Good morning everyone! Well actually it’s almost one in the afternoon but as usual I’m behind but to be fair blogger wouldn’t cooperate and upload my pictures for me. Anyhow it’s my Birthday! Yup, one year older. I’m not too happy about turning a year older – the big 44 this year – but I woke up feeling good and so far the day is going well so I’m happy! I’m going to have dinner with my family and a good friend of mine tonight so I’m looking forward to that.
Buddy is doing ok. He’s still having good and bad days but at least now he seems to be eating better on a regular basis. He likes the macaroni. I mix it with a little of his chicken broth and he likes that. This morning though he wanted to play a little. He decided he didn’t want any more macaroni until I started tossing the pieces to him. They became much more exciting after that. lol.
I’m doing ok. I went to the doc this past week and got news I didn’t really want. It turns out after all these years of being good, my blood pressure has decided to head south. So, I’ve put myself on a majorly salt restricted diet – in other words, none! – and I’m going to fit in more exercise and lose a good 20 lbs and see if that helps. I’m hoping it does because I want to avoid meds if I can. I’m a major salt-a-holic so this has been a big change for me but I’ll do just about anything to not take pills. lol. So wish me luck with losing the weight,having less stress and bringing that blood pressure down.
I’ve been thinking a lot about the blog and I’m going to be making some changes. First I want a cleaner and simpler template and I think I found what I want. Secondly I think I’ll be getting rid of the followers widget. I just want my blog to be about more than how many followers there are on it – I want people to visit because they want to! So anyway that’s what’s coming as soon as I get everything organized on my test blog and figure out how to do it all without losing most everything. lol.
Books – I’ve got a few reviews coming this week and a guest post:
- Guest post with Eve Marie Mont, author of Free to a Good Home on Monday, July 5.
- My review of Sea Escape by Lynne Griffin on Tuesday, July 6.
- My review of Captivity by Liz Fichera on Wednesday, July 7.
- My review of The Hundred-Foot Journey by Richard C. Morais on Friday, July 9.
Wow, what a busy week on my blog! Later today I’ll be drawing for a few draws I’m behind on. Sorry for that as well. I’m getting there. I think I’m going to get back into blogging and commenting more as I think that used to really relax me as well!
So, I’ll leave you with a pic of Buddy doing what he does best – nothing! However, when you’re as cute as he is that’s ok. lol.
Happy 4th of July to all my US friends! I hope you all have a wonderful Sunday!
Happy Birthday!
Happy birthday, Dar! I thought you were much younger! I feel your pain with the blood pressure – I have hypertension too. Give Buddy a squeeze from me.
Happy Birthday!
Happy Birthday! I hope you have a wonderful day.
Dar, Happy Birthday! I think I'll join you in the plan to lose 20 lbs. I could stand to do that. I'm glad Buddy is holding his own and hope he continues to improve.
I made the blog changes you mentioned – went cleaner and dropped the followers (although I moved to wordpress so I'm not sure followers was even an option – I'm still figuring things out there!). I don't think you'll lose people because you don't have the followers widget 🙂
Happy birthday Dar. Glad to hear Buddy is doing OK. Loved imaginining him jumping for the macaroni.
Sorry to hear about your blood pressure, though I imagine if you make the changes you mentioned you will soon be OK.
Happy Birthday!
Happy Birthday – and hugs to Buddy who is very cute 🙂
Happy Birthday!!
Oh that evil salt, I fear I am addicted to. But try to stay away from it.
First Happy Birthday and many happy returns of the day as well!
Second, yay for Buddy boy. I am so happy to hear such good encouraging news. My little boy has done much better these last few months since being given meds by the cardiologist but the eating part is still dicey at times because he just eats as he wants daily…
Third, the salt is not a big deal when you make up your mind to stop using it. Did it years back but the problem is "hidden" sodium use in prepared foods either the ones frozen or in a restaurant, especially fast food ones. Just takes time!!
Fourth, the fact that your feed comes to my email already means that when you post I get it anyway so good luck with all the changes and less stress !
jackie b central texas
Happy Birthday! Hope you have a marvelous day!
Happy Birthday, Darlene.
The Fourth of July also happened to be the birthday of my favorite collie dog, Lady. I miss her still.
Buddy is adorable!
Have a wonderful day!
Happy Birthday, Darlene, and happy 4th of July! So glad to hear Buddy is being playful and eating regularly again. I'll "see" you tomorrow!
Happy Happy Birthday you young thing. LOL!!
