Terre Pruitt's Blog

In the realm of health, wellness, fitness, and the like, or whatever inspires me.

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Archive for February, 2018

« Previous Entries

Easily Amused

Posted by terrepruitt on February 28, 2018

Are you on Facebook? Do you actually post stuff or just look at other people’s stuff? Well, if you post stuff you may know this, already.  Although you can still see the effects if you click on the particular words, you might not have tried that, they just happen if you type. There are some “words” that cause fun stuff to happen on Facebook when you type them or click on them. I know it is an absolutely ridiculous thing but I love it. It makes me happy. In fact recently when I was typing an e-mail (yes, I am still on Facebook and I still type e-mails) I was disappointed because my e-mail was not doing the same thing that Facebook does.

I only know of four “words” (and I say “words” because only two are actually words) that result in fun animations that float up your screen. I bet there are more.

If you type “Congratulations” or “Congrats” and post it you will get a fun animation. You can also click on the word where someone else has posted it and the same animation will float across your screen. It is like a party. Balloons and confetti!

If you post “XO” or “XOXO” (not sure how many you can type, I’ve seen up to three – xoxoxo) a fun animation will float across the screen. This one is hearts. The same applies for all of them, you can type it or click on it if someone else has posted it and you will see the individual animation that goes with each word.

There is also “Rad” I am not sure if “Radical” works just like congratulations and congrats work. But with Rad there are flying blue thumbs.

And “BFF”, again, here I am not sure if you actually typed out “Best Friends Forever” if that would make the animation work. But BFF has hearts dancing on the screen.Dance Exercise, Nia, Nia in the City of San Jose, Nia classes in the South Bay, Nia Teacher, Nia Class, San Jose Nia, Nia San Jose, Nia workout, Nia, Gentle Yoga, Group Ex classes, YMCA, Zumba, Nia Technique, SJ City Fit, SJCityFit

The text of the animation words is colored.  That way you can know which words will result in the fun stuff.  Congrats and XO look somewhat red, Rad looks pink, and BFF looks green.

If this type of thing makes you happy you too might be disappointed when typing these words in other places. There is no animation in e-mail – at least in my e-mail.

I am not sure, but I also think that when I look at my notifications I see hearts float up the screen when someone has liked (?) loved (?) one of my posts? Again, not sure, but I do think I have seen hearts. Sometimes it happens so fast I am not sure to which notification it is happening.

I also use Facebook several places so it could be that each place and version operates differently. I mean, I think FB updates the same, but some of my devices are so old they might not support the new stuff. So my animations could be all over the board.

I bet there are more words that have animations. Are there? Do you know of any other words (“words”) that when posted cause animations to happen?

Posted in Misc | Tagged: , , , , , , | 2 Comments »

Been Sick? Take It Slow

Posted by terrepruitt on February 26, 2018

Wow. Have you or someone you know been hit by the flu? Or something? I mean it is cold and flu season. I am pretty confident that if you haven’t caught it you know someone who has. It is my belief that with the lives we lead and all the rush and pressure to go-go-go, we don’t stop and give our bodies the rest they need in order to get well. With all the going and not enough resting it takes a really long time to get over these illnesses that get us. I have heard of some people being sick for three weeks. I am not sure exactly the extent of that. I know that it can be that long or longer before you are back to feeling 100%. Without being able to completely STOP and rest it just takes so long to get better. So I wanted to remind you that once you feel better and you resume your regular workout SCHEDULE, do not resume your regular workout. Take it easy. Take is slow.

Dance Exercise, Nia, Nia in the City of San Jose, Nia classes in the South Bay, Nia Teacher, Nia Class, San Jose Nia, Nia San Jose, Nia workout, Nia, Gentle Yoga, Group Ex classes, YMCA, Zumba, Nia Technique, SJ City Fit, SJCityFitIf you have been sick for two or three weeks and you have not been doing your normal activities, if you have had to cut out your workout because you just don’t have the energy because your body is busy fighting off some cold or flu, once you think you are back to your 100% you still need to take it easy when it comes to your workout. Right? Your body has 1) been fighting off an illness for three weeks (or longer) and 2) has not been working out. As you may have experienced even when you are healthy and you take a time off from your workout, it is usually as good idea, if not necessary, to kinda ease back into working out. So it makes sense that after being sick you should ease back into it. Even more so because your body has been doing a lot of work in trying to get well. When you are feeling 100% you don’t want to go whole hog. You want to give your body time to adjust.

