Offer and Waiting

Busy day, we went, we toured, we spent close to two hours, we made an offer. 

The things that need done are 90% cosmetic. We have some questions about some of the electrical outlets (ie: they updated the panel and most of the outlets, but not the living room and dining room. Why? and how much would it cost to upgrade these so we could plug in a TV somewhere). Most of the windows don't open, they're very original with the ropes and pulleys. Garage roof needs help. AC in the attic is drippy, so can we just bypass it and not use it (no one is going to live up there). We have to buy a washer dryer. Possibly a dishwasher. 

For a house built in 1919, she's solid, and we like her. 

We'll need a handyman for sure. And painters. 

The buyers broker (not the one we've been working with because she's only licensed in VA) is working on the comps and finding out if the house is in the historic district borders (she thinks it isn't but it's close). She's writing the contract. Hopefully next weekend we'll have our home inspection. 

The seller's agent told our broker that the sellers want to close quickly. I was thinking October, but they're thinking August. Doug pitched mid September and then we would have 2 weeks here. 

Hopefully we can break our lease without difficulty? That's something to deal with .... soon. 

After the realtor left, we chatted with the neighbors on both sides. The husband of the lady we spoke with last weekend, and the lady on the other side. They both were so sweet. 

We went to a local brewery, had a couple beers and some late lunch. Doug got a call from his aunt, and talked to her but couldn't understand anything she was saying so she had her put his cousin on the phone. 

Tomorrow may be a nightmare. She already is saying she's not going to the new house and she needs a couple more days. Her car broke down, she can't find the cat, blah blah blah. 

Doug told her "I don't think you understand, they're moving you out, and they're expecting you to not be there anymore. You'll be sleeping in the new place. You don't get more time." And she's upset because her car is in the shop, and how is she going to pick it up if she's on the other side of the state. He said his cousin has a car and can/should bring her back to get her car when it is fixed. 

It's not hard, friends. 

She said she's just going to tell the movers she's staying one more night, maybe 2, because of the car. And he said the movers aren't there to negotiate you getting out. You're getting out. You're two full weeks past when you were supposed to move. The people who bought the place have been very patient with you. You gotta go. 

He, and maybe We, will be going over there tomorrow. There may be drama. I'd rather not participate. He'd rather not participate. 

I'm super tired. So more tomorrow. Here are a couple pictures to hold you over. Digits below. 

digits

exercise: 12/12 hours.  Quick walk, 17 min/.7 miles; 7200+ steps by bedtime

blood glucose:

9:15am: 103
n/a pm: n/a
11:15pm: 82

food & meds:
9:15am: phentermine+jardiance
11:30pm: english muffin w/pb
4pm: buffalo wings, 2 beers; met+glip
6:30pm: grilled chicken w/guacamole
9:45pm: met+glip; piece of cheddar cheese

She's Cute

Tomorrow morning, we're going to see that house in Hagerstown that we really like. The one that I said looks like houses that kids I grew up with who had lots of money lived in. 

She's super cute. I hope she's as cute as the pictures make her out to be. 

I'm kind of wanting a little bit to pump the brakes on all this. Mostly because I do not want to organize and pack. I feel like I need two friends to sit with me and help me purge and get rid of things. 

Doug's aunt is supposed to be moving, and the title company and new owners have been freaking out that she's not out already. 

She was supposed to hire movers and hadn't yet, so on Sunday they are sending a truck and crew over to get her out. I'm kind of laughing because neither Doug nor I feel bad for the people who bought her house. 

They have no idea the stuff she has. Will one truck be enough! 

For years we've been trying to get her to clean up or put things in storage but hoarding and mental illness are something you just fight against the tide and get worn out over. 

She basically told Doug she doesn't need his help anymore. Which is hilarious because I have a feeling our phone is going to ring at 8am on Sunday with her freaking out because they are there and fighting with her because of all her shit. 

Last night I was trying to fall asleep and I was thinking about all our shit. Some shit that got unpacked when the basement flooded over a year ago that I still have not repacked and organized. There's a lot we don't need to keep that we moved from Massachusetts. I should be doing that. 

But I kind of am having a hard time wrapping my head around the coming possibility of us moving. September? October? I don't know. 

