Posted by terrepruitt on June 15, 2018
This is almost turning into Friday Flowers or Flowers on Friday. I know, I know. But I love flowers. And these are sitting on the front desk counter at the Camden Community Center where I teach Nia and stretch. I was talking to the people at the front desk and these were right in my face and I couldn’t help but notice them. They are so beautiful. They smell good, too!
I hope you don’t mind all these flowers for the Friday Photo.
Posted in Friday Photo, Uncategorized | Tagged: beautiful roses, Camden Community Center, City of San Jose exercise classes, Friday Photo, Nia class, stretch class | 2 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on June 13, 2018
Even though I am nearing the AARP* age, I am not quite there yet, but you may have read where I am getting my dad’s mail and he was AARP age. I get the AARP Bulletin which I actually think is pretty interesting. I think it has some good information. Especially with all the scammers out there. I would be totally surprised if there is one of you (in the USA) reading this that has not received one of those “the FBI has a warrant out for your arrest and the police are on the way to your house . . . if you don’t call”. Even though the messages are either in a computer’s robotic voice or in such broken and accented English you can barely understand the message it is pretty scary. The elderly are really not all up to date on all the scammers in the world. In this day and age some believe that Microsoft got an alert that their computer had a virus. So I think it is important for ALL of us to know the scams out there so we can help protect the elderly in our lives. There is a lot of insurance fraud and scams and one of the latest ones has to do with the new Medicare Cards.
So apparently Medicare is sending out new Medicare Health Insurance cards. They are replacing cards that have members Social Security Numbers on them with unique identification numbers. This started in May (2018) and will take about a year to reach all 60 million members. The cards are being sent at no charge. But guess what? There are people (cough, cough, I use that word loosely in this situation) who are calling members pretending to be Medicare representatives and they are demanding a processing fee. Or they tell the member that they are due a refund and get the members bank information in order to “process the refund”. Just to be clear, Medicare would never ask for a bank account number and no refunds are owed. The cards are to help prevent fraud and then here we have scammers trying to be fraudulent. Sigh.
We have to be careful and we need to spread the word and let other people know so we can all thwart these scammers. The more people know the better we can stop it from happening. Will you help spread the word?
*American Association of Retired Persons
Posted in Misc | Tagged: AARP, AARP Bulletin, American Association of Retired Persons, Medicare Card Scam, New Medicare Health Insurance cards, Scammers | Leave a Comment »
Posted by terrepruitt on June 11, 2018
You may know that I love to roast vegetables in the oven. That is my favorite way to cook them and my favorite way to eat them. Roasting is so easy to me. I can wash and chop/cut then put it in the oven with a timer (that is the key, because I don’t really want to “forget about it”) and then go do something else. I have been craving zucchini lately. Roasted zucchini slices. Even though I enjoy cooking, I am not great at it. I don’t have knife skills at all. In fact when I am using a knife I always hear my friend telling her daughter to hold the knife properly because the daughter was using her index finger on the top of the knife and that is how I cut. It helps to keep my wrist aligned, but apparently it is not the proper way to hold and cut with a knife. So the explanation about my knife skills – or lack there of – leads me to my zucchini slices. I don’t always cut them all evenly. If I take a lot of time I can do them even, but by the time I am wanting to throw the veggie in the oven I do not have a lot of time so I want to do it quick. And quick is when they become very uneven. When they 
are uneven some end up burning while the others are not cooked. A couple of weeks ago I realized I could use my mushroom slicer. I know, I know, this is one of those things where I am very late to the party and many of you know this and probably do it. But I am confident not everyone has thought about it.
Sometimes I think of things to post about and I decide not to because I think everyone knows it. But then I read a blog post or I watch one of those “life hack” videos and I realize that even though I have known that particular thing “forever” not everyone does. It is a good idea to share and those that know can comment or just ignore it and those that don’t can learn something new, right?
So I cut the zucchini the size of the slicer and then — push, wiggle (I have to wiggle them out of the slicer) – voila! They are all the same size. There are a few that get cut a little thinner because it might not be perfectly in the slicer, but way less than when I slice by hand. AND it is done so much faster. I am sure they even have a slicer like this named a zucchini slicer or a vegetable slicer. They have so many gadgets for so many things!
I know people have used egg slicers for mushrooms. I am sure for other veggies too. The reason I like this particular mushroom slicer is that is has blades and not wires. I think I had a wire one and it broke. So I was excited to have found this one. I don’t even remember where I got it!