So, be kind to yourself. Give yourself a break. Try not to have the mentality of, “Oh my! I have been off from working out for three weeks so I have to push myself that much harder. I have to make up for what I have missed.” And/or “Well, before I got sick I could do XXXX, so I SHOULD be able to do it now.” No. You shouldn’t be able to the same things you did before you were sick and you shouldn’t do the same things. Give yourself some time. Ease back into it. Your body needs to adjust. Give yourself a break.

I know it might be hard because you may feel like you need to make up the time you missed or you may feel like you worked so hard to get where you were you SHOULD be able to be right back there. But, no, your body still needs to adjust. So go slow. Be gentle with yourself. Be kind. Understand that it is ok to take a few workouts to get back to where you were.

If you go easy on yourself you minimize the risk of getting sick again. The idea of a relapse should be enough to encourage you to take it slow.  None of us want to be sick AGAIN!

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Happy Birthday!

Posted by terrepruitt on February 23, 2018

Ahhhh. It is my hubby’s birthday. Here is a picture of his birthday cheesecake that he had last Saturday. Like most people, we have to celebrate when we can. We wanted to go to a place where the view – particularly the sunset – is part of what makes the meal so great. The only way we could see the sunset is if we went the Saturday before his actual birthday. He was just about to dive into this when we noticed the chocolate said, “Happy Birthday” We almost missed it!

Sometimes it is advantageous to do the “big/special” dinner before the birthday because then ya still get all the little celebrations along the way.

Happy Birthday, Honey!

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Posted in Friday Photo | Tagged: , , , | 2 Comments »

An Easy Yummy Recipe: Taco Pie

Posted by terrepruitt on February 21, 2018

One of my yoga students gave me a recipe. The title sounded good and as I started reading the ingredients I was thinking it sounded good until I got to the cream of mushroom soup. It just sounded really odd to me to add cream of mushroom soup with the other ingredients. I told her that, but she assured me that it was really good. She said that the dish is a hit whenever she takes it somewhere. She said everyone likes it when she makes it. So, I trusted her. And decided to try it.  I am always looking for new recipes to try that are easy. This one looked really easy. It doesn’t have that many ingredients and it had the potential to turn into a staple. So I tried her recipe to Taco Pie.

Since I so often use my blog as my recipe book I am documenting this recipe with some of the changes I made and how I will make it in the future. I will explain below the changes I have (or will make) and why below the recipe.

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Taco Pie

1 Tablespoon coconut oil
1/4 of an onion
1 lb ground turkey or ground beef
salt
garlic powder
cumin
12 ounces enchilada sauce
1 bottle taco sauce
20 ounces cream of mushroom soup
1 dozen corn tortillas
2 to 4 cups grated Monterey Jack Cheese (or Mexican Cheese)
1 can sliced black olives

Preheat oven to 325° F.

Heat the oil in a large pan. Chop the onion, then add the onion to the pan. Cook until translucent. Add the meat (crumbling it as you cook it or crumble it into the pan). Salt the meat as you cook it. Sprinkle the meat with garlic powder and some cumin. Not a lot (that is why I didn’t even put a measurement), you are just adding a tad bit of flavoring to help layer the flavors, but you still want the sauce mixture to be the star. Cook the meat until it is about half done.

Add the enchilada sauce, the taco sauces, and the cream of mushroom soup. Stir until it is all mixed together with the meat. Bring to a boil. Then let simmer over medium heat for about 10 to 15 minutes. Let the sauce flavor the meat.

In a 9X13 baking dish you are going to do layers. First layer is 1/3 of the sauce, then a layer of sprinkled of cheese, the next layer is 6 tortillas to cover the sauce. Then 1/3 of the sauce, a layer of sprinkled of cheese, then six tortillas. Then use the rest of the sauce to cover the tortillas, then cover it with the cheese.

Bake for 30 minutes. Let it sit for 5 minutes before serving. Top with the sliced olives. (If you want the olives cooked then put them on top of the “pie” before baking.)

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I have written before about how I don’t really care for the taste of plain meat. Plain meat to me, is just really not appetizing. So, when I made this recipe I cooked the turkey with chopped onions, as I stated in the recipe. It still was not enough for me. I like layered (or what I call layered) flavors. And to me, the plain meat just tasted plain. It stood out from the sauce. I like everything to meld together. So, the next time I make this I am going to add the spices as I have stated in the recipe.