I keep thinking of things in terms of the short-term happenings. Like going back to Richmond for a couple days to be with my cousin. Then the following weekend Linda comes down again. Then August 6 I go to Maine, and am not back until the 17th. After that, I don't have anything on the calendar. 

So I can't even envision things beyond coming back from New England that Sunday. 

We'll cross bridges when we get there. In the meantime, there are things to do and I should get myself in gear. I can't be mad at Doug's aunt for dragging her feet and not being an adult if I'm kind of doing exactly the same thing. 

This should motivate me. Don't be like her. 

Off to bed, tomorrow's a big driving around day. Up to Hagerstown and then Doug wants to do a drive by of a couple places in Harpers Ferry WVa. Wish me luck. 

Digits below.

digits

exercise: 12/12 hours. 2 walks, one inside while cooking dinner, 15 min, .61 mi. pokemon walk, 35 min, 1.55 mi; 10k+ steps by bedtime

blood glucose:

9:00am: 145
5 pm: 113
11:15pm: 126

food & meds:
9:00am: phentermine+jardiance
2pm: turkey & colby jack on 647 white bread w/mayo; met+glip
6:30pm: pasta primavera w/ angel hair pasta, asparagus, peas, diced tomatoes, chicken
9:30pm: met+glip
white wine 

The Ghost in The Baltimore

(Wednesday and Thursday)

Geoff and I left home at 3:45 and I was sure we'd be in Baltimore fast but traffic was horrendous. Linda had a difficult time coming down from New York as well. 

The concert Geoff was going to was over at Baltimore Soundstage, so we parked the car over there so he'd have it to head home. I walked to the hotel where Linda and I were staying to meet up with her. 

We ate dinner, rather than try to check in because the line was a mile long. We finally got on line to check in and .... Our room was not ready. We got dressed in the bathroom, concierged our bags, and walked over to the venue. Thunder! Lightning! AaaaaAAaaaAAAA!  

I just want to say the staff at the CFG arena is so wonderful. Security was so sweet. I saw some really fun and very kind interactions. At the end I told the security lady in our section, who stood behind us, I was so impressed with her and how wonderful she and all the other staff I saw was. She said "make sure you always buy tickets in my section in the future. I'm always here!"

The show was spectacular, a true giant rock show with pyrotechnics and a truly amazing video wall backdrop. Mind blowing. The setlist is here, if you're at all familiar with the band. They're playing a lot of the same songs at each show on the tour, with very little variation, because everything is so precise and where people stand for what solos, where Tobias is, everything has to be just right. 

I was really happy that they played the song Rats, which is one of the songs that got a lot of airplay when it came out. Especially in Baltimore. As I was watching the show, I said "if they don't play Rats, it's a completely missed opportunity." Thankfully we got it. 

I didn't look at the set list online for previous shows to see if it was there. They played a lot of songs I don't know, but Linda knew 99% of them. But Rats, Square Hammer, Cirice, and Dance Macabre were the songs I really wanted to hear. One other one I wanted wasn't on the set list (Spillways) but that's okay. 

They gave me what I wanted and a whole lot more.

Baltimore Rats. If you know, you know. 

The lead singer has a policy of no phones at the show. He wants people to be in the moment, at the show, not looking at the show through their screens. I get it, but also, it's not the 1980s anymore and we are in a very different time. Everyone had to put their phones in a little bag, that could only be opened again with a demagnetizer tool. 

It's kind of a drag because I love taking pictures of the fans at a Ghost show. So many people dressed up. The girls next to us were so amazing. 

We got back to the hotel, wide awake until 1:30am. I woke up to pee at 7:30, and Linda heard me. She is a once I'm up I'm up kind of kid, but I tried to convince her to go back to sleep. She couldn't so she went downstairs. I got back out of bed, couldn't fall back to actual sleep but enjoyed quiet restfulness for a half hour, until the fire department went out with sirens blazing. 

Lin wanted to go back to NY, so we loafed around the hotel, drank coffee, got packed up and out the door. We got me back home a little after noon, and her on the road. She texted me that she got there at 7:45pm. Long assed trip. I wished she'd stayed but was glad she made it home alright. She gets to come back in a couple weeks. Can't wait. 

