Category: #TheFab50s

Taking fun seriously…my very first golf lesson

Here are a number of reasons why I wanted to learn to play golf:

1)  My father, Jonie B. Hollis, is an avid golfer and I would love to show up at his house one day with my clubs and say, “let’s go out and play.”    2)  my S.O. James loves to golf and would really like to take me out on golf dates.  3)  the business advantages that the golf lifestyle affords you.  Once you learn to play golf, you now have the unique opportunity to cultivate relationships outside of the workplace and enjoy a sport that is primarily known for networking.  4) It’s great exercise as well as a friendship builder…

I usually do things backwards so I actually bought an entire set of ladies golf clubs,  golf shoes, ladies golf balls, and a ladies golf glove back in 2007.  I’m not one for procrastinating so I can’t explain why I am just now, in 2015, actually learning how to play.  My S.O. James bought me a couple of lessons to move things along so I called Lyman Golf Center in Middlefield, CT to make my first of two appointments for lessons.  Jim Wilson, golf instructor,  came highly recommended from my co-worker Rachel so I asked to be set up with him.  Learning golf can be frustrating so Rachel, who is a golfer herself,  explained that Jim had the patience of Job and would be well suited for my personality.  She was absolutely right.

My first lesson with Jim was on a sticky hot Sunday in July.  One of the hottest days of the month.  I wore my golf outfit and my golf hat and after spending about 20 minutes getting to know each other, Jim and I took my clubs and headed out to the driving range where we would be spending the remainder of my one hour lesson.  Jim showed me the basics:  how to stand, how to hold my club, how to lean ever so slightly and mostly how to hold the club in my two hands.  I found this the most difficult because the way you hold the club with two hands did not feel natural to me so I kept forgetting how to do it and resorting to the easy and more natural way.  Jim never lost his patience, he just kept reminding me how to hold the club with both hands and also why I was holding it that way.  He kept moving my feet so that they were planted correctly and he also showed me an easy way to ‘tee the ball’ by using one hand only.

the stance is critical for swinging the stance is critical for swinging
the follow through is equally important the follow through is equally important
pointing the club reminds you of where you wanted the ball to go in the first place pointing the club reminds you of where you wanted the ball to go in the first place

Once I got the hang of it, Jim left me to my own devices.  My lesson was now over so he gave me a ton of balls and said practice what you learned today so that when we get together next time, we can move on to the next lesson.  I spent the next 2 hours hitting balls and slowly starting to get why regular people are so fascinated with the game.  It truly is fun and it’s also challenging because there is so much to learn, on and off the course.  I’m looking forward to my next lesson with Jim and then maybe joining Golf Fore Women 201!

3 or 6?

So me and my partner James went to Lewes, Delaware for the second time this Summer.  I have to admit that outside of neighboring Rehoboth Beach, which is legendary, I knew very little about Lewes except that it was the ‘ferry town’ that folks travelling from Cape May, New Jersey visited.  It’s starting to grow on me though.  It’s a cute little coastal town ‘where the sun, the sand and the sea are still the number one attractions.’   One of the main reasons we came, being the “Sea” foodies that we are,  was because of the all-you-can-eat crabs at The Crab House…

For just $39 you get all-you-can-eat Old Bay Crabs, sweet corn on the cob and homemade hush puppies. Yummy!  We sat in the rear of the restaurant, the ‘grub’ area if you will, where the long wooden picnic-style tables were conveniently covered with brown paper, and each table had, at its head, a box containing a roll of paper towels, bibs, a mallet, Old Bay seasoning, ketchup, salt, pepper and clean wipes.  And these long wooden picnic-style tables each had a huge trash bin between them.  It’s a messy affair…The wait staff start you off with bowls of seasoned salty popcorn which is to die for…then they bring you 3 Old Bay medium-sized crabs, sweet corn on the cob and homemade hush puppies.  This place is also known for its craft beers which trust me you will need to wash down the high sodium crabs?.

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covered table brown paper bag covered table
condiments box at each table containing a roll of paper towels and condiments
crab special The first of many all-you-can-eat crab dinners…

3 or 6?  Come hungry as the crabs keep a’ coming…Once you dump all of the crab trash in the bins the wait staff miraculously appear and ask if you would like 3 or 6?  Meaning 3 or 6 more crabs…but keep in mind that wasted food is not accepted…
Bon Appetit! 

