Today is Memorial Day, and we spent a lovely weekend with my brother-in-law and his wife. Steve and Ken went shrimping and fishing for Lingcod, my all-time favorite fish. However, they did not catch any ling but brought back about thirty shrimp. The shrimp in Puget Sound are not very flavorful, so I don't want them to bring in any more of them. It's a lot of work for bland-tasting shrimp.  After having those fabulous gulf shrimp, it's hard to appreciate other types.  Our guests just left, so we plan to go to our workout place this afternoon and follow our regular schedule.  I've done my bay walk this morning, completing about a third of my daily workout. I get about 25 minutes of cardio during the trot-jog along the bay, so it works well.  We ate keto-friendly cuisine while our guests were here, including fajitas, tomato soup, quesadillas, chicken, and asparagus. The meals were delicious and satisfying.  Despite the extras like bread and ice cream, I maintained my diet while they were here. It's getting easier for me to maintain keto all the time.  On Thursday, I played golf with Steve, but I trotted instead of walking in between each hole. It didn't compare to my high-intensity interval training at my workout place, but it gave me almost fifty minutes of cardio.  Now that I know it works, I shall do this every time I golf.  We both got our wellness checkups on Monday and discovered that our cholesterol had decreased from the last time we had blood work. However, it's still above the highest threshold.  Rather than going on statins, Steve and I have decided to have a statin smoothie every single morning, and it's pretty good. I use hemp hearts, chia seeds, almond milk spinach, and drop some natural statins that I will delineate later. We had a smoothie before we headed out to the golf course.  I made a chicken marinara over stuffed cabbage, and we ate that when we got home.  It was a new recipe and worked out well. I've made some delicious new items this past week that fit my keto diet. One is a shrimp and cream sauce over mock grits.  Yum!  I've been thinking about friends whose partners are not doing very well and feel blessed that Steve and I are not facing any issues.  Most recently, I heard that one of my friend's husband has Parkinson's, and it's taking a terrible toll. Steve and I are both very blessed to be healthy so far. I hope we can both get our weight down and lower our cholesterol. We can both keep up with our workouts because our body parts are hanging in there and hopefully, that will continue.

     ​I'm starting this week's blog by emphatically stating there's no place like home! Of course, we all know that, but sometimes you need to leave to remember how much you like just being in your own space with your things, eating your home-cooked meals with controlled ingredients. When you're away from home and eating in restaurants, knowing what you're eating is challenging. Are all the ingredients wholesome?  Do they contain any keto busters? I think I made good choices, given the places we chose for our meals. As soon as we returned home, Steve and I got back on our mostly salmon and slaw diet, and we're both feeling pretty good.  Also, I'm facing some facts about myself. I don't necessarily wait to get hungry before I eat. In fact, I think about what I will eat next all the time, something I used to criticize my mother about, and now I find myself doing the same. There's nothing wrong with enjoying one's meals, but I enjoy mine too much!  Consequently, I probably consume too many calories. I need to wait until I'm hungry to eat, and then I need to eat slowly and take special care that I do not exceed a caloric intake that allows me to lose weight more quickly. While we traveled, we kept up with our exercises, and fortunately, we returned to fabulous weather, so it was easy to keep it going. The day before we returned, the Pacific Northwest suffered a heatwave. I hope that doesn't mean we will have wildfire issues because when that happens, sometimes the smoke lays over our bay, and it's terrible. Also, it's so devastating for the wildlife in BC.  People in forestry claim that these fires are necessary to maintain the forest, but some claim that global warming has created entirely different circumstances, and now there's an increase in drought and fire. These conditions are creating potential problems for all of the forests in the northwest.  Hopefully, it'll all be okay.  Also, I'm excited because Steve has applied for a position with a University connected with a think tank working on environmental issues in Barcelona, Spain. He would be able to do the work remotely, but several necessary visits might come with per diem, and of course, I'm very anxious to go along. I'm disinterested in moving anywhere, but a month or two throughout the year would be fine. I especially like the idea of being located in Barcelona because we can visit many other areas without breaking our budget from there. So it's exciting now that Steve has an added credential and retains all his old connections. These are assets for his next several endeavors. Of course, he must move fast because neither of us is getting any younger! 

​     We had a great week celebrating Steve's graduation and formalizing his status as a Ph.D. First, we traveled to Boston and spent several days there. We visited several restaurants, but Angela's Taste of Puebla was the best. It offers big portions at moderate prices and provides many menu items compatible with my keto diet. We stayed near the airport next to the Boston Harbor. The views were lovely, and we enjoyed ourselves. The Boston area is historically significant, and given that, right up my alley.  We took a short trip to Salem and visited all the historical sites, which are particularly interesting given the witch trials.  We also went to Charlestown, Rhode Island, to celebrate Steve by eating at the Nordic Lodge, one of our all-time favorite restaurants, and our second visit.  It is a fabulous buffet with items available that are all homemade. Nothing comes out of a can. The desserts are exquisite, but I had to be very careful with them. They provide all-you-can-eat lobster along with everything else. I consumed two giant lobsters and a fabulous, melt-in-your-mouth slice of prime rib cooked to perfection. While we were in Boston, we found a perfect workout place for Steve's lap swimming.  Of course, I can do my workout anywhere, but I also enjoyed this place. The next day we headed to Virginia for Steve's graduation. When we got to Fairfax, we found another workout place, so we maintained our exercise routine, which kept us feeling well. Steve's graduation ceremony was at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia. The ceremony was Sunday, and it was absolutely beautiful! I'm very proud of Steve and his accomplishments. Two of his professors, both young women about 50 years old, came fluttering out of the row of honorary professors to hood him and hug him. He looked so proud, and they all looked so cute. Following the ceremony, we went to work out again and found a restaurant at the Reston Town Center, known for its fabulous eats. We plan to spend this morning relaxing and working out.  This evening we will enjoy a lovely dinner at Fogo de Chao. This restaurant has plenty of items available that work with keto, so I can remain very successful in maintaining my keto plan. We'll return to Birch Bay Wednesday morning, and I will be happy to get home, but we've had a wonderful time. We had a very successful trip, hopefully without wrecking my keto diet!  I'll find out at my next weigh-in.  Here's hoping I maintained my weight, and if I'm lucky, I lost an ounce or two.