I have been enjoying a lot of zucchini slices lately. I have been just ahead of the peak zucchini season, but now it is here so I will keep on enjoying them.
Do you like zucchini? How do you slice ’em?
Posted in Food, Vegetables | Tagged: egg slicer, life-hack, mushroom slicer, oven roasted, roasted vegetables, vegetable slicer, zucchini | Leave a Comment »
Posted by terrepruitt on June 8, 2018
Oh man! Do you ever see something and take a picture to capture the beauty and share it, but the picture doesn’t do it justice? I bet you have. That is this. The other day I was walking back from dropping off my ballot and I saw this in my neighborhood. It is so bright and so big and so gorgeous. This picture doesn’t do it justice. I thought I would share it with you for my Friday Photo anyway.
Does anyone know what it is?
Posted in Friday Photo | Tagged: bright day, bright pink flowers, election day, gorgeous blooms, pink blossoms | 2 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on June 6, 2018
People often ask how long I have been teaching Nia and/or Yoga. Sometimes a student will ask how long I have been teaching the class. In order for me to remember I have to think about something I remember specifically for one class where the supervisor called me when I was in the hospital visiting my mom. Then I have to think of when that was and try to piece it together from there. I did send out some information over a year ago regarding the class facts. It was kind of in the form of a thank you for keeping the classes going. I decided to post the information so I will always have it on hand and I can point people towards it.
Terre’s Class Facts:
Nia at the Camden Community Center: Tuesdays and Thursdays at 9:00 am. Friday at 10:15 am.
The Tuesday Nia class started on September 4, 2012. It has always been at 9:00 am.
There was a Wednesday Nia class for a very short period of time in 2015.
The Thursday Nia class started on September 22, 2013. Originally it was at 8:30 am, then in November 2013 it was changed to 8:45 am. Then in February of 2015 it was changed to 9:00 am.
The Friday Nia class started in February of 2015. It has always been at 10:15 am. It follows a class that is at 9:00 am so that is why it starts at 10:15 am. The fifteen minutes in between classes is supposed to be for the out going class time to finish, clean up, and vacate the room AND allow us to come in and get ready.
Gentle Yoga at the Willow Glen Community Center: Thursday evenings at 6:00 pm.
Willow Glen:
I started teaching the gentle yoga class at the Willow Glen Community Center on July 18, 2013. Originally I was asked to do it for one session. But then it turned into the next, and the next . . . This class is held at 6:00 pm. This class is part of the Leisure Class program, so students sign up for session. So sometimes there is a mandated break in between sessions. They do not allow for drop-ins at this center.
Gentle Yoga at the Cypress Community Center: Tuesdays at 10:30 am.
I started teaching the gentle yoga class at the Cypress Community Center on February 25, 2014. The original time slot for this class was 10:00 am. But it was moved to 10:30 am so that I could get there from my Nia class at Camden. This class is also is part of the Leisure Class program, so students sign up for session. Sometimes there are breaks in between sessions, but we work hard to not have them because we like to just continue without breaks. This community center allows for drop-ins. So you don’t have to sign up for the entire session you can just come take on yoga class if you would like.
Stretch at the Camden Community Center: Thursday at 10:15 am.
I started teaching the Thursday Stretch Class in May of 2016. The original time slot was noon, but it was moved so it could be after Nia. It has gone on hiatus at times due to various reasons (summer camps usually come in and take over the community center). This class is at 10:15 am, after Nia.
Additional information about the classes:
All classes are an hour long. Nia and Stretch are part of the SJCITY Fit program. The gentle yoga classes are a part of the Leisure Class program.
There have been other class that have come and gone. I started teaching in 2009 at a studio I rented in Willow Glen. I did that for four years. I have also taught for the City of San Carlos. I worked for a little fitness studio, I taught at other community centers in San Jose, and I rented other studio space. But since those classes are not longer happening, I didn’t make note of those dates.
I am very fortunate to have such great students and to teach these classes. It is common knowledge among fitness instructors that a class can be cancelled at anytime, especially at city community centers. If there are not enough students then the class gets cancelled . . . makes sense, that is just the way it is. So that we have had these classes for so long is just the biggest blessing. I am grateful.
