I spent the first half of today serving at Ester Brandes’ funeral. She was one of the older ladies in the community that has always stood out in the history of Madison. She ran the paint store and had a big “Julia Child”-like voice and personality. I bet half of Madison has at least one story about her or her late husband Joe. Joe was Santa Claus in town for many years. She and her lady friends were known to frequent the coffee places around town, and whether I was their waitress or just caught up with them for a chat, I always enjoyed their warm hearts and well wishes.
Funny thing about funerals. Just like every other gathering in SD, there must be food. The family provided catering from Sunshine today. Scalloped potatoes, coleslaw and the every present cake. It was good, church food, and definitely a midwestern affair.
Years ago, I went to a funeral out East for my uncle. It’s a much different tradition out there. Instead of being served by the church ladies in the church basement, the family made a huge spread at their house after the funeral. The family spent hours and hours cooking and cleaning and preparing for everyone they knew to come and partake in this huge buffet. As much as I appreciate all my aunt’s and her families efforts that day, it seems we Midwesterners still take the more practical direction in our traditions. Plus, it gives the community a chance to offer its little bit of support to the family.
After the funeral, I quick did my workout with Lisa. Mike was under the weather so no workout for him. You guys on our team are really going to have to get after him to kick it up a notch. He did say he is losing some weight. That’s good. When Mike works out with me, I can pretty well predict how long an hour will be, but when he’s not there the hour seems to just fly by. Lisa had us bike today and then do an arm and ab workout. All those scalloped potatoes were trying to make their escape by the time we were done with the abs, so I was definitely ready to be done.
This afternoon we took pictures at the Madison Dance Academy, 70 or so adorable young people from age 3 all the way up to 14. I wish I had that much abounding energy. I think the weight would just fall off then.
Suggestion for the day: ( I just read this one somewhere again, but I can’t remember where–old age setting in. ) When eating out, plan to eat less than the portions given. Either get a doggy bag ahead of time and immediately put half of it away, or cut off half the proportion and put it to the side of your plate. When you reach the end of your new smaller portion, cover your plate with your napkin to tell yourself that you are done. When eating out, I plan to share with one of my family members and they have gotten used to my doing this. They can have whatever they want and I ask for an extra plate and eat the smaller portion. If I don’t think it will be enough, I order a side salad, with the dressing on the side to supplement the smaller portion. Considering the size of most entrees, I’ve never left hungry.
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