I'm sure with your health changes you will get your BP in check. I just love your little Buddy. Give him a nose kiss from me.
I also belong to NetNewsWire and your feed comes to me directly. I have a better time following friends this way.
Happy 4th.
Happy Birthday. I like the ideas for your blog. I kept mine simple for the same reasons and I like simple.
Happy Birthday! I'm sorry about your health but I'm sure sacrificing your salt will be worth it in the end. 😀
Hope your birthday has been great! Happy birthday!
I'm right there with the eating better, exercising more and learning to deal with the stress. It's good to spend some time really taking care of yourself. 🙂
Have a very happy birthday! I am a salt-aholic too and live in fear that one of these days I'm going to get restricted. So I feel your pain as well!
Happy Birthday Dar; still a young Gal!
Hope your year is happy.
Happy birthday!
Happy Birthday, m'dear! For what it's worth, I ditched the "followers" widget a long time ago and am much happier for it. For me, it's all about the interaction I have via comments with other bloggers….you won't even miss that silly little widget!
Happy Birthday Dar!!! Buddy is so cute in that picture. I'm so glad he is doing a little better! I had to laugh about you tossing the macaroni to him-just like kids they like to make eating into a game-LOL!! Sorry about the no-salt diet, but it does happen. I have cut out almost all salt too. Have a great time at dinner with your family and friend!
Happy Birthday. That's too bad about your blood pressure. I think after you teach yourself what you can or can't eat it will become so routine that you won't miss the salt anymore. Glad to hear that Buddy is holding his own. He's just so cute. Make sure we have a way of finding you when you change your blog (right now I access it through my list of blogs that I follow.)
Happy Birthday, Dar! From all your reading pals at the Reading Cove. Love you lots!
Happy Birthday! I passed the 44 year mark years ago and life is still very good. Glad to hear positive news about Buddy.
Happy Birthday! Dinner with family and a special friend sounds like a great way to celebrate, don't forget to make a wish. 🙂
Happy Birthday!
Happy, happy birthday!
A very happy birthday to you. I am so glad to hear that Buddy is improving. I do hope he continues to improve and gets back to his usual self.
Hope your day was wonderful girlie!! I'm thinking of you in regards to the blood pressure. My husband is totally addicted to salt too so I know how hard this would be. Buddy is adorable and it's funny to think about him wanting you to toss the macaroni to him!!! I agree with you about the follower gadget..I've never used it to run contests or anything like that and if someone wants to follow you they can do it at the top of the blogger page. May have to think about removing mine too. I'm always playing with my blog because I suffer from Blog ADD!!!!
Happy Birthday!!! I hope your day was good the whole way through.
Happy Birthday – I hope you have a wonderful time celebrating. 🙂
Happy Birthday to you Dar! Getting healthy
Happy Birthday.
Happy Birthday, Dar!
As always, Buddy is adorable! Hope you all have a great week ahead! 🙂
Belated Happy Birthday!! Hope you had a wonderful day. I had to laugh at Buddy eating more macaroni after you started throwing it to him… you may be feeding him that way all the time now, LOL!
And Buddy does that very well! Happy Birthday to you. Hope you had a wonderful day. You're still a kid- my daughter is only 2 years younger than you. Hugs, Dar!
Happy happy birthday!!!!! Did you know we are the same age? I'm glad to hear that Buddy is eating and playing a little (not much to dislike about macaroni…I could live on it).
Happy Belated Birthday Dar! I hope you had a wonderful day! Glad to hear Buddy is doing okay. He poses so well for the camera! I sure need to lose 20 pounds or so so I can sympathize with you there. Good luck!
Happy Birthday, Dar!!
Happy belated birthday! I hope it was a good one!
First off, Happy Birthday, Dar! I hope that you had a wonderful day out with friends!! Also, I am glad to hear that Buddy is doing well and that he is starting to have good days more often. I am also sorry to hear about your blood pressure, but I just know that you will get it under control. I will continue to keep you guys in my prayers.
Happy Birthday Dar!!!! (((hugs))) to you and Buddy!
Sorry to hear about your blood pressure. Good luck with bringing it down, you can do it.
http://thebookworm07.blogspot.com/
I just got home from the cabin. Hope you had a fabulous birthday!!!
Happy Birthday Dar!!! I'm sorry you've had bad news about your blood pressure. Those situations are never fun, and making changes in diet and stress levels can be tricky. All the best. I know that with a stack of great books, hopefully stress won't be an issue?!? (As long as you don't feel pressure to get them finished by a certain date!)
