A week of Planning and Packing

I will be hitting the road on the 6th to go to Ankara. That is our starting point for the big road trip ahead of us. This is the first time we shall be vacationing together with my pram (or stroller) buddy. Imagine knowing someone since you both have been literally infants. 

My sister left my BIL in Ankara yesterday and drove back to Izmir on her own. She did not want to take additional days off since her husband is just fine after his procedure. They had extracted 11 moles and only two turned out to be carcinomas. So, that is good. He is still on medical leave. While he has this time on hand, he will try to take care of some stuff related with his parents. When my friend and I are leaving for our vacation, we will take him with us to Izmir next week. It was our first stop anyway. We just decided to go one day earlier.

So now, I have to come up with my packing list and start packing my stuff. The road trip will be long so, I am guessing I need lightweight, easily washable things that will not require any ironing. I always start my list with the medicines I must take and some optional stuff. 

I am still contemplating whether I should take one large suitcase, or two smaller ones. I am definitely taking my beloved backpack which I also use as my beach bag and a bag for shoes. My car is a Ford Escape so, if you are familiar with it, it does not have a very large trunk. Plus, we are both taking our folding chairs, a beach umbrella and a small folding table.

It is hard to plan for such a long trip.

Today, I took out the suitcases and the things I will be packing but, I had left most of my beach stuff back in Ankara. Some of the clothing items have been sitting in a drawer or a closet for a long time so, they were smelling a bit musty. I am putting them through a very quick cycle of 15 minutes just to freshen them up. 

Meanwhile, I have been consuming the meat products in my fridge and I can say, there will be nothing left. That means a big shopping trip when I come back. I have been noting pantry items that need to be purchased as well. 

From now on, I will try to keep only the healthier versions of pantry items. For instance, no more regular pasta, white rice or flour. I love pasta but, the regular kind is something I should not be consuming. I still have some on hand and once those are gone, they will be replaced with whole wheat pasta. That will be less tempting anyway. 

Before I leave I would like to clean my fridge. I can never clean it after I come back from a vacation. Lesson well learned. 

As for the freezer, there will only be the tomatoes and tomato sauces plus the beans left in it. All those were intended for the winter anyway. I decided against freezing more tomatoes. I will need the space for meats when I get back. Also, since I do not eat a lot of bread anymore, I need space for a loaf and some small whole wheat tortillas too. I used to have a separate under the counter freezer in the past but, when I re-did the kitchen, I had to part ways with it.

Today, I took out the suitcases and the things I will be packing but, I had left most of my beach stuff back in Ankara. Some of the clothing items have been sitting in a drawer or a closet for a long time so, they were smelling a bit musty. I am putting them through a very quick cycle of 15 minutes just to freshen them up. 

Wish you all a very good week!

Lazy Saturday

Today is a hot day. The breeze started to cool me down only around 4:30 p.m. Before that it was only making it warmer.

I declared today a lazy day but, I also knew there were a few things to take care of. Since, I hate wasting food, I knew I had to cook some string beans, some eggplants and a forgotten zucchini. 

I sauteed onions in olive oil, added some chopped tomatoes and cooked the string beans in my pressure cooker. I like this cold but, it can also be eaten warmed up. I am going to pan fry the eggplants and the zucchini. I have already cubed them but, the eggplants are soaking in salty water to get rid of the bitter taste. This will also be a cold dish I think I will have this with garlic, yogurt sauce. These are for tomorrow. I should pull out a frozen steak for tomorrow from the freezer.

Tonight, I am having Tom Kha Soup, some mushrooms (broiled in the toaster oven) and the remaining okra (in the oven too).

