...guitar god at night!Say hi to my pal Jim, or as I sometimes call him, Jimi. He started working at the lab not too long after I did, and I started training him on molecular testing. (Remember the LCX instruments, Jimi? AGHHH!) As we got to talking, we hit it off immediately, due to a mutual love of sports and music. I was in a fantasy basketball league with him one year, and he kicked my ass, but we had fun.
Jim recently took online courses to get his Bachelor degree in Medical Technology (he previously had an Associate), and I was so thrilled for him!
But what is really cool about Jimi is that there is more to him than a microscope, a lab coat, and an ability to screen through multiple racks of plates. He also plays guitar, and although I've never gotten to hear him play live, today he sent me a link to the page where he's put up one of his songs. He's been having fun recording and mixing music in his secret basement lair. He wrote the song, he sings it, and he plays all the guitar on it, except his buddy Rob played bass. The drums are a software program. I hope you'll give it a listen, because I think it's fantastic. Have I got cool friends, or what?! [song and lyrics property of Jim]
My Lesson
So this is how it feels
When nightmares become real
Don't tell me how to feel
This wasn't part of the deal!
But I've seen it all before
Guess you wanted more
Chorus:
I can't believe you turned on me
Never thought I'd get burned
My lesson learned.
You thought you'd make a fool of me
Now I see right through you
My lesson learned.
You finally showed who you are
We didn't make it very far
Thanks though, for the scar
I never knew who you were
~~~~~
I'm feelin' the burn here at Nutwood! Ken finished putting together the weight machine yesterday (I helped fasten a bolt, ha ha), and today, after a little over 2 miles on the recumbent bike, I lifted a few weights! I just did arms and shoulders today, and I have to say, it felt fantastic! I can see myself really getting into this, mostly for tone and strength, and building bone density. I've been using the elliptical lately, but I can't do much. The other day, I checked my heart rate and it was up to 160! I talked to Ken about it, because I thought that seemed awfully high, much higher than is really safe, and he agreed. So I'm going to work on building my endurance on the recumbent bike, and work my way up to the elliptical. Isn't my wimpiness awful? But I've honestly never been an exerciser, so I'm not surprised I'm such a wimp. I just feel good about doing something and becoming more active. Even if I'm starting with baby steps!
Another goal of mine is to eat more fruit. I don't think we eat a lot of bad stuff--we love our salads and veggies. But I'm a slacker when it comes to eating fruit. I have no idea why, because it's nothing but yummy goodness, and I always enjoy it when I do eat it! When I was at the store last week, they had these big ol' Florida grapefruit, and I got a couple of those. Oh man, they are tasting so good to me! When we get back from Missouri, I'm definitely buying more grapefruit when I go shopping. I love them even more than oranges. I tried those mangos last week, too, and those were mighty tasty.
Oh, and speaking of veggies, when I bought my grapefruit, they also had cauliflower on sale. I got the biggest head of cauliflower I have ever seen! I swear, it was bigger than my head (and I'm sure some would say that's quite big indeed!), and even after I used half of it last night, it was still huge. I'll probably fix the rest of it tomorrow night (we leave Wednesday morning). I think I've mentioned doing this before, but last night I roasted the cauliflower. That's becoming my favorite way to cook veggies--put them on a cookie sheet, drizzle olive oil over them, then sprinkle on a few pinches of kosher salt, and toss it. Bake at 450° until it's nicely browned. The time depends on the vegetable. Asparagus takes about 10 minutes, but cauliflower takes 30 minutes. It seems like it gives the vegetable a nice, nutty flavor, and we both just love it. Shane also liked it when he tried asparagus that way. I'm thinking I'd like to try roasted broccoli, and I bet carrots would be good, too. Similar to when you add carrots around a roast, but a little more browned.
I've always steamed our broccoli and cauliflower, but we always put a little spray butter on it...I would think the olive oil is much healthier.
OO! Brussels sprouts! I bet those would be delicious roasted!
Jeez, I'm making myself hungry.
