Class, beekeeper’s meeting, diet

Class yesterday was an okay class. It was one of those classes where I could not get anyone to participate. At several points in the class, I pose questions for the class to answer or have a slide that I have someone from the class read. On the first of those slides I waited for a full 90 seconds before someone volunteered and read the slide. It was a long pause. An somewhat uncomfortable pause even though everyone in the class was smiling as they waited for someone else to take on the challenge. But it did not seem to open the class up to any of the points I would have liked to have a discussion on through the day. So, we pushed through the material with me doing all the talking for the six and a half hours of the class. That is tiring. But we made it through once again and the timeframe of the class was acceptable – ending only about twenty minutes ahead of the schedule I try to maintain for total class time.

I was at the HQ house for the presentation. That is going to be a good location for these class presentations. It is very quiet, and the company has set up the room I use in a way that makes it very comfortable to present the classes. During the lunch break I ate my lunch by the pool. Yes, the HQ house has a very nice pool complete with a fountain that spills back into the pool. The house itself sits in the middle of the 41 acres of property it sits on, far enough from the train tracks and the highway that the noises from either are muted to almost silent. Most of the time I have the house to myself. My company is pretty careful to give me whatever space is needed to conduct these classes because they have proved to be a huge revenue stream. For the most part, nothing is scheduled at the HQ house when I have a class scheduled. When I was asked by my boss if I was bothered by the isolation, I responded that I did not crave interaction at the level that most people do. I am fine with periods by myself as long as I get to spend the evenings with my wife.

Mama and I had a beekeeper’s meeting to go to last night. On the way she insisted on stopping at Dollar Tree to pick up some things for a craft she is doing, so we arrived at the meeting a minute of two after it had started. We have been meeting in a large patio room at a Dos Chiles restaurant, which is nice both for the room we get to meet in and the meal we get to eat as the meeting is ongoing. There were a number of topics covered during the meeting and the winners of the recent raffle we conducted were announced. I, who never win everything, was the winner of a guided fishing trip on Lake Bridgeport. The prize also included a one-night stay in an Air B&B on the lake called Henson Hollow. Those who know the place tell me it is very nice. One of the other raffle prizes was a custom horizontal hive. I was very interested in that prize and the person who won the hive does not want it, so I volunteered to put it to use. We will see how that turns out. Next week, I will call the person who offered the fishing trip to schedule a time. I am going to see if I can take the pastor with me on that trip. Maybe we can learn some of the best spots to fish on Lake Bridgeport. That would be fun. Later, Mama and I will schedule an overnight stay at Henson Hollow. Free is always good!

This weekend, Mama and I will start on a special diet that will limit the sugar in our diet. We each completed a questionnaire that allowed us to determine the level of symptoms we are suffering from a Candida overgrowth. I scored significantly higher than Mama on the quiz. That surprised me. The diet will be a good healthy change no matter what the outcomes we see as far as battling the Candida overgrowth. I have been talking to Mama for some weeks about making such a change, but neither of us were motivated enough to do so. Perhaps now that has changed. I do know that going on with the eating habits we have been giving in to for the past years will not produce the health or weight outcomes we are looking for.

Thought both of us have lost weight over the past several months, neither of us feel good. My energy levels are often very low. That is discouraging because there are lots of projects I still need to do. Both of us wrestle with constant heartburn, ongoing digestive issues and I still deal with painful bouts of diverticulitis. It is time to change what we are feeding ourselves. So, I am looking froward to the change. My only challenge is that is do not do well with a high meat diet – especially beef. Mama’s blood type is beef eater. Mine is chicken and turkey. So, there will have to be some meals I do not eat what she is eating, but that is a minor issue. Since I do most of the cooking, it is an easy requirement to meet. We will see how this turns out, but I have high expectations.

The real challenge is continuing this diet as strictly as possible for two months.