     My morning walk in Birch Bay is lovely.  I can see all of the surrounding islands in the distance, and when the fog lifts, I can see the snowcap mountains surrounding our beautiful space. When the tide is out, the fishing birds hang around, particularly the herons, watching for wayward crabs or fish come darting through the shallow Waters. During my walk, giant fir trees are on my left, and an eagle often perches on the top of one, scanning the bay for a meal.  A canal runs in front of them, providing a home for mallard couples who will be nesting soon. Later, the Canadian geese will come through, pair up, and nest as well. The cool breezes make the walk comfortable. Birch Bay is a delightful place, and I'm so happy we made this place part of our retirement plan.  This week I remained focused on staying within my calorie range of no more than 1200 calories a day. I'm managing it by sticking with salmon or chicken accompanied by coleslaw or broccoli salad. I'm avoiding making all of those rich foods like chicken tetrazzini, beef stroganoff, cabbage lasagna, and, of course, laulau. I'm sure those foods kept me from losing more quickly in Hawaii, although I did lose consistently. It'll be interesting to see if our calorie reduction makes a difference this week.  Steve's brother and his wife visited this past weekend. We celebrated Steve's success in obtaining his Ph.D. together. I served chicken fajitas and pinto beans as a side for the guests. Of course, I'm unable to enjoy pintos because they are so high and carbs, but I do enjoy the bean juice and sometimes serve a cup of that to myself. I'm sure that's providing more carbs than I need, but it doesn't take me out of ketosis. We also enjoyed our favorite Birch Bay brunch, including smoked salmon, eggs, and cream cheese. I have mine in a low-carb wrap, but I serve toasted bagels to everyone else.  We had a fun weekend together!  Ken brought champagne to celebrate Steve, as well as a gift and a cake.  I avoided that, but the others enjoyed the treat.  We will head to the east coast on Wednesday and spend the next several days enjoying site seeing and visiting several of our favorite area restaurants.  The primary purpose of our trip is to attend Steve's hooding ceremony on Sunday.  We're all very proud of him! 

     This was a big week for us. We returned to Birch Bay on Wednesday, arriving late in the evening after leaving Waianae at 4:30 in the morning. It took a day or two for us to get over the early morning and late evening transition, along with the time change, but now we're doing fine. We celebrated Steve's birthday on the 25th, the day before we left Hawaii. We had a great time with our guys, and Steve was happy to have his favorite German chocolate cake, which I completely avoided! Of course, I was tempted, but I survived, and the keto fudge I made helped me do that.  After arriving in Birch Bay, we spent the rest of the week eating and sleeping, and Steve studied for the defense of his dissertation on human space flight. The title of his dissertation is far more scholarly, but the general idea is surviving long-term space flight, and the prospects are not very good. He defended his dissertation this morning and did so successfully, thank God! I am so proud of him and his work.  The content of his work is wonderful.  I know.  I was his editor.  It has great depth and will benefit those decision-makers involved in space policymaking. Of course, he was exhausted when he finished having anticipated this event for weeks, fitfully sleeping last night, getting up early, and doing more preparing for the "Inquisition." We were both so relieved at the end that we went to a wonderful little restaurant in Bellingham, Washington, for a fabulous breakfast. Steve overdosed on carbs, but I was good and had an omelet filled with fresh and delicious veggies. It's called The Little Cheerful Cafe and is located on Holly Street. It was our first time there, and we both enjoyed it very, very much. We intend to bring everyone who visits us to this little cafe. After our celebration, Steve dragged himself back behind the wheel, refusing to let me drive because he's a control freak, and got us home.  He went quickly to bed. and took a long nap, and I broadcast the news about his successful defense and becoming Dr. Morton. After he woke up, we headed to our favorite workout place in British Columbia, and we're about to wrap that up and head home. Sorry for being tardy with my blog post, but I was doing important things, especially eating a great breakfast. As usual, we're settling into Birch Bay beautifully and enjoying the lovely weather and our lovely bay. I've been trotting along the bay every morning to keep up my additional cardio because it's working as I continue losing ounces daily. Yesterday a giant shadow covered me from top to bottom as I did my little trot and finally overtook me.  It was a huge eagle flying low on his way to fish in the bay. I always forget how majestic eagles are and love this opportunity to see them at work. Of course, t love everything about this bay and enjoy trotting beside it, especially as lost ounces add up, and hopefully, they'll culminate into the pounds I need to meet my goal by the end of September. Wish me luck!