By the way, I emailed back about Catching Fire, but didn't ever hear back? I think we lost track of one another! 🙂 I've been busy with my online classes again, so I hope I didn't lose a response in the middle of all that. I finished it though, so I posted my review since I hit a reading slump and didn't have much else to post on at the time. LOL. I'm sorry about that. I should have kept trying! Anyway, I wanted you to know, and also to just say Happy Birthday!
Thanks for reading that first book with me. It was such great fun! 🙂 Take care!
Thank you everyone for all the birthday wishes! What a way to make a girl feel good about turning 44.
Thanks for all the other comments as well about Buddy and that pestering blood pressure.
Becky, I found your email in my spam. I'm going to be responding today.
Happy Birthday Dar…sent wishes to you yesterday on FB. I hope that you had a great day! I'm so glad to hear that Buddy is doing okay and loves his macaroni…what we do to get our "kids" to eat! Sorry to hear about your blood pressure issues, it sounds like you have a good plan! I'll be looking forward to seeing your blog changes. I keep thinking about switching to WP and changing things up but haven't had the energy to do it!
oh sorry, I missed your birthday. I hope it was grand!
If you want, you can come over to my page and tell me about your weight loss or struggles or whatever. I would love to hear about it and of course encourage you.
Good luck!
~NM
PS.I like salt too! sigh…
Happy birthday, Dar! Sorry to hear about the blood pressure–but at least there are ways to help that and if all else fails, there are great meds with low side effect risks. Glad to hear that Buddy is eating better!
Belated Happy Birthday Dar!
Hope you had a great day! (I seen 44 already.)
So very glad to hear Buddy is eating better! I bet the mac tastes good with the broth. Can he catch the pieces? Darcy catches pretty good, but Sophie has to be really paying attention to catch it. She gets distracted.
Sorry about your blood pressure. Maybe you will be able to get outside more soon. Good luck with the weight loss. As I've got older it seems i do the same things I use to but don't lose any pounds.
It is so nice to end (or start) the week out with a picture of that sweet adorable face of Buddy.
Have a good week!
Happy Birthday, again, Dar! I'm with you on a simple blog template. Less is more…let me know if you need any help!
Happy Birthday! I hope you had a great celebration in spite of the bad news about the salt. I wish you good luck with that diet and fitting in more exercises.
Buddy is a cutie as always and I love that he enjoyed the macaroni more when you tossed it to him…sounds like Charlee.
I have no idea it was your birthday…how did I get out of the loop?
Dar, I hope you had a very Happy Birthday! I'm sorry my wishes are a little belated, but they are as sincere and as strong as they would have been if timely!
I wish for you a wonderful Birthday year and lost of love, good health and happiness.
I'm happy to hear Buddy is doing pretty well. My cats prefer their crunchy food when it is tossed across the room for them!
I want to wish you a lot of luck with your blood pressure and low-salt diet. I am sure you can do this.
I look forward to your new blog look!
Good luck!
~ Amy
Dar, I was put on BP meds about a year ago because my BP always spikes when I am at the doctor. I am always at the doctor too for allergies or lupus stuff but during a normal day, my BP is so low (with meds) that I get light headed.
Getting old sucks but getting old with an auto-immune disease sucks more. Ha! I don't think I can live without salt. I love it too much.
Happy Birthday. Did you know you can celebrate all week?
Good luck with your saltless diet. I cut down on my salt yrs ago and was not as hard as I thought it would be.
Buddy is a cutie. I love dogs but am to old to have one of my own. I am baby sitting a bull dog that is very protective of his owner or any female around. Rae Rae is such a good dog.
misskallie2000 at yahoo dot com
Happy birthday Dar!
Happy birthday, Dar! I wish you and Buddy well, and you're both always in my thoughts.
I can't wait to see how your blog evolves. I got rid of the followers widget, too. I like that people read my blog, but I don't do it for the numbers, so they were a bit distracting.
Happy belated birthday! Buddy is so cute, give him a big ol' hug 🙂
Happy belated birthday, Dar!!! So sorry I visited you late. Happy 4th July too!
And… hello Buddy! 😀
Happy Belated Birthday! I'm so sorry I'm late. Hope you had a lovely day and am sorry to hear about the blood pressure thing. You can kick the salt addiction. 44?? Get the heck outta here. I would have never guessed. And I understand about the blog re-do. Can't wait to see it.
It's a little late but Happy Birthday. Hope you had a good one.
Cheers.
polo-puppy-fluffy[at]hotmail[dot]com