Random 5 for December 31, 2023 – New start, cats, bananas, birthdays, best wishes

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This is it! – Today is the end of the year. Many people are saying good riddance but don’t we do that every year? We look at tomorrow as a new start when actually each day is a new start. There is nothing magical about the end of a year, month or week. My wish is peace for all which won’t happen in my lifetime.

The cat diet – For those of you who are following the saga of getting my cats Gus and Sasha to lose a few pounds, here is a one-week (actually 10 day) update. Gus gained .1 pound. I couldn’t find Sasha to weigh but she’s not looking slimmer either. I’m not discouraged as this was Gus’ first time on my scale so it may be out of sync with the vet’s scale. (That’s what I’m telling myself!)

Yes, we have no bananas – The beloved husband eats bananas. It’s the only fruit he eats (unless I sneak something in a salad). The problem is that bananas are at peak for eating for less than a half hour before they go from green to a disgusting shade of black. (Some say it’s less than a half hour.) We have tried various techniques – the green bags that absorb ethylene gas, wrapping the stem, buying less but more frequently – all help to some degree yet there are always bananas that end up in the trash. We heard of a new technique. You individually cut off each banana at the stem so they are not longer attached to the “bunch.” We are having some success with that. I refer to it as the banana bris performed by the beloved husband (with loving care).

The birthday month – My condolences go out to everyone who is born in January. It’s worse than a Christmas birthday. While December birthday gifts are often combined, it’s a very festive time. Lots of partying going on! It’s too cold here to celebrate us Januarians. Daylight seems to rival the optimal eating time of a banana. Yet here I am with a January birthday. To help alleviate the boredom, I celebrate for the entire month (I deserve it!) and have a mini birthday in July (my half year birthday).

Sending you all wishes for the best ever 2024.

 

 

69 thoughts on “Random 5 for December 31, 2023 – New start, cats, bananas, birthdays, best wishes”

  3. Unfortunately, on someone’s birthday, I forget his birthday.
    I want to be remembered and I wish the world the best wish for you.

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  4. Hope you have a happy birthday, Kate! Has it happened yet or going to happen? I guess my new grandbaby is going to have a January birthday! You could try having a July half-birthday. My dad did that on June 26. July is my birth month. As a kid it was awful because we never celebrated it in class. But after that it’s only been good because July is such a cheerful month.
    I did not know that about bananas. I’ll keep that in mind. Tell him he’s in good company. I don’t really like fruit either. Bananas are ok, but then a stupid doctor told me that they are fattening. Speaking of which, Lily is gaining MORE weight. I don’t know what to do. She lies in wait to get the rest of anyone’s bowl.

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  6. Hopefully the chonkers will start to have the poundage melt off. We’ll keep our paws crossed. Bananas and avocados…they both seem to pick their best time most inconveniently in the kitchen. Sigh…you just never can seem to predict when they’re at their best. And yet, like everyone else, I still keep trying to figure it out. Wishing you an extra festive birthday month with a great 2024, Kate!

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  7. A banana bris! I’m with Beloved because it’s literally the only fruit I eat too, which I know isn’t healthy. I’m just much of a citrus fan, plus apples are so boring (unless they’re in a pie of course). I agree they have a very tiny window to eat them too. I’ll have to try your bris method and see if it works. Happy New Year, Kate!

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  8. Kate, wishing you a Happy Birthday this month… lots of happy the whole month! So true about every day being a new start. Every morning when my feet hit the floor I get a fresh start… for that I am thankful. My wish is for peace and kindness.

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  9. Cat weight loss is a long term goal – keep at it! And we buy the organic bananas and find they last most of the week for us. Big difference from the non-organic ones. Hapy new year to you and yours.

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    • We’ve been doing that lately too and find that helps. They usually come with the top of the stem wrapped. I’m not sure what else makes the difference. Sometimes I think we shouldn’t buy any more than a 2 day supply at a time.

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  10. I, too, am fighting what seems to be a losing battle to bring down Shimshi’s weight. It seems doomed to failure. In fact, the vet told me that the special food for cats with kidney problems (all brands) is actually fattening. Such a huge dilemma.
    Bananas – yes. Love them. Also struggling with how to keep them edible. I tried all the methods you mentioned. Ah, well – it’s lucky I also like banana bread 😉

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  12. My birthday is in July, but I also celebrate all month long. My hubby’s birthday is in January too.
    I doubt Gus gained a whole pound. 🙂

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    • No, not a pound. It .1 pound which is a few ounces. I was so hoping for at least a small drop but I didn’t initially weigh him on my scale. Happy birthday to your hubby. Having a January birthday deserves special treatment. I always wanted a July birthday.

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  13. I am wondering if I eat disgusting bananas and just don’t realize it! Ha! I don’t seem to have the problem you’re describing. Happy New Year to you and your loved ones, furry and otherwise, Kate. ❤️

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  15. Happy New Year! Gotta love Maxine. 🤣
    Yes, bananas for me don’t last long in the stage I can eat them!
    I lost 3 pounds in 2 hours.. i went from one Dr appt to another. Apparently the 2nd Dr has the correct scales. LOL!
    Happy Birthday! Yes, celebrate all month!