So far, it has been a successful week in terms of eating out of the freezer. I have two steaks, two portions of frozen falafel and a bag of frozen okra left to be consumed before my trip. The falafel was too salty. I am not going to buy that brand again. As I go through stuff in my freezer and pantry, I am making a list of groceries that I should buy after I come back home. I have a little butter and a little olive oil left. I need to stretch the olive oil till I go on my vacation. I have 3 cans of olive oil, 2 lt each but just do not want to open one and then leave for 6 weeks. Not that it will go bad or anything, but, still...

While I was cooking today, I dropped a bottle and broke it into a million pieces. Ugh! I hate cleaning up broken glass but, I had it coming. I should have just put the bottle back in it's place before tackling the veggies. Thankfully, it was empty. 

I better go get started with the eggplants. Hope, everyone is having a great weekend.

Small Victories!

I haven't been exercising as much as I should and wasn't paying attention to what I ate during the last 4 days. Sabotaging myself is an important issue of mine. Usually, I let go a lot longer than 4 days but, this time I decided to issue myself a warning and go back to tracking my food and exercise.

I got up today and weighed myself. Guess what? I lost another couple of pounds. So, since May, I have lost a total of 18 pounds. I know, I know, some people lose this much in a month. Well, I can't. 

Actually, looking back to old records, I think, I kept losing and gaining the same 20 pounds over the course of last 6-7 years. So, if I break this and lose another 10 pounds, that will be a mid-size victory. 

The childhood friend with whom I am going on the roadtrip has a weight issue too. I hope, we will influence each other for the better and not for the worse. 

I hope, I will lose another 2 pounds in the next 13 days before we start our road trip. 

Today, I had smoked salmon, capers, a soft boiled egg, half an avocado on toasted rye bread for my first meal of the day. 650 calories in total. A small celebration :)

I am going to have a salad for dinner with the remaining salmon (need to finish it up) and baked okra. BTW, thanks Anne for the okra recipe!

I made Tom Kha Soup for tomorrow. I also have some cold chicken which I will put on my dinner salad. 

Today, I had bread, but most days I do not. Decreasing the amount of bread, pasta and rice I consume and having only two meals a day made a big difference. My poison is pasta. I love, love, love it. I will limit pasta to once a week and feel not deprived.

I have been eating from my freezer lately. I do not want to leave any meat or cooked meals in it. Last week I bought some tomatoes. I sliced and froze some of them and put the rest through my food processor and scooped them into zippie bags. One year I made too much of this and ended up using them till August. This year I was cautious but I guess, I should make some more. Not too much but may be another 5 pounds or so. 

Locks and Lock Freaks

I am the kind of person who locks her apartment door as soon as she gets home, as soon as something is delivered, as soon as it has to be opened for any reason. Mom and SIS called me the lockfreak because, you can hear each time I lock the door. It is loud. Cluck! Cluck! There is a deadlock and there is a normal lock.

Well, yesterday around 9:30 p.m. as I was talking to the friend whom I visited today, I hear someone trying a key on my door! WTH? I told my friend to hold and loudly yelled "Who is it? Why are you screwing with my door?" The only people who have keys to my apartment are my SIS and uncle. So, I knew it couldn't be them. They know better to call before coming for a "surprise" visit.

I went by the door and demanded who it was without opening it. It turned out to be a contractor who failed to deliver some items during the day. He had the keys to the other number 4 in the next building. I knew that apartment was sold and was going through some serious renovation. The guy was more freaked than I was. I told him it is the other building and he went away and apologized several times. I can see the other apartment from my windows so, I looked to see if he entered the empty apartment and turned on the lights. He did. So, he was not lying.

The apartment complex I live in has 9 apartment buildings. There is a fence all around with cameras installed. Every floor has cameras and actually on my floor, the camera is installed right over my door. If someone wants to come visit or deliver something, she/he needs to go through the security guard who will call me to confirm if I am home and if I know this particular individual. Once he lets the person in, she/he will need to come to my building and ring my bell. I see who it is on the screen of the Intercom and buzz the person into the building. So, it is actually very safe. However, I guess the new owner of the other apartment gave the contractor not only the keys to her/his new apartment but also, the buzzer token all tenants use to come into the complex. This way, the security was bypassed. I did not have time to bring this issue up to the Management's attention today but, I will do so tomorrow. 

