Some new news

Even thought I don't post much on this blog, I am always scanning my days for possible new things to try: new restaurants, new dishes to order or cook, new authors to read (I buy books, new when I can, so that authors get a royalty), new walks to take, new neighborhoods to explore, etc.  This morning Sweet Hubby and I went to a new cannabis shop, and I'm eager to try my new, very strong pot.  But most of these things really don't seem worth blogging about 

Recently, however, I tried some new things that I found interesting enough to want to share them.

At the grocery store last week, I impulsively bought red bananas.  If you have never seen or eaten them, they are usually smaller and plumper than yellow bananas, and the skin really is a pretty red to purple.  The flesh is the usual banana white.  They provide a wallop of potassium and are supposedly higher in calories than yellow.  I bought four and a day later decided to use two of them to make banana-blueberry pancakes.  

I think the ones I tried must not have been ripe.  They were really hard to peel (as in I ended up having to use a knife to get the skin off), and only about half the flesh was mashable; the rest remained chunky.  The pancakes, sad to say, were a failure (although we still ate them, natch).  I'm letting the other two I bought ripen some more and will try again.  This just goes to show that not ever new experience is going to be a pleasant one, but it's always worth trying.

A few days ago I went to the mall to find dog ears for a play reading I was taking part in.  While wandering the mall hallways (what kind of store sells dog ears???), I passed a massage shop and decided to step in.  A couple of weeks ago while tunnel flying with SH, I had botched a hop and wrenched my neck.  I carry a lot of tension in my neck anyway, so this accident just added to the painfulness and restriction of movement in that area.  I can't really say that the massage was comfortable.  My masseur really dug in deep and found all the tightness and ouchiness.  But I did feel better after, and although I'm still tight in the neck, I believe the massage started me on the road to more freedom of movement.

Lastly (is that really a word?), I found a new way to get a terrific overall workout.  I walked to the light rail station nearest the house, about 20 minutes, and took the train to the next station.  From there, I walked about 10 minutes to the local rec center (where I take my clogging classes) and did a workout on the weight machines in the fitness room.  Then back to the train and home.  That regimen is a chunk out of the day, about 2 hours, so I don't know how often I'll repeat it, but I really enjoyed it.  I love the rec center resistance machines, but walking the treadmill is tedious, boring.  So the combination of the outdoor walks and the weights in the rec center was perfect.