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  16. Oh-oh, someone’s sneaking kibble to Gus. 🙂 It’s the scales – I’m with you. My mom and I used to celebrate our combined birthdays on August 14th every year. Mom’s birthday was Valentine’s Day and unless it was on a weekend when we’d go for lunch, we wouldn’t attempt to get into a restaurant with the Valentine’s Day crowd. Or often it fell during Lent, so we always gave up sweets and treats so that wasn’t fun either. And sometimes it was crummy weather as well. My birthday on April 14th sometimes fell on Easter weekend and while we celebrated out for my birthday, I always took a vacation or personal day and we had a day out and nice dinner August 14th. A little wacky but it worked for us. I laughed at the banana bris – hope it works. Since it’s just me eating bananas and I don’t care for them green, nor brown and sickening sweet, my store always has a section of single bananas of different colors so I get a few of green, bright yellow, pale yellow so they don’t always ripen the same time.

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    • I love the idea of picking a good month for your birthday celebration! As you can expect, I never had a pool party or picnic for mine. Sometimes anything planned was cancelled because of weather. Valentine’s Day would be a bad day too. Too people-y! We should start to break apart bunches and pick a selection of color. Maybe that would work. We typically buy 4 or 5 at a time and maybe it’s foolish to expect them to be great for 5 days.

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      • My mom and I did that for a while and really enjoyed ourselves on August 14th. We even had snow on my birthday once … in mid-April! I shop at Meijer which is a large chain, kind of like a Walmart. I figure people broke apart the bananas anyway, so they started doing that and it works well. I am not a picky eater, but I hate the smell and taste of overly ripe bananas.

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  17. My husband eats a lot of fruit which includes a banana every morning. In our house, there are “Yesterday’s Bananas,” “Today’s Bananas, ” and “Tomorrow’s Bananas.” Yesterday’s bananas often get made into banana bread.

    I have always disliked my early January birthday too. It was bad enough when it was because it was too close to Christmas and the cold weather meant that I couldn’t have an outdoors party. Unfortunately, a couple of years ago it also became the tragic anniversary of the insurrection. I think I’ll move my birth date to July also.

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    • I get it. My dad was buried on my 11th birthday and my mom died 2 weeks after my birthday many years later. January is a tough month for me in many ways. We always seem to have yesterday’s bananas. A few weeks back, my husband picked out a perfect bunch. By the time we got home they had brown spots. They bruise easily and sometimes cashiers aren’t careful. That’s one thing I love about self checkout. I can take care of my produce.

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  19. My grandson’s birthday is in January. It’s really hard for me to get excited about it. Poor Nathan.

    I eat bananas in my smoothy. It’s an important part of it. So I looked up methods for freezing bananas. It works like a charm. I doubt it would work for you husband, though. He probably likes them fresh.

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    • Freezing bananas makes the best breads but my husband only eats them out of the skin fresh. He doesn’t do smoothies or with ice cream or anything else. It’s limiting. Bananas aren’t my favorite (except in baked goods).

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  21. All the best for 2024 Kate, and hurrah for having a month long celebration for your birthday AND a half year one to boot! Good for you!!! Maybe Gus had gas when you weighed him?
    We have some bananas which are still looking pretty intact. They will be consumed with the breakfast cereal tomorrow.

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  23. Happy Birthday Month! I love the term “Januarians”…..I kind of gave up celebrating my birthdays when I turned 70….then I moved it to 75….now I think I’m TRULY giving up birthdays period. Just another day in paradise. I love bananas but usually wind up getting a whole “hand” of them and they almost immediately start turning black – I feel guilty removing just one from the “hand family” when I’m at the store, but I need to get over that. Hope the new year is a happy and healthy one for you and yours!

    Hugs, Pam and Teddy

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    • I have no problem splitting up a banana family but even with 4 sometimes that last one doesn’t make it into someone’s mouth! As for birthdays, I’m still going with my late 40s. Very, very late. Maybe I need to add another “very” soon.

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  24. You should celebrate the entire month! The cats are down with this. Why, I bet one of them leaves you a present every day! In the summer, I put bananas in my smoothies, which is perfect for those slightly past their prime. But many have also made it into the compost bin, alas.

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  25. Wishing you a very happy new year and a wonderful birthday, Kate. Your writing about bananas totally cracked me up — so very true. Thus my life-long baking addiction of banana muffins, banana bread and anything else I can shove past-their-prime fruit. ❤

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  26. Happy Birthday to you! As a fellow Januarian I feel for you. No birthday picnics in the park or parties at the zoo. My birthday is this Monday. I have never had a birthday party on my birthday other than family parties. That’s okay these days. I am old enough to be in denial about birthdays though I did give up on my efforts to be thirty-twelve, thirty-thirteen, etc. Hmm. I will be thirty-thirty one tomorrow. Maybe I should go back to creative numbering.

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  30. My little hint about bananas: my store has a little section where the banana bunches are, where all of the single bananas reside. I immediately head there, and pick bananas that are in various states of being “ripe”. That gives me a little bit of time between bananas being used. I only buy three and, to be honest, many times I end up eating the third banana simply because it’s starting to become too ripe.

    Happy and healthy new year for all of the residents in your household!

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