If my door was unlocked and if the person who meddled with my lock had sinister purposes, my apartment could be broken into. So, am I right to keep my door locked at all times or not? 

My SIS says, if the expected earthquake hits Istanbul, I may not be able unlock the door because it may get jammed. Well, I guess a steel door can be jammed in such a situation even if it is not locked. Yes, my door has wood panels on both sides but, it has a thick steel piece inside. The frame is also steel but painted a matching brown. When I first moved in, we did not have the fence or the cameras so, it was a necessary purchase.

Uncle has a different argument. He says, if I fall at home or get into any sort of medical trouble, keeping the doors locked would make it harder for the emergency people to get to me. Well, I leave that to luck I guess.

What was I thinking?

Yesterday, I went to an open fresh produce market. On a whim I bought 11 pounds of white beans in shells. I came home and once I started shelling, I realized that this is way too much for just one person. Once shelled, since the beans are fresh, they need to be frozen quickly because I cannot really dry them here in Istanbul due to humidity. So, sending some of it to my sister or uncle is out of the question. I am planning to visit a friend this afternoon. I guess, I will gift half of it to her. 

I also bought some big okra. I am going to make them as Anne over at Cooking and All That Jazz, suggested.

I bought some San Marzano type tomatoes to dry in the oven. Again, due to the humidity here, I cannot sundry them. I will try a batch and if they turn out fine, I will dry the rest of them. If not, first to the food processor, then into zippie bags and then into the freezer they will go.

Tomorrow will be a busy day. 

Cell Phone Operator Change and Vacation Plans

I feel compelled to change my cell phone operator every two years. For some stupid reason, they never give me the best possible option for new customers and every two years I have to play this game. 

My current plan was 750 minutes, 3 GB Internet and 250 SMS. I asked them if I promised to stay with them for 2 years, what would be the best plan at a minimum cost and they gave me a few options. I checked their closest rival and they gave me several more options. I decided to get the 750 minutes, 8GB Internet and 500 SMS plan which was 30% less than what my current company offered. 

I know, after two years, I will be back to my current operator. Plain stupid but, if that's the game they want to play, I will.

I do not need so much Internet on my phone since I am home most of the time but, if I can get 5GB more for a lesser price, that's fine with me. This way when I am on the road, I can stream Spotify more.

I made the switch online and they will send me the SIM card via a courier service. 

As for the second part of the heading for this post, my childhood friend took the responsibility to look up places and share them with me to decide upon them and our travel calendar. She is doing a great job, reaching out to people to gather comments on the hotels we think we will like and all that. She is also making all the reservations. At some hotels, we will be sharing a room, at some others we will be staying at separate rooms. If the per night price is lower than a certain level, we opt for separate rooms. We will start from Ankara on the 9th of September and be back on the 5th of October. I am hoping that everything will go smoothly and that we will have a good time together. 

What is the house chore you hate the most?

I generally dislike all chores at home. Give me stuff to do outside and I will be happy to do all of them for you. Tell me to find and order a most extraordinary gizmo that is hard to find, no problem! I can run errands outside or search for stuff on the Internet all day long. 

I do what I have to do at home anyway but, my most hated chore is ironing. I hate ironing with a passion. Some people say it is quite therapeutic and I shake my head in disbelief. My mom ironed all bed linens, my grandma ironed even the underwear. I guess that part of their DNA never transferred to me.

All those years when I was working, my cleaning lady did the ironing for me. 5 pairs of pants, 5 dress shirts or blouses if not more, every week. The only relationship I had with the iron and the ironing board was when she told me to go get a new one because the old one was dead.

