navy beans and rice at some point during the week. I still have some celery heads to be cooked with carrots and potatoes. I am in no rush to cook them. They keep well.

Phew! Now I have to clean up the kitchen but, I need to rest a little. I will clean up after dinner or may be uncle will do it. Lol!

No salt diet is very difficult for mom. I marinated some boneless chicken thighs in a cup of tangerine juice and a mixture of lots of cumin, thyme, black pepper and unsalted garlic powder. She liked that very much so, I see myself making that in the future. She asked me where I got the recipe for the marinade. Ummm... Depths of my own brain I guess. I totally winged it and it worked. How can you go wrong with any marinade anyway?

I am going to see some friends this week and am looking forward to it.

Mom Edition

I came to Ankara on Monday and took mom to the doctor on Tuesday. We ended up seeing a Chest Professor and a Rheumatology Professor. Blood tests, a chest X-Ray and a Tomogrophy later, she has been diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis and is put on a no-salt diet with a Cortizone Treatment. Initially, they suspected Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis and I almost had a heart attack.

Her breathing was terrible and both her hands were very swollen. If I were around, the moment those hands swelled up, she would have found herself at the doctors. My uncle and my sister could not make her go. She is stubborn but I am more so.

Already the swelling is considerably better and she is regaining use of her hands. I just cannot believe why she did not go to the doctor. Her coughing is still bad but, that will take time.

Now she is very unhappy because, she cannot eat salt. She loves all sorts of cheeses and she likes to sprinkle salt on her food. Bummer!

Hopefully, she will soon feel a lot better. Arthritis is a bad auto-immune disease but, that is so much better than the IPF.

Chaos!

I brought three checked suitcases with me and one carry-on. Yesterday, I started to open them up. I made a new suitcase for all the gifts and things I bought for my family and I still have a bunch of more stuff to pack. I am also doing laundry and hanging them up. The apartment is quiet dirty after being vacant for almost three months. I am hoping that the cleaning lady will come on Sunday but there is a slight chance that she might be busy. I will know on Saturday for sure. If she cannot come, I will dust a little bit and run the vacuum.

Today's goal is to re-pack everything I am taking to Ankara with me and put away the laundry.

I have also cooked a little so that I do not need to order food. I had groceries delivered yesterday so, I could cook today.

I noticed that one of my suitcases have been opened and as far as I can tell, a pair of pants for my uncle, a T-Shirt for my BIL and one of my 7-Day pill boxes is missing. Bummer! This is the first time I had this problem. Well, there is nothing I can do about it.

I do not feel very tired but, my time is still out of sync. There is an 8 hour time difference so, I guess this is normal.

I need to go back to the chaos I have created.

@HOME!

After a long and very tiring two plane rides, I am home again. Despite the loads of fun and the good times I had, I missed my home. Now I will miss my friends. Sigh... This is called life right?

Too tired to write. Had a long warm shower. Expecting the delivery of the food and I think, I will be in bed pretty soon after that. Ciao!

Packing to go home...

As every good thing, my vacation is almost over. I am packing my luggage to fly home on Tuesday.

It has been a wonderful time but I do miss my home now. I am also worried about my mom. My uncle and sister were telling me she was not her usual self, having difficulty to move around, not wanting to go out, not wanting to eat much and being in a generally sickly mood. She was OK till she had to have her appendix taken out and go for all the other tests. She passed everything with flying colors but now she is not feeling well? That is very strange.

I just bought my train ticket for the 13th of January from Istanbul to Ankara. Just spoke to mom as well. I will be making an appointment online to take her to a doctor on the week of 13th.

There are many important decisions awaiting me this year. We'll see...