Posted in Nia, Yoga/PiYo/Pilates | Tagged: City of San Jose, Cypress Community Center, exercise classes, Group Ex, Leisure Classes, Nia at Camden, Nia Classes, San Jose City Community Centers, SJCity Fit, stretch class, Willow Glen Community Center, Yoga | Leave a Comment »
Posted by terrepruitt on June 4, 2018
At our latest visit after Nia and stretch class the ladies and I were talking about names. We were wondering how certain names adopted certain nicknames. I think it is interesting because some names just seem to have logical nicknames. In fact they are just shortened versions of the names. The names that come to mind that are like that are Sam for Samantha or Samuel, John/Jon for Jonathan, Rich for Richard, Barb for Barbara, Bea for Bertha, Steve for Steven. Shortenings like that. But some names seem to have nicknames that have nothing to do with the names or so I thought. Since we had the conversation I looked up one that had always puzzled me. I never had understood why Peggy was a nickname for Margaret.
Well, the internet confused me even more upon the first glance as it said “Daisy and Peggy = Margaret.” That was even more puzzling. What? I have never heard of Daisy for Margaret. Although I can’t think of any Daisys. But it could be that if I have met some their real names were Margaret and I just didn’t know. The explanation though made complete sense. This information coming from BuzzFeed. Apparently in French “marguerite” is daisy . . . so it makes sense that someone name Margaret might be called Daisy. Reddit confirms the Margaret to Daisy theory, but also credits the Dutch.
I guess that at one time Margaret was shorted to Meg or Meggy and the “Meggy” got turned into Peggy. That explanation is not as clear-cut as Margaret to Daisy, but . . . it is plausible. Another idea is that Mog and Meg were nicknames for Margaret and they actually turned into Pog/Poggy and Peg/Peggy. That information is from Mental Floss.
Almost all the information claims that many nicknames rose out of the “rhyming nicknames”. I guess that just means that people like to use nicknames that rhyme with the actual name.
Another name that I grew up with wondering about was Jack. We had a neighbor named Jack, but I believe it turned out — and I say that because I didn’t know for a long time . . . I am sure he and his family knew — that his name was actually John. And that one I don’t get at all because to me, nicknames are often short but Jack and John are the same. And the explanation for that makes even less sense to me in that they are LENGTHEN the name when making it a nickname. The explanation is that the Normans added -kin to the names and Jen was Jack. So Jen was Jenkin which eventually turned into Jack.
In addition to Peggy the name we were talking about at coffee was Dick. How did Richard become Dick. Well again, rhyming is to blame. Richard was Rich which turned into Dick.
There are many names that have nicknames I didn’t even know about. Clicking the links above will get you to articles written about nicknames and you will see that apparently rhyming is big thing and is the reason for many nicknames – at least according to those articles.
Did any of these surprise you? What is your nickname?
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged: BuzzFeed, Daisy is Margaret, Dick is Richard, Mental Floss, Nia, nicknames, Peggy is Margaret, Reddit, Rich is Richard, stretch class | 6 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on June 1, 2018
Ahhh some flowers to brighten up the day. Even though it is evening time. I didn’t even bother with resisting snapping a photo of these when I saw them. I looked, thought, “Oh how pretty.” Then after a moment of admiring them I grabbed my phone to take a picture. Bright yellows for a Friday Photo.
What are these?
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged: beautiful day, Flowers, Friday Photo | 2 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on May 30, 2018
I am looking through my posts because I was going to post about pranayama. As I am looking I don’t see that I posted how to do ujjayi breath. I mentioned it in one of my posts but I didn’t explain how to do it. The focus of that post is the possible benefits of it. I have a few posts on pranayama. Pranayama is the fourth limb of yoga. It is a practice of controlling one’s breath, controlling the prana or life force. MANY people practice some form of breathing technique. Even if it is not really conscious. Sometimes we just slow down and take a breath. Well, yoga has an actual practice of it (pranayama) and they have several ways to practice pranayama. I have posted about the Equal Breath and Cooling Breath, but not about the type of breathing often recommended be used (that I know of) in many yoga classes. As I said I haven’t posted about ujjayi breath.
Are you familiar with ujjayi breathing? That is the breathing that makes a sound. Well, there are different theories on that (isn’t there on everything?). Some say it has to make a sound. Some think that you are not doing it right if you aren’t making a sound. Some say you don’t have to make a sound. Some say you shouldn’t be that loud. So, like so many things it can be done differently — sound, or no sound. I think that one can do it without making a loud sound, but some people really like to put it out there that they are doing their ujjayi breath. So, whatever.
In addition to the opinions about the sound, there are different ways to describe how to do it. Some people call it Ocean breath because they believe it sounds like the ocean when you are doing it. Some people call it Darth Vader breath because they think it sounds like Darth Vader. Some call it Victory Breath, and again, I am thinking that is because of the sound. There are many additional names for it, but it is ujjayi breathing.
