Making changes

Today is my birthday! In addition to celebrating my birthdays, I make what I call birthday evaluations. I  look back at the previous year or years, and find areas that I would like to see improvements in my life going forward. As aging does make itself most evident in our health, these changes are often about improving my health, so I can enjoy the rest of my time in this life. And there's one area that I began working on a few weeks ago.

I was cleaning out a drawer and found this, a pedometer. It's one of those cheap plastic ones that they hand out for free, at health insurance fairs put on by employers.

I vaguely recalled Dr. Oz saying something about how a person should put on about 10,000 steps per day, to lose weight. So, having been unable to lose more than 2 pounds since the first of the year, I was curious just how many steps I put on per day. Surely, being the active person that I am, I was way beyond that magic 10,000.

Oh, how very humbling. That first day, I put on about 2,000 steps. How could this be? Me, always busy, always doing. But I didn't find the pedometer until about 10 AM. Perhaps I had missed counting a lot of steps.

The next day, I put the pedometer on bright and early, anticipating that big number at the end of the day. Embarrassingly enough, my so-called active lifestyle only put about 3,500 steps onto the counter that day.

Day 3, try again. Today, surely I would see a lot of steps at the end of the day. This was the day of the week that I babysit 6 very active little boys for 3 hours. You would think all the chasing around would really boost that number. Not exactly. Better, but still just a little over 5000 steps. I am getting no where, in a hurry. It's no wonder I've only lost 2 pounds since January.

So, it became clear that if I wanted to put 10,000 steps on per day, I had to make changes. I began by challenging myself to increase the steps in 1,000 increments per day. Mid last week, I was up to 15,000 steps per day. This requires brisk walking for 1 hour straight at some point every day, plus maintaining a high level of activity. I can't do this every day. I would say I'm averaging 10,000 per day. I have some days where I'm just spending too many hours in the car, driving daughters around, or at my desk pushing papers around, to have time to do some serious walking. It's frustrating, because I can have very good intentions. But can't fulfill them due to schedule constraints.

Anyway, this is my big change for this coming year of my life. I hope to become a more active person and shake off some of this fatigue that I've had for the past several years.

I was curious (and you may be, too), just how many calories are burned in all these steps. (Certainly a great many, one would think!) 3,000 steps burns, on average, 100 measly calories. Oh rats! That 300 calorie slice of birthday cake will take 9,000 steps or 1 and 1/4 hours of walking, just to burn it off.

How about you? Do you ever make birthday evaluations of the past year with hopes for the improving your life for the next? Or are you the live each day as it comes sort of person? I happen to be an over-thinker, I over-think just about everything. I envy the person who can just take things as they come.


Happy birthday to me! And many more (just keep stepping, just keep stepping)!

How to make an indoor "plant", instantly, for nothing

I had this problem spot in the powder room next to the kitchen. There's a lovely, weathered steel, wall-hung shelf with three weathered steel cups/planters. The cups had remained empty for quite a while, and this just looked unfinished. 

One of my thoughts was to cover 3 styrofoam balls with moss and rest in the cups. I have moss, just no styrofoam balls, and I was wanting to do this with no additional cost.

I knew I wanted something just green, so as not to compete with any of the other floral-themed items in the room. And it had to be low-"growing", but not alive, as there is no natural light in this powder room.

I have seen some lovely mini, faux-boxwood topiaries in home decor shops. And that's where my inspiration was born.

Boxwood cuttings (and those from other evergreen shrubs) can last in water for a very long time, several weeks to months, with just a change of water once per week. A floral preservative can help keep the water clear, as well.

So, I went out to the front garden and took several clippings off the hedge. I set out 3 jelly jars. I trimmed the stem ends of the boxwood until they looked about right. Then filled the jars with water, plucked the bottom leaves off the stems, and placed them in the water-filled jars. The jars can not be seen when placed in the weathered steel planters.

Voila! A long-term, temporary solution for my wall-hung planter, using what I had here at home.

Translate this idea for other cheap and cheerful decorating

• weddings, graduation parties, Mother's Day teas, baby showers -- this idea translates well to table decor, several jelly jars placed in terra cotta pots, filled with evergreen cuttings, make free table decorations
• needing a quick "plant" as green space-filler, for the mantle above the fireplace, the coffee table, a book shelf -- use several filled jelly jars, clustered together inside a copper, brass or ceramic planter
• have a dark corner where you'd really like to place a plant, but a living plant won't survive the lack of sunlight? The entry hall in your home is the gateway to your family life. A "plant" of boxwood (or other evergreen) cuttings would be welcoming to all who cross your threshold. Our entry hall is on the north side of the house and plants definitely do not thrive there. I'll be adding some evergreen cuttings in a pot to the table in the entry.

Keep this in mind, if you're needing a quick plant, say, for party/holiday table decor, instant decorating update, or background filler for a family photo.


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