Face-lift!

My eyebrows and lashes are scarce and thin at best and contribute to my overall monochrome facial pallor. Alana explained that with an eyebrow pencil and lipstick I could regain color, depth and dimension!

Now that everyone has returned to their work and school routines and the sales are winding down, the highways and the malls at mid-day are not crowded providing me with a pretty safe, albeit quick, shopping
opportunity. I can not test any make-up in the store and found the gentleman at the counter insightful regarding color choices for the lipstick and the eyebrow pencil. This afternoon Alana came by to do my make-over (Stephen unsuccessfully lobbied for the Jack Nicholson eyebrow look) and the result to my surprise was fabulous!

Alana in action!

Ta-Da!!

Stepping out

Well, it must be the tea. My friend Carol arrived from Edinburgh on Thursday to spend a week here with me. Carol made me a cup of tea two days ago and I tasted it but I thought it was bitter and could not drink it. She made me a cup yesterday and it tasted a little better and I drank some of it. Today she made me tea again and it tasted very good and I drank all of it! Not sure if it is the effect of having caffeine for the first time since June 15th but yesterday and today I felt great; clear thinking and energetic. So much so that I felt I was ready to try and drive the car to Schnuck's to do a proper grocery run. It was a success. I felt fine driving and I was able to walk around the store for almost an hour before I needed to sit down and put my legs up; thank goodness they have benches by the checkout lanes.

The only unexpected event was getting stuck in the squatting position in front of the open fridge as Carol and I were putting away the washed fruits and vegetables! Good thing she was there to hoist me into the upright position and put me in a chair to let my legs recover. I will have to work on those muscles more.

So tomorrow I am going to forgo the cup of tea to see if I feel the same pep as I did today or if the Yorkshire Gold tea is responsible.

Carol's photo of me in front of the sculpture at the Central Reform Congregation on Kingshighway, St Louis.

Carol and me

Walking

I am feeling better and stronger week by week. I was able to quantify that I am now walking twice as fast by observing that initially in order to safely cross Forest Park I needed the "Walk" signal's full 30 seconds, I can now cross comfortably in 15 seconds!

The only problem with feeling stronger is figuring out if I am overdoing it or not. Last week the weather was gorgeous and I was craving tortellini so Stephen and I went to The Hill. We walked, and kept walking,
discovering shops we had not visited before. One of the gems we found was Mama Toscana's Ravioli. Although famous for their breaded ravioli, we opted for the traditional ravioli. The dough is delicate and the cheese filling delicious. It was so good we decided to return the next day so we could buy more to put in my freezer. We walked and talked and I felt fine. Stephen was surprised how much I had walked during those two days. Well, last Friday it all caught up with me and I am just now recovering my legs.

A healthy and happy 2012 to all!