I’ve been taking it easy this week, not only because of my injection on Monday, but because I’ve been sick. Right now, I’m hoping that the pain in my right ear doesn’t become an ear infection. I don’t need one of those.

My back is feeling really good, for the most part. I don’t think it’s going to hinder my exercise like the last injection did. So now, I’m just waiting for this illness to pass, then I’m gonna hit the treadmill and the weights.

I feel optimistic. I’m ready to get going again. The end of last year was difficult, and I’ve been stagnant for awhile. Now, I’m chomping at the bit.

I made the yummiest chili on Wednesday, and I experimented. I used cracked wheat instead of the ground turkey I would normally have used. I cooked the wheat in chicken broth first, then fried it up with onions and garlic as I would have with meat. Then I added everything else… 1 chopped bell pepper, 2 c cooked black beans, 2 cups cooked great northern beans, 2 29 ounce cans of diced tomatoes, 2 T chili powder, 1/2 tsp cloves, 1 tsp cumin, some tabasco, and cooked it for 30 minutes on a low simmer. Yum, yum, yum. The wheat didn’t taste like wheat, but added a fabulous texture. And I was loving the cloves. We had it with cornbread, which I would have tried making with soft white whole wheat flour, but since I was sick at the time, I didn’t.

How are you doing?