Day the 23rd

Hello, blog-children of mine. Today, I talk about moving and I also give the CORRECT RECIPE FOR GARLIC VALHALLA DRESSING and please forgive the incorrect one [Jane!]

I think I'm going to get moving...and by that, I mean exercise. Regular exercise. As in 5-to-7-times-a-week regular exercise.

How did I decide I just had to, you ask.

Simple. I was reading today about cognitive functions, about keeping them strong and fresh as we age. And of course there was the usual blah-de-blah about lots of fresh vegetables and fruits (check: I am doing this) and Omega-3 oils (check: I am doing this, too. Salmon when I can and walnuts daily).

Then I saw it. The comment about "regular exercise."

Without breaking my arm from patting myself on the back [this phrase is from Mom; she used to say, "Don't break your arm patting yourself on the back" whenever one of us tended to extol our own perfections], I am a smart woman with a good mind. I have a great memory--I can bore the hair off your head by discussing...oh, let's say...The Royal Navy during the Napoleonic Era, or Constructions of Masculinity in Victorian Adolescent Literature, or film history or lengthy quotations from Paradise Lost or from Macbeth. Other people may be bored to yawns, but I like being able to do these things.

And I want to keep on doing this until I turn my toes up and draw my last breath.

And there it was...the bald little statement that one of the keys to long-terms cognitive efficiency is exercise.

Both of my parents lived fairly long lives and had good memories and were sharp as a pair of tacks. Mom may have confused things we said (or she said) but she was always this way. I still remember her telling me that my brother Bill had taught her some Vietnamese and when I asked what phrase, she said, "Konichiwa." Which, as many of my readers are aware, is Japanese for "hello" and probably has other uses but let's not go there today. And when I mentioned that it was Japanese and not Vietnamese, Mom promptly tore my head off and handed it to me. She may have been a bit confused on which language, but she had no doubt at all that Bill had taught it to her. Moral of the story: I have good genes to start with. I would like to enhance their environment.

And of course, there is a complicating factor in this new-found commitment: I am going to Poodle's tonight to watch GLEE (Episode: Special Education), and although I am courageously forgoing a piece of pie during the GLEE-viewing, I will not be home as early as I might because I will be there.

Of course, the truth is--and several of you are laughing your hineys off--is that I would be more likely to go to Central Library to play Mafia Wars [my laptop is down for the count] than I am to hop on the rebounder and job a lap or 5.

However, Fun At Poodle's ends at 8 pm because Poodle has to do homework. I live 5 minutes away. There is time--oh! there is time--to get on that rebounder and then put the little DVD in the player and learn how to use my Shake Weight to sculpt feminine-yet-sexy arms. As opposed to what I am doing right now with it which is use it as a $20 paperweight. In case you wondered. Which you did.

Otherwise, I am eating just what I said I would. Fruit. Yogurt (GREEK Yogurt). Carrots with salsa. I am going to steam the little orange buzzards and see if that doesn't improve the deal. I rationalize it like this: better to get a few less nutrients and actually get them because I EAT the carrots than to wax all sorts of food-related righteous about raw foods and then never eat them because I am not too crazy about them. I am going to eat carrots, and that is all there is to it. I'll report on this tomorrow.

Meanwhile, Blog-Kids (there, I like that one!), here is the corrected recipe (and I do love that word "receipt" which sadly, is not only incorrect, but archaic...) for Garlic Valhalla Dressing:

Juice a lime
Add several glugs of Extra Virgin Olive Oil [no, I'm not Rachel Ray and her "EVOO." Don't get me started...)
Add about 1 Tablespoon (more or less to taste) of good quality BBQ Sauce
Add a squirt or two (about 1/2 Tablespoon) of a good mild mustard (Grey Poupon is a good choice; any Dijon mustard or maybe a mild oriental with Tamari in it works, too. Experiment.)
1-2 cloves of garlic, pressed
A couple of shakes of Herbes de Provence (I forgot it. You can get it at the grocery store, usually. The lavender in it is worth everything. EVERYTHING.)
A shake or two of Ume Plum Vinegar (yes, you have to get it at a specialty store but it will last forever)

Whisk it like a big dog. Feel free to adjust the seasonings as you wish. Or delete some and add others.

But this IS the original Garlic Valhalla. It's just...so good.

And so, as the sun sinks into the West, we bid a fond farewell to our readership...

Independently,

Weltha