Do you need a taller toilet?

I hope everyone has recovered from their Christmas! It was easy for me to recover from mine. We ended up doing nothing. Nope, we did not watch a movie. I won't go into details, but working out the details of the movie (at home, no less) became a production, so I decided to read instead. 

I learned years ago to expect little at Christmas time—I don't mean that in a negative way. But the more pomp and planning, the more likely someone will be disappointed. So, if you have no expectations, you are NEVER disappointed. And that works for me. 

We had our Zoom session, and a few people joined. I managed to get some sewing done! Today, I will heads-down and work at the computer and the sewing machine. 

I have one package that needs to be at the courier drop-off by 5 PM this afternoon, and I still have one thing left to finish before it goes out the door. That is a priority this morning, so I can walk it to the drop-off spot this afternoon. 

I bought a single present, and it was delivered yesterday. The recipients were thrilled, and that made my day! No exchanges or refunds to worry about!

I also spent this morning sending out emails and organizing stuff. At this time of year, there is some administrative work to continue the clubs for next year. I also look at my distribution lists; if I haven't heard from people in a while, it's time to remove them. I give people one more chance to participate, and then—POOF—they are gone! 

That is one thing that drives me crazy, and I know it shouldn't. But I HATE having people on my distribution lists who don't participate. I take charge if you don't want to participate and can't even tell me you no longer wish to be on the list! 

It's like the driveway. I hate having bits of snow in the driveway. Sometimes, you can't help it, as the snow might be tromped down, but as it softens, I''m out there with the shovel to get rid of it! Let's say I do not have a good relationship with ice in my driveway! Some of my neighbors are NOT the best at shoveling that darn sidewalk. Don't shovel your driveway, but please shovel the sidewalk! The plow does not pass on the sidewalks on our street!

Yesterday was a weird day in that I only took three pictures. One was for yesterday's blog post, one was for last night's EXIT Game, and this is the only one relevant to today's post. 

A snow family in the park

Can you see the snow family? I was walking through the park and saw huge trails in the snow that went down a slight slope. AHA -- they used the hill to roll the snowballs. They are big, but the snow the other day was perfect for making snowmen! 

We played the EXIT Game last night, and after much thought and discussion, we finally caved in and looked at the clues. OK, the first clue—we already knew that information. The second clue—we knew that as well. We finally looked at the answer. WHAT??? This doesn't make sense at all. Nothing in that day's clues or information would make you think that way. It was a bit disappointing. 

So, I checked with Garth online. Dr. Garth Moore is a puzzle nut from the UK who solves the EXIT puzzles online. He has written an EXTENSIVE number of books on puzzles. I watched his YouTube video, and he also had to look at the clues. I've NEVER seen him have to do that. He was also disappointed and said there was NOTHING in the clues for that day to lead to that answer. He was polite! But it was a disappointing day. 

By the way, I found MANY of Garth's books in ebook format at Hoopla. My library has a massive subscription to resources on Hoopla! Elaine M -- are you proud of me for checking that out? 

Hmmm --- now I wonder if Alex (friend's son) had to look for a clue or if he figured it out, although they did say it was "interesting." He's pretty clever at these puzzles. Another friend had to look at the clue, and even then, they were at a loss, like us. There was even an error in the written solution. 

But let's face it - they do a fantastic job on all the other puzzles. I guess it stands to reason that they might screw up once or twice. The premise of what they were trying to do was excellent -- they just gave you NO direction to even think that way. 

I bought my Virtual Challenge for 2025 and made a goof when I purchased a couple of others. I know - I got sucked in. Buy three, and you get the challenge for free. I now have 16 codes to use up! Managing those darn codes is a hassle, but there was someone on the support desk yesterday, and we got it all cleared up. I have a nice two-page list of the codes. Easy to track now instead of in a handful of emails. One more piece of paper dealt with! 

My codes are for longer-distance challenges that require time to complete. Note to self: only buy new codes for the yearly challenge next year! 

It feels good to try to get on top of the paperwork. There is much more to do, and yesterday, I had an incident with my tea. Good grief—I've become clumsy with liquids. However, it wasn't as bad as the previous day with the water. Still, all the paperwork was thrown to the floor in a huge heap. Sigh...................

By the way - I have room at my January quilting retreat if anyone is interested. The dates are January 27 - February 2. We are staying at Springhouse Retreat in New Hamburg, a beautiful place to stay. There is loads of room, and it's always a good time! You do not have to stay the entire time if you don't want to. Yes, I understand it's winter, but good grief - if we put our life on hold for a potential snowstorm? Well, life goes on - we live in Canada! The cost is approximately $125 per night. 

So if you want to attend, let me know. elainetheriault@gmail.com

I am being diligent about the stretching, so that is good. All I can say is that the acute pain is gone, but there is still lots of discomfort, but that's just life. I have much more mobility than before. I started stretching daily, so it's all going in the right direction. Don't worry -- I WILL follow up!

We always talk about losing our brain cells to dementia, but do we consider what can happen if we lose our mobility? That's equally important, and most of us are 100% in control. We do NOT have 100% control over whether we get dementia or not. I watched a video the other day (real or not - I don't know) of a frail, elderly woman who could barely walk into a gym. She was assisted by someone. Then, over a undisclosed period of time, it revealed how much of her mobility she gained by doing SIMPLE exercises. She didn't break a sweat. She was in her street clothes!

I chuckled because one of the exercises is the SAME exercise I was given this past week. And it's an IMPORTANT one. You hold a weight in your hand - at the beginning, you probably don't need a weight. Then you sit down, and then you stand up! Simple! Don't use a rolling chair. Why is that important? Let's think of the washroom! 

We think it's our knees when we struggle to sit on the toilet. NOPE -- in many cases, we are losing the strength in our quads to sit down and stand up. So - this is something you should give some serious consideration to! Just sit down and then stand up. Do it a few times a day. You NEED to keep the strength in your legs. While I do a lot of walking, my quads are NOT strong, well not as strong as I would think they should be. 

So, if you are a quilter and think it's ergonomic to sit in one spot with your cutter and iron around you, think again! It might be ergonomic, but we need to move. We need to sit down and then get up. When getting up, ideally, you are not using your hands. 

Now, go try it. How many times can you sit down and then get up? 

Here's a video to watch if you don't understand what I mean. This is not rocket science, but it can improve your mobility, strengthen your legs, make going to the washroom much easier, and improve your balance. 

I laugh because our society is about treating the symptoms, never the cause. When people struggled to sit on a regular-height toilet, the industry went for taller toilets instead of saying they needed to strengthen their legs. Taller toilets are NOT necessary for most people! 

On that happy note, I'm out of here!! 

Have a super day!!!

Ciao!!!!