One way to do it is to inhale through your nose then exhale through your mouth saying HAAAAAAAA. Do that a few times. Then inhale through your mouth, keep your mouth closed and exhale through your nose, but still “saying” HAAAAA. This is to help you with the sensation of the air passing through at the back of the throat. Ujjayi breath is breathing through the nose with the air passing through/over the back of the nasal passages and throat.
I also think of is somewhat like what Felix Unger, in the Odd Couple with Tony Randall, used to do. Remember his honking? But he used to open his mouth.
In my post I mentioned earlier, Breath: Quiet And Safe, I was explaining how it is believed this type of breathing tones the areas that relax and cause people to snore. So some believe this can help reduce snoring. I don’t know about that, but I do know that it is a nice way to breath during a yoga practice.
Do you practice pranayama? Do you do ujjayi breathing during yoga?
Posted in Yoga/PiYo/Pilates | Tagged: 4th limb of yoga, Cooling Breath, Darth Vader breath, equal breath, ocean breath, pranayama, ujjayi breathing | 6 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on May 28, 2018
It is believed that hypertension AKA high blood pressure puts you at risk for heart attack and stroke. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) website, whose statistics are from 2015, Heart disease was the number one cause of death in the United States. Stroke was the fifth cause of death. The site does say “The 10 leading causes of death in 2016 remained the same as in 2015”. Although I don’t see any statistics on the break down of the heart disease deaths. How many were from heart conditions that were present at birth? How many were from injury to the heart? What are they considering “heart disease”? I mean, I would think that someone would what the “heart disease” numbers broken down into specific categories. Where is that information? Anyway, for some reason I am thinking about blood pressure. Could be because I was going through my pictures and a came across a picture I took of some information regarding truth and myths about high blood pressure.
It basically said that it is myth to think high blood pressure is normal and not dangerous. Untreated high blood pressure is dangerous. In addition to it possibly leading to heart disease and stroke it could damage the heart and/or kidneys. And according to that it could lead to a loss of vision.
Also . . . and this one is a HUGE common belief that they are labeling a myth, the one where “it runs in my family”. I’ve heard so many people say that it runs in their family so they just accept having it. As if there is nothing they can do about it. There is an actual belief out there that people CAN do something about it whether it is a family thing or not.
Another myth that the picture brings up is that if the symptoms such as nervousness or sweating are not present then there is not high blood pressure. But high blood pressure is nicknamed the silent killer because people can have it and not know. And, again, untreated high blood pressure can be dangerous. It is like your body being under assault all the time.
I just looked at the American Heart Association’s website they adjusted the numbers since I posted Blood Pressure Monitors – It’s All In the Wrist in 2012. They changed the numbers and the categories or what they call the numbers. There is normal, elevated, High Blood Pressure/Hypertension Stage 1, High Blood Pressure/Hypertension Stage 2, and High Blood Pressure/Hypertension Stage 3.
There are a lot of things that are proven to lower blood pressure. For some people the things that can lower blood pressure are really difficult to do. I know people in high stress jobs or in very stressful situations, might have a difficult time alleviating that stress. It is not as if people can just quit their jobs or completely change their living/life situation. So if life stress is something in your life that you can’t change then perhaps there are things you can do to combat it. Like exercising, going for walks, being outside, having a pet, visiting with friends, doing yoga . . . .doing things that can counter act the stress. Then there are things like losing weight, not everyone with high blood pressure is overweight but many are and if we were able to lose just five pounds sometimes that can help. Also, a change in diet. If there is switch from over processed/fast foods to fresh fruits and vegetables and home cooked meals that can help. Sometimes it can be a domino affect . . . . if someone decides to take up walking and getting outside to help combat the stress they might just lose some fat because of that. And/or a change in the diet might just help the fat come off.
Since the belief is that high blood pressure could cause heart disease and/or a stroke, it seems like along with that the belief is that lower it if it is high can help prevent that. And who doesn’t want that?
Posted in Misc | Tagged: blood pressure monitor, HBP, heart disease, high blood pressure, hypertentions, lower blood pressure, lower stress levels, number one cause of death, runs in the family | 2 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on May 25, 2018
These bloom every year. They are so beautiful. My husband’s mom gave them to him to look after while she was away. Sadly, she was not able to return to take them back. They are a great reminder of a beautiful mother. This was taken at the end of April. They stayed until the middle of May.
Amaryllis as the Friday Photo.
Posted in Friday Photo | Tagged: amaryllis, annuals, blooming flower, Friday Photo, mom | 2 Comments »