Now that I am not working, I really do not mind if my T-shirts are a little wrinkled. I wear soft cotton shorts or jeans and they never need ironing. With that said, I just found 4 pairs of cropped summer pants that I thought I had given away and they are miserably wrinkled. Ugh!

I tried them on and they fit perfectly and they will be very good for the long road trip I will be taking with my childhood friend in September. 

I remembered that my mom and grandma always pulled the hard to iron items from the line when they were still slightly damp because it was easier to iron them. So, I will put them through a short wash cycle today and do the same. If they were hanging in the closet, they wouldn't be so wrinkled. Sigh... Note to self: ALWAYS hang the pants!

I have also realized that, despite my best efforts of purging, there are still a lot of items I will most probably never wear again. However, I think, I will give them till next year. I am hoping to lose tons of weight by then so, it will be easier to part with them.

Check-Up Day

What a long day it's been but, it is over. Yay!

Heart? Check

Lungs? Check

Ob-Gyn: Pap test requires time. Got one largish Myoma. No big deal unless it bothers me, which it doesn't. (I loved the doctor. She was so gentle and understanding. I will be going to her from now on.)

Mammogram, Ultrasounds, Blood Tests and Other tests: Fine except for the fact that my thyroid medicine needs to be adjusted and I am insulin resistant so, I need a med for that. Granted that I am obese, this is no surprise.

So far so good. I hope, the pap test will be fine too.

Well, at the end of the day I am glad I had this check-up. Now I know that the slight palpitations I have from time to time are not due to a heart problem and they will be gone when my thyroid med is adjusted. I also know, I can push myself a little more on the treadmill. 

Part of the reason why I postponed my health checks was COVID but, then I was also avoiding... bad news? I do not know. It is odd because, I am generally logical. Human mind is extremely complicated or weird?

Starry Night

Today, I wanted to share this video of amazing marbling art by Garip Ay, a Turkish artist. It is accompanied by Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata. Beautiful...

Each time I watch this, it amazes me. Enjoy! Van Gogh's Starry Night

Bit the Bullet

I have been ignoring my health check-ups for the last two years. You know, my big trip to the US, coming back home, mom's sickness and her passing, plus COVID-19. 

Last month, I have been contacted by the Istanbul Branch of the hospital I used to go to in Ankara ( I still go to my eye doctor there). They offered me a check-up plan. I asked them to send the specifics and I liked the coverage and the price but, it was just a week after my second vaccine so, I decided to postpone it a while.

Today, I finally decided to bite the bullet or pull the trigger if you will, and contacted the Check-up Division to make an appointment for Wednesday. As I get older, I dread the results of these health checks. I hope, they will give me a clean bill of health. 

The only test I would like to have and that they are not giving is Vitamin D. I asked if I could order it as  an addition to their list and pay for it out-of-pocket and they said yes.

So, by the end of the week, I will know where I stand medically. I know, think positive, right?

Pumpkin Spice Latte Alternative

I was extremely enthusiastic about Pumpkin Spice Latte when I first heard of it years ago. However, one sip killed that. I do not like sugary hot drinks. I usually drink coffee black, sometimes with just a little hot milk. I have my tea without any lemon, sugar or milk. Also, a latte is too much milk, not enough coffee for me.

As I have been trying to adopt healthier habits, I am becoming a bit more creative.

Nowadays, I am trying the Intermittent Fasting because, it does sound logical to me. When I was younger and when I did not have any weight problems, I never had breakfast. I almost always started my day at lunch time and be done with eating by dinner time. Back then, I was not a fan of desserts either. So, going back to a similar life style made sense to me.

I am eating between 12 noon and 8 p.m. now. I eat two meals a day and I do not snack most of the time. However, I need coffee in the morning. As I am typing this I am sipping my pumpkin spice black coffee. I have mixed ground cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and ginger and I am adding a half teaspoonful of this mixture to my coffee. My coffee smells amazing bringing me the memories of beautiful New England falls I have experienced and it is healthy. Today there is a nice cool breeze which is another reminder of Fall and I love the sensation. I know there will be a few more hot days but, the weather is definitely turning.