My Happy Surprise this week on Nyberg!

imageAnn Nyberg reads The View from Lajeune and after re-posting ‘My Clean Living Life’  blog on her Twitter page, asked me to appear on her News 8 program aptly titled “Nyberg.”   I respect Ann as a long running top Connecticut News Anchor, co-worker and friend so after some arm twisting, said yes.  Here is the interview we taped last night:

http://networkconnecticut.com/2015/07/colon-cancer-was-no-match-for-lajeune-hollis/

My clean living life…

So 4 years ago I was diagnosed with colon cancer (which I will blog about at a later date) but this diagnosis forced me to start cleaning up my life in terms of what foods I put into my body. I started buying and eating more veggies, legumes, beans, whole wheat products, lean meat, fish, chicken sausage, turkey dishes, hard cheeses, low sodium foods, unprocessed foods, organic foods, etc. I also started drinking up to 8 glasses of water a day, taking vitamins and exercising 5 days a week. My sleep habits have always been good (I try and get at least 7 hours of sleep a night). And I don’t use drugs so that was not an issue. I do, however, drink red wine (which supposedly is good for your heart as it contains antioxidants!) and the only kind of chocolate I consume is dark chocolate which again is heart healthy. One of my favorite clean eating recipes given to me by my former co-worker Michele Elliott, has everything I love in it: whole wheat pasta, tomatoes, garlic, spinach, beans and chicken sausage and it’s a breeze to make.

Here it is:

Whole Wheat Pasta with Veggies and Beans (and Chicken Sausage):

Cook whole wheat rotini pasta according to directions on box

In large pan sauté in olive oil:
2 to 3 cloves of garlic minced
1 large red onion
1 large bag of baby spinach
one container of grape tomatoes (cut these in half to double the amount)
2 cans of red kidney beans
2 cans of chick peas or garbanzo beans
Add crushed red pepper and black pepper
Add cooked chicken sausage to other ingredients (first cut chicken sausage links lengthwise and then make into medallion size) and bake them in oven at 350 degrees for 20 minutes

Cook all ingredients together on stove for 45 minutes to an hour (until beans and tomatoes are soft).

Add cooked pasta to veggies and beans and chicken sausage.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.

1 1/2 cups is your portion.

Bon Appetit!    Here is a picture of my dish:

 

Whole Wheat Pasta with Veggies and Beans and Chicken Sausage

 

Sincerely,

 

 

TVFL

Chocolate on the Beach

It’s getting close to Memorial Day, the unofficial start of Summer, which means that me and my partner James will empty my car trunk of Winter gear and re-pack with the good stuff–Summer items like portable beach chairs, beach umbrellas, beach bags with sunblock, towels, beach blankets, etc.  We keep my car trunk filled up (not his as it is chock full of golf gear) like this all Summer long as you never know in New England when a beach day will appear.

 

image image

 

We both love the beach and look forward to laying out on our beach chairs with my cooler filled with ice cold water, adult beverages and snacks and sneak dips in the ocean when the heat gets to be too much.  We are truly ‘Chocolate on the Beach’  as we are blessed with skin tones that are ‘Hershey bar’ chocolate, especially in contrast to the bright sunlight of the beach.  For as long as I can remember I have been a fan of the beach.  I grew up in a small town on the shoreline of Connecticut where we had 5 beaches, so it was natural and a beautiful thing to spend as much time as possible at the beach.

 

Plus my late mother Jean loved the beach and made it a point every Summer to pick up her beach pass at the town hall in Groton, Connecticut.  So one of the ways me and my siblings honored her when she passed almost 6 years ago was to have the bench she so often sat on at Eastern Point, her favorite beach in Groton, Connecticut named after her.

image

I think of her often but especially today as it is, after all, Mother’s Day…a day when I am reminded of her goodness.  I was one of seven children and although I came from a large family,  my mother had this special and unique way of making me feel as much love from her as if I were her only child.  And we all felt that powerful love.  I consider this one of the many gifts that God blessed her with and completely understand why she was nicknamed ‘Care Bear’  at her church, Walls Temple AME Zion in New London, CT.

Jean Anna Tinsley Hollis

So Happy Mother’s Day to all and a special Happy Mother’s Day to my mother Jean in Heaven.

 

 

Sincerely,

 

 

TVFL