Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Bonita


Bonita is my Amazon Red parrot. I've had her three years now and she just turned 20. Two years ago we both had our annual physical and we both were morbidly obese. We both had very high cholesterol and we both had sore joints. She also had liver disease and I had borderline Type 2 diabetes.

I went to Heartland Spa - which is wonderful if you are looking for a great, healthy place to get away - and talked to Drs. Arthur and McKinley at McKinley Chiropractic and Wellness Center. (Also strongly recommended, by the way) With their encouragement, Bonita and I embarked on a fairly serious effort to change our eating habits and get more exercise.

Fast forward to today. Both of us have very healthy cholesterol levels. Both of us have much improved joints. I don't have anything resembling diabetes and she has completely normal liver function. She is also a healthy weight. Of course, I am still morbidly obese, but I console myself with the fact that I have a lot more weight to lose than she did. Plus she is only 20 while I am, well, a lot older.

Healthy food and exercise. That's all it takes. Now my goal is to get "Morbidly obese" off my record. Her goal is to maintain her healthy habits and learn to land without crashing into things. Did you ever see the way they land on 321 Penguins??? Yeah. Not pretty.

Monday, November 02, 2009

Charley's Reading List

I enjoy eccentric people - people who don't remind me of anyone but themselves. I think that must be at least part of why I married Charley. This morning there are 5 books on the bathroom floor tht were not there when I went to bed last night. This must mean Charley had a bad night. It might also mean that Sam had a bad night and Charley spent much of the night in the bathroom steaming Sam. Anyway, here are the 5 books Charley found essential companions in his long night: The Naked Sun - Isaac Asimov, True Believer - Nicholas Sparks, In the Company of Cheerful Ladies - Alexander McCall Smith, Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind - Shunru Suzuki and something in Russian, I believe it is the New Testament but I don't read Russian myself.

Ya just gotta love a guy that eclectic.