The original recipe called for two cans of cream of mushroom soup, I used two boxes. That is a difference of four ounces. I did reduce the amount of enchilada sauce by two ounces, but it was still very soupy. All of the meat and sauce leaked out from between the layers and I was just left with stacked tortillas and the sauce on the side. So, next time I am going to reduce the liquids as stated here in the recipe. Not that much, but perhaps with the increased cooking time on the stove top this will help reduce the amount of liquid.

This was really good. As I type it up I am wanting to make it again. Thanks, Judy for this recipe!  And as with any recipe it is fun to add and subtract and make it your own. I thought of adding mushrooms – because I love mushrooms – and/or chilies, but I really love the simplicity of this recipe so I doubt I will be adding much to complicate it, but that doesn’t mean you don’t want to fancy it up.

How does this sound to you? What will you add to it to make it your own?

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Nia Bundle

Posted by terrepruitt on February 19, 2018

So you may know that I teach a cardio dance exercise called Nia. It includes Martial Arts (such as Tae Kwon Do), Dance Arts (such as jazz dance), and Healing Arts (such as yoga). It is body centered. Basically, it has many facets and can explained many different ways, but it is best for one to see for themselves what it really is. So I call it a cardio dance exercise. That lets people know that they will be dancing and getting a cardio workout. It clues them into the fact that if they move, they will sweat. The rest they just have to experience. One thing we do in Nia is we move around the room. It is great to experience the world from other perspectives and just moving away from your regular dance spot in your dance class can help you do that. Sometimes when we move from our regular spots we are moving around the room in FreeDance . . . perhaps taking up as much space as possible, moving about the entire room or dancing in all the corners. Sometimes when we move from our regular spots we dance in a “bundle”. Nia is also about community so this really helps exhibit that. We dance in a group, in a bundle, as a community.

Dance Exercise, Nia, Nia in the City of San Jose, Nia classes in the South Bay, Nia Teacher, Nia Class, San Jose Nia, Nia San Jose, Nia workout, Nia, Gentle Yoga, Group Ex classes, YMCA, Zumba, Nia Technique, SJ City Fit, SJCityFitThere is a particular kata in which I remember the training DVD to have encouraged us to dance close, as stated, in a bundle. So I always try to get people to get close. I suggest we all move gently in the tight bundle. I ask that everyone move through the middle of the bundle at least once. I also propose that people make eye contact. This is something I usually say to remind myself. I am getting better at doing so. I used to always look down, but now we are eyeing each other.

Dance Exercise, Nia, Nia in the City of San Jose, Nia classes in the South Bay, Nia Teacher, Nia Class, San Jose Nia, Nia San Jose, Nia workout, Nia, Gentle Yoga, Group Ex classes, YMCA, Zumba, Nia Technique, SJ City Fit, SJCityFitDuring one class I stepped outside of the bundle to turn up the music and thought it would be a great time to snap a photo. As you can see our little Nia community is great at doing the Nia Bundle. We always speculate as to what people who might see us would think when we have this large wonderful dance floor and we are all in the middle dancing. We also laugh about elbows and toes, acknowledging that you might run into one and being very careful not to step on the other. I believe the Nia Bundle is one of the things that makes Nia unique.

If you have read some of my other posts before, this one might sound pretty familiar as I wrote about the Nia Bundle in my post Dancing Close. This post pretty much explores the same information, but with this one there are pictures.

Not every Nia routine’s choreography contains a Nia Bundle . . . but a Nia teacher can use a Nia Bundle anytime. Since it is such a fun way to dance in community we might just sneak it in whenever we want. I tend to stick to using it when we dance the particular song that Carlos choreographed the Nia Bundle in . . . .but ya never know, since my students are so good at it, I might start using it more.

How would you feel about a “bundle dance”?

Posted in Nia | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments »

Beauty Is In The Eye Of The Beholder

Posted by terrepruitt on February 16, 2018

Not being a photographer, I can never get an image as striking as what I see. One day I was in my living room and I looked up and saw this shadow of our lemon tree, it was really beautiful. Of course, I didn’t capture it, but it is still interesting enough for my Friday Photo post. Ya think?

