Subaru Crosstrek Hybrid

I picked up the new car today; it's a 2019, so not supernew. Just new-to-me. The Crosstrek Hybrid has some new features that the Outback did not have like a proximity key that allows me to open the doors by just touching the handle. The key fob will also turn on the fan in the car; then the A/C or heat, whichever you had set, comes on. It has the EyeSight driver assist emergency breaking system and also keeps the car from drifting in to another lane. It also has the OnStar system to contact emergency services in case of an accident. The things it does not have, that the Outback had, are separate cooling/heating temperature controls, cruise control that engages at 25 mph (it goes on at about 30 mph), and a suitable cargo compartment.

Topping off the battery.

We went to Kaimuki Cafe for breakfast this morning. Curtis only had coffee. I had the Chili Cheese Omelet with greens instead of rice.

We went to the back door the opens on to the parking lot but it was locked.

Chili Cheese Omelet.

Curtis only had coffee for breakfast; he started a new eating regimen on Sunday and this meal is not within his eating window. He is trying intermittent fasting so he can't eat for 16 hours in order to get the benefit of the fasting. We discussed possibly changing to Friday lunch, which would be in his eating window as well as mine.


Because of the amount of time it took to sign all the papers and wait for the battery to get topped off, I got up to Dad's room just after lunch. So I don't know what he ate for breakfast or lunch today. I stayed later than normal since Dad had a dentist appointment at 4 this afternoon. Ron from WheelCare Oʻahu showed up at 3:15 to pick us up.

Dad reads the paper while he waits. Sam, Chris, & Yuki come down the hallway on their visits to residents.

Traffic was a little heavier than usual.

Dad watches the automatic blood pressure monitor.

Ron loads Dad up after his appointment.

On the way down the hill the battery was charging due to the braking. When I got home I unwrapped the charging cable and plugged the car in.

The control panel shows the battery being charged as we go down the hill.

Plugged in.

The green light lets me know it is charging.

I stayed in ketogenesis today!

At 11:48 am; after breakfast.

At 5:56 pm; before dinner.

S'mores has really figured out how to get the Wireless Whiskers to work. She finished her allowed amount by 10 this evening. It won't open up again for her until midnight.

She waited at least 15 minutes for it to open up.

Late last night there was a big commotion out in the cat run. It turns out a cat outside the cat run was trying to fight with Luna. We had been hearing cat fight noises for several nights, but when we turned on the light and looked out there was no other cat around. This is the first time we have seen the cat; it looks kind of like V-8, the cat I had when Kai was a baby.

The cat checks things out while Luna is on alert.

The cat tried to attack but couldn't get through the netting.

This is as close as S'mores got to the fight.

Hauʻoli lā Hānau to Karen, Crilly, & Ben!

Oh, That's Why I'm Sore!

I think ... Last night I started burning fat, big time. I showed a significant level of ketone excretion when I got up this morning. It stayed high all day. And is even high as I write this. That has never happened before. I think this is the keto flu that they talk about. My biggest symptom was muscle stiffness and cramps. A secondary symptom was fatigue. Since I sat in awful chairs on Thursday night I thought the stiffness and pain was just my back reacting to the bad chairs; I also had difficulty sleeping. Then the next day I had a sore throat; I thought maybe I had been exposed to something. Then on Sunday when the muscle aches started I thought for sure I was coming down with the flu; I spent the day sleeping. But today the achiness, fatigue, and lack of sleep are much better. And I am still seeing significant levels of ketones being excreted.

At 7:32 am; upon waking.

At 10:49 am; before eating.

At 1:31 pm; after lunch.

At 6:37 pm; after dinner.

At 9:21 pm.

I think I was able to get to the higher level of ketone excretion in a shorter period once I started eating properly because I have several go-to recipes I have already used and so I had all the ingredients as well as the recipes handy. I did use my time lying in bed to find more recipes; though I would not recommend the one that I tried this morning for breakfast. As a bread. Its called a bread but it is more like egg with coconut flour rather than delicious omelet additions. Come to think of it, I would not recommend it as an omelet either.

