Dr Copa

I don’t know why I’ve had such a hard time finding beef and barley soup at the grocery store!  That’s been one of my favorite soups ever since I can remember but the last couple of years it seems to have dropped off the face of the eastern coast!  I’ve resorted to eating vegetable beef soup instead, which is a disappointment as a substitute.  Right now I’m craving a bowl of beef and barley soup, but heating up vegetable beef  instead.  My taste buds will be disappointed.  Oh well, I’ll keep looking!  On the subject of soup, I’ve noticed that in spite of all of the advertising that “soup is good food” it is way too high in sodium to be healthy.  That’s why I don’t eat much soup anymore at all, so when I crave a particular soup, I want what I want!

My wife and I got married on a Friday the 13th. Many people think that is an unlucky day, but I feel like I am very lucky because I have the best wife anyone could ever hope to marry. Every month on the 13th day, we wish each other a happy anniversary, and we try to make sure that we don’t have to cook dinner or clean up dishes. We don’t always exchange gifts or cards, but we do try to make the day a little bit more special than the normal every day kind of day. That doesn’t ALWAYS work out that way, but we try. I wonder how many other married couples observe their wedding anniversary on a monthly basis.

Before we moved here, I had made a nice game room in our house in New England.  When we found the house we wanted down here and moved one of the obstacles was sectioning off the basement so that I could have my own game room in this house.  It will require wiring, partitioning off around the furnace and making an area big enough for my pool table, television and sofa.  I also want to put in a bathroom, starting with a toilet and sink, and maybe putting in a shower later on.

There’s plenty of room so I’ll start by painting the floor and putting in a new suspended, soundproofed ceiling.  I may also build a small mini-bar off to the side.  We’ll also have a microwave oven there to pop popcorn.  Some of my friends like a little toddy and snacks when they come over to watch the football games or Nascar races.

I may even put a slide in window in one wall so I can slide things in from one room to another.  I have to have a space on one side to reroute all of my wiring and cabling.  I’ve just started plans, so I have a long ways to go, but I’m sure that with a little bit of time it will all come together and work out just fine.

I want to pick out some crazy colors, maybe even paint a flag on one wall.  It’s that or hang a flag up that my sister sent me from Iraq, I’m not sure which I’m going to do yet.

My wife and I have been going to networking meetings every Wednesday morning for several months now. It is a business networking meeting of a lot of local businesses. We meet at the local Country Cooking restaurant and partake of the all-you-can eat breakfast buffet while we introduce ourselves and take turns talking about our business, our product or service, ourselves, and ask for referrals.

One of the ladies there is a wellness specialist. She is always talking about wellness products such as the ones made from acaia berry and the nopal cactus, like  Trivita. I’ve asked her for some free samples and she has actually brought in a couple from time to time. Some of them are really nasty, but some of them taste pretty good. My wife has been talking to me for a very long time about how I should be looking at buying foods and supplements that have a reputation for reducing inflammation. She reminds me that since I suffer from arthritis, fibromyalgia, and herniated discs, and carpal tunnel syndrome in both hands, what do I have to lose?

My wife also has arthritis, and she has reassured me that if we find a product that we both like that is supposed to be good for you and reduce the inflammation that can cause pain that she will take it with me. I’ll be sure to let you know which one(s) we like!

Lucas invited me to go shopping with him next weekend to pick up Christmas presents for our family. He says he is on a mission to buy locally made products, trying to only buy things that are made in the USA. Well, we live in an area full of vineyards, and I know that my wife’s favorite wine is made and sold only a few miles from here. So I think that may just be one of the first places we head out to for our shopping expedition. My wife does not drink a lot of alcohol, but I am sure that is something she would appreciate having under the tree.