Just a small thing but, it made me happy during these hard times my entire country is going through. I think, if we forget finding small joys in life, it will become unbearable.

I keep listening to dance songs all day and feel pretty uplifted.

Feeling a bit Better

This year was supposed to be my year. I was going to get rid of the part-time job that was sucking my energy and totally focus on myself, lose weight, get stronger and eat healthier. If you live in this country, the Government and the politics suck your life energy so, it is hard to concentrate only on one's self. 

Still, I have managed to lose 15 pounds since May, started to exercise more seriously and did well on the eating healthy department. I know 15 pounds seems not much in 4 months but, I could have easily gained more if I had caved in to depression. So, in my book, that is a win.

The devastating fires and the other BS going on, I felt helpless and very depressed during the last few weeks but, I am trying very hard to bounce back by cutting down on the news and social media. With that said, nowadays going cold turkey on those is not possible.

I started trying the 16/8 Intermittent fasting and it seems to be working for me for now. More on that later.

I found a channel on YouTube that I subscribed to which is called Improved Health. With my weight and fitness level, I find it easier and fun to do the exercises on this channel. People who cannot even walk can do the sitting exercises. I think I had shared the below before but, here you go again:

I also found out that listening to uplifting music (60's,70's,80's, 90's dance songs) helps me maintain a better mood throughout the day. So, I put Spotify to good use.

My mom's passing last year had a big impact on my life and my grief period was a lot longer than most but, I think I made peace with her loss. She was in the hospital for 77 days and even if she came back, she would never be how she would want to be and I know, mom never wanted to be bed-ridden. So, I guess for her, moving on was a better option. I respect that. Yesterday was a bit hard since, it was her birthday.

All in all, I am trying my best to keep healthy and focus on myself. Now, I gotta go and exercise. 

Writer's Block

Due to the recent events, I am finding it extremely hard to find words to write. I am trying to bury my sorrow by binge watching Star Trek and Gilmore Girls. What a combination right?

Anyway, I am still reading my favorite blogs and hope to continue to do so.

I know, I will be back! For now, stay safe, stay sane...

If You Cannot Sleep, You Can Walk

I had zero sleep last night. None! Zilch! I decided to go out for a walk early in the morning to take advantage of the cool morning air.

8500 steps later, I came home and watched the Turkey-Russia Women's Volleyball game. We won! I really wish for a medal. Our Women's Team is truly World Class. Not that you need proof but, here it is:

Meanwhile, we are going through terrible times as a nation due to several fires in the vacation spots. It makes me angry, helpless and sad so, I do not want to further talk about this but, I am going to say I believe all these fires are sabotages. The current president knows he will not have a chance during the next elections in 2023. Therefore, I suspect they are trying to provoke a civil war so that elections may be postponed or banned altogether. They are claiming that these fires are being set by the Kurdish terrorists but, at this point I am not sure. They tell so many lies that, it is hard to know what is true anymore. There are other things too but, as I said, I just do not want to talk about it. I feel sick.

Pizza 2.0

I was craving pizza lately but, as I am trying to lose weight, I was avoiding it. Knowing myself, I felt I could one day easily give in to my foodie demons and binge on pizza, I have decided to come up with a healthier version. 

I sliced one eggplant and one zucchini lengthwise, brushed on some olive oil and minced garlic. Once the slices were cooked, the rest was easy. I sort of braided the slices and then spooned some sauce, put the pepperoni slices and cheese on top. I did not use too much cheese to make it lighter. Yes, I used the oven in this weather but, my kitchen is separate from my family room so, it just heated up the kitchen and it was pretty yummy. Definitely stopped the craving.

Here is a picture of the finished product: (I know I should have taken it on a plate and made it look aesthetically pleasing but...)