Tip? It should be bread-like without toasting.

This looked promising.

Putting it in the toaster would not have helped.

I ended up topping the Microwave Mug Bread with some Almond Kalamata to make it tolerable.

I skipped another day; resting, not exercising (I even skipped the sunrise walk!), and taking in more salt seems to have helped. I'm feeling a lot better now. Here's my view this morning.

Twenty-one minutes after sunrise. Yes, the calendar is still on January; I changed it later today.

I went to Kokua Market to get more supplies to make some of the other "breads" in The Keto Kingʻs cookbook, 7 Incredible Keto & Low Carb Breads. I also wanted to pick up more Brussels sprouts to make the Air Fryer Brussels Sprouts; but there were no Brussels sprouts available. But I did find Brussels sprouts at the deli; I think that's where they all went! So I picked up some Brussels Sprouts Masala and Paprika Garlic Oregano Baked Chicken.

Chicken (L) and Brussels Sprouts Masala.

I also used the time I have been out of commission to make phone calls and get things lined up to pick up the new car on Tuesday. The plan is tomorrow, after breakfast with Curtis, he will drop me off at the Subaru dealer and I will pick up the Crosstrek Hybrid! Yay!

I was sad to let the Outback go with the really cool volcano license plate; when Kai gets the new registration & plates he will save one volcano plate for me, he will keep the other one. I could get another volcano plate for the Crosstrek but then I would not be able to take advantage of the special treatment that electric vehicles get here. Like driving in the carpool lane with only the driver, parking for free at the airport and university, and parking closer to businesses that have charging stations reserved for electric vehicles (they tend to be fairly good spots). But then tonight on the news they said the State is looking at a special license plate for electric vehicles featuring the Hokule'a! Winner!


Hauʻoli lā Hānau to cousin Fran! Hauʻoli lā Hānau also to Susan!

Yesterday, Today, & Tomorrow

I got all the photos for the Yesterday, Today, & Tomorrow plant about a week ago but just compiled them today. I marked a branch with a safety pin so that I would know which flower cluster I was taking photos of.

Thursday, 01/23. Keep an eye on the flower bud at the bottom of the cluster.

Friday, 01/24. The flower is opened and is evenly purple.

Saturday, 01/25. The flower has started to fade to a mottled light purple.

Sunday, 01/26. The flower is now white. It fell off by Monday.

I woke up with a sore throat. Aue! I hope I am not coming down with anything serious. Since I wasn't going up to Maunalani I slept in again. Until my alarm went off. Again. But that was okay; I stayed up and watched the last day of Angela Fehr's Beginner Watercolor Bootcamp.

She described the 4 stages of  painting competency.

Stage 1. Unconscious incompetence.

Stage 2. Conscious incompetence.

Stage 3. Conscious competence.

Stage 4. Unconscious competence.

She also encourages lots of painting.

She also does multiple paintings of the same subject.

Before I crawled back in bed I weighed myself. The usual day for my weigh-in is Friday but my achy back made me forget about that until after I drank some water; so I skipped it yesterday. Today I remembered. I lost just a little weight, 0.2 pounds. My fat increased to 28.7%; I think that is partly affected by my hydration level which was lower than last week at 47.6%.


I found a recipe for keto-friendly biscuits I could make in an air fryer. And I had all the ingredients. Winner! Although the recipe says 9 servings, I only made 6 biscuits.They are very easy & fast to make. And very tasty! Even The Roommates liked them.

The biscuits before frying.

Seven minutes later the biscuits are ready to eat!

Luna and S'mores are both eating well from the Wireless Whiskers! And tonight S'mores even went out the cat door; though I think she did it accidentally. She was chasing Luna around; usually she stops at the door but this time she went after Luna. Then she got stuck out in the cat run because she was afraid of the door and there was nothing outside that was scarier than the door.

I'm still just excreting only traces of ketones.

At 6:41 am, upon waking.

At 12:48 pm; before lunch.

At 4:46 pm, before dinner.

Hauʻoli lā Hānau to Mr. Ikuma, who is 101 years old today! And also to Allison!