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Posted in Friday Photo | Tagged: , , | 2 Comments »

Treat Yourself

Posted by terrepruitt on February 14, 2018

So today is Valentine’s Day. According to Wiki it is a religious day. It was a feast day to honor saints, martyrs named Valentine. Then, of course, like everything else, it was commercialized. Now it seems as if it is about flowers, diamonds, and candy. Some people like to go out to dinner on Valentine’s Day, those that are tenacious enough to brave the crowds and pay exorbitant fees for a prix fixe meal. Some people feel that Valentine’s Day is a day to celebrate romantic love. Well, romantic love and love make you feel good. So it is a day about feeling good. If you have the tendency to get sad on Valentine’s Day because you don’t have a romantic love at this time or your love is not able to be with you, then do something that makes you feel good. Show yourself some love. It could be that you are good at doing that all year long so you would really like to have someone else do it for you today . . . but again, if that is not possible – don’t hold back. Do something for you.

You could buy yourself flowers. I remember one day I was buy some flowers (it was not Valentine’s Day) along with my groceries and the checkout girl asked me if they were for someone and I told her no they were for me. The first look on her face was a question, then it transformed into realization, then the final look was a good-for-you-we-should-all- do-that look. So . . . do that!

Dance Exercise, Nia, Nia in the City of San Jose, Nia classes in the South Bay, Nia Teacher, Nia Class, San Jose Nia, Nia San Jose, Nia workout, Nia, Gentle Yoga, Group Ex classes, YMCA, Zumba, Nia Technique, SJ City Fit, SJCityFitYou could get a pedicure. Or just paint your own nails. I should ALWAYS have my nails gussied up since I teach Nia and yoga, both of which are done barefoot. But I don’t. So when I do get a pedicure or just paint my own nails it makes me feel good. (Pictured here are my RED toe nails I painted before Nia yesterday!)

Write yourself a love letter. Why not? Make note of all the things you love about yourself today.

Drink champagne. I am continually flabbergasted that so many people just save this glass of bubbly fun for “special occasions.” Perhaps I am the only one that thinks daily life is enough of a special occasion to pop open some bubbly any day of the week. Life is short so celebrate it. Have a glass and toast yourself.

Gather a group of friends and enjoy a meal or a movie. It doesn’t have to turn into an “unValentine’s Day” or a bashing of the day. Just focus on the good stuff and have a good time.

I mean, yes, it is great to have a special someone to give you are card or something on Valentine’s Day, but it is also great to treat yourself as your first and best love. It is great to show yourself that you are special. You really don’t NEED any one else to do that. Do something that makes you feel good!

So?  What are you gonna do?

Posted in Misc | Tagged: , , , , , | 9 Comments »

Your Body Knows Trauma

Posted by terrepruitt on February 12, 2018

Have you ever been in a car accident? Even a minor fender bender? You hit someone or your car got hit and the damage was minor, you didn’t feel injured at all. Well, your body knows it was in a collision. Your body still senses it even if you don’t. You might not have any aches or bruises. You might even FEEL fine, but your body knows. Your mind knows. Your emotions know. First of all I want to ask everyone to start paying attention more when they drive. Please, just don’t use your phone at all. A couple of weeks ago I saw a brand new Audi almost drive right off the edge of an over pass. I was approaching and watching and wondering if I was going to be the witness of a car just sailing over the edge because the car was headed STRAIGHT toward the curved railing, but at the last second the driver jerked the car back on the road, spewing up all the dirt and dust and garbage on the tiny shoulder. And do you know what? Not three seconds later, the driver did it again! I swear! I was so bloody flabbergasted I had to see who was driving and what the heck they were doing, so I pulled up next to the car. And the driver was looking over at the middle of the dash at the screen. I believe the driver was so entranced by what was on the screen that they almost drove off the overpass TWICE. It was a new car so they were probably enthralled. Why that in-dash-computer-that-distracts-people-from-driving is legal I will never know. But I do know that people are not paying attention to their driving Dance Exercise, Nia, Nia in the City of San Jose, Nia classes in the South Bay, Nia Teacher, Nia Class, San Jose Nia, Nia San Jose, Nia workout, Nia, Gentle Yoga, Group Ex classes, YMCA, Zumba, Nia Technique, SJ City Fit, SJCityFitbecause there are so many things to distract drivers. There are enough things to distract drivers without all the electronic gizmos. Well, if you have ever been even just tapped while in a vehicle your body knows. So in addition to asking drivers to pay attention I want to ask all of you that have been in any type of collision to take care of your body.

If you can, if you can afford it, and if it is something you would do . . . .go get a massage. A massage at a massage school would be less expensive than at a fancy spa and you could be helping out a student. Tell your masseuse/masseur that you were in a collision and they should be able to help your body process the trauma. If you are not one to go get a massage, then I would suggest a bath. Just soak in epsom salts. They are very affordable and can do wonders at healing the body.

If you are one to use essential oils, try a few drops of oil in the bath to help with the release of the trauma. Or use a diffuser. Some oils that can help are Basil, Bergamot, Lavender, Lemongrass, Majoram, Rose, Yarrow, and Ylang Ylang.

This is EVEN IF YOU ARE NOT SENSING ANYTHING “WRONG” IN YOUR BODY. Your body has gone through a trauma. So help it. Even if it feels fine just give it a little comfort in the form of a massage or a bath.

Of course, this is just an idea to help you process the incident!

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Winery Flowers

Posted by terrepruitt on February 9, 2018

Spent the afternoon at a winery for a friend’s birthday celebration. It was a nice day, but too warm for February.

Here are some flowers for a Friday Photo.

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Being Mindful Saves Time

Posted by terrepruitt on February 7, 2018

There is a commercial on right now that I see often. In the commercial it is appears as if the driver is nowhere near his garage yet the car can shut the garage. So . . . it appears as if this man has driven away and left his garage open and didn’t even think about it until he was miles away. And I say miles away because the home looks like it is in a neighborhood full of houses and they show the car either on a bridge or in a very-city like looking setting. This commercial reminded me of a couple of things I used to do. I used to think that I didn’t have time to sit and watch my garage door close. When I got in my car I was already thinking about my destination and I would be pulling out of my driveway as the garage door was closing, then I would drive away as soon as it closed. Or did it? Yes, there were times I was so intent on driving or paying attention to the obstacle behind me – whether it be a pedestrian or another car – that I wouldn’t really be focused on my garage door so when I got down the street I would have to turn around to make sure it had stayed shut. I would often see it shut but not remember. I wasn’t saving myself any time.

Also I used to waste a good portion of my morning looking for my keys. I used to just set them down anywhere when I arrived home. At one point I got tired of looking for them so I made it a habit to put them in my purse. But that is the Bermuda Triangle and searching in my purse, and sometimes having to dump it out to get to the keys I-know-are-in-there-but-can’t-seem-to-get-my-hand-on – would end up taking even more time. So now I just hang them. I have saved myself so much time. So many times I had been ready to leave on time but then I spent 10/15/maybe even 20 minutes looking for my keys. Ugh. That had to stop. So now I hang them on a hook. I walk in the door and as I am reaching to turn off the alarm, I hang my keys on the hook.

And the garage? I sit and make sure it goes down. I don’t sit and watch it. I am usually doing something else. I pull out of the garage and hit the garage door button, then I put on my seat belt, put on my sunglasses, perhaps plug-in my phone if it needs it. I get settled. Then I look up and make sure it is closed. Then I drive away. I got tired of turning around to make sure it was closed. I got tired of wondering if it had closed and not popped back up. So, it might take a minute to wait, but it saves me a lot of time. And it is not really like I am sitting there doing nothing while it is closing, I am doing stuff. Instead of doing all that before I pull out of the garage, I do it while I am waiting for the door to close. I always make sure I have on my seat belt before I pull out of my driveway. And waiting for the garage door is a great time to put it on.

Society is in such a rush. We all have so much going on, so much on our minds. It seems like such a challenge to just slow down and take a moment. Make sure your garage door is shut.

I am also getting better at locking my car consciously. I used to have to go back almost every time I got out of my car. But now I am better at stopping for that 10 or 15 seconds (I mean how long does it take?) to make sure I locked it. Usually I am juggling my purse, my water bottle, my brief case, sometimes papers, and sometimes my phone so I don’t remember if I pressed the button. But, I am really making an effort. Even if my hands are full, I pause. Even if I am running late, I pause — because that is when I especially don’t have time to go back and check.

These things fall under the category of mindfulness, huh? Being mindful in these situations could help save us time. It makes me laugh because it seems like not paying attention is the faster way . . . but in the end it is not.

How about you? Do you spend a lot of time looking for your keys? Do you ever go back to make sure you shut the garage door? Do you ever take a few steps back towards your car to make sure it is locked?

Posted in Misc | Tagged: , , , , , , | 2 Comments »

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