Thursday was a bit of nothing but relaxing. I worked a lot and found I had missed a whole swath of help documents to audit so that consumed my afternoon. Doug took Toffee for a walk, and I did a long walk inside at top speeds. It was easy to break 11k because I got close to 1,000 steps after midnight! maybe that's my sneaky way to get the 10k steps in for the day instead of falling short. Just do steps after midnight! 

Digits for 2 days below. 

Wednesday digits

exercise: 11/12 hours. Missed 4pm by a few steps; 22 min/.96 mile walk from parking garage where I dropped Geoff to the hotel. 11k+ steps by bedtime

blood glucose:

9:15am: 126
n/a pm: n/a
11pm: 176

food & meds:
9:15am: phentermine+jardiance
11:30am: english muffin w/pb & low sugar jelly
2pm: met+glip
5:30pm: chicken quesadilla, some white wine
9:30pm: met+glip
11pm: cheese, crackers, some pepperoni
mimosa

Thursday digits

exercise: 12/12 hours. indoor walk, 35 min/1.72 miles. pokemon walk, 11,500+ steps by bedtime

blood glucose:

9:15am: 126
5 pm: 109
10pm: 124

food & meds:
9:15am: phentermine+jardiance
2pm: english muffin w/pb & low sugar j; met+glip
6:30pm: 3 italian sausages w/sauce and cheese
8:30pm: ramekin of mixed nuts
9:30pm: Met+glip
red wine

A Richmond Day

(a day late since I was too tired Tuesday night) 

I woke up at 5:45am. Organically. 15 minutes before the alarm. Body said, we've got to pee. and I obeyed, and got up and ready. 

The hotel bed was a little uncomfortable. It was like a futon mattress. My hip already hurts all the time, and I had a rough time getting up and standing for a bit. Do I dress and go down and get coffee first? Do I just shower and then get coffee? Oh my god this is so early. 

I opted to shower, and the hot water never got fully hot. It was kind of disappointing. Water pressure was great, shower itself was super nice, but ... I wanted heat. Hot hot heat. I washed my hair and quickly got out. Note to front desk, please look into this. 

The hotel was quirky cute. It's a Marriott brand, and I booked with points, affordable, and Lord do I have points! After I checked in, I found that I'd parked in a legal spot and didn't need valet parking. The spot was free until 8am. And they told me the ticket people don't usually start rolling around until about 10am. I knew I'd be moving the car before 7, so it was a perfect spot to be in. On street parking in Richmond. Amazing. 

I mentioned I didn't like the room art, at all. Here are some hotel pictures. 

The wall art freaked me out. What is up with those lips? It feels almost softcore porny? And the cigarettes. Gross??!! How is this art? meh!

The toilet is square. 

Okay, so most of the time, chairs may have square seats. I get it. But this was disconcerting. The square toilet freaked me out. Did not like. 

Overall, I have to say I wanted to really like this hotel. I've never stayed anywhere that the staff was as nice as the people here. From the 10pm folks, the bar tender and the other girl working, to the morning check-out experience. Everyone was so delightful. "I got you" was often the response when I said or asked for something. The bar tender asked me why I was in Richmond and I told her "to take my cousin for a cancer radiology meeting in the morning," and she looked at me and comped me a glass of wine. 

And when I took another glass of wine upstairs with me, she added extra, and told me "God's got you in all of this. You get some good sleep and I'll be thinking of you tomorrow morning."

When I checked out, I told the guy behind the counter about the lack of hot water, he comped me some points. 

He comped me the amount of points I spent on the room. I basically just stayed there for free. Crappy wall art aside, I have to say how lovely these people were to me. 

After getting a big coffee, I took my cousin to his appointment. He's a very difficult person. He's stressed out, he's in his own head, he's angry. He's finding all of this frustrating. We had to wait forever once he got put in an exam room. 20 minutes for the nurse, another 20 minutes for the doctor. He was visibly distressed. He thanked me for coming with him, because he could not have handled sitting there alone. I was happy to do it. 

The doctor is a complete riot. I mean. I think I love this guy. He said "I wouldn't sit you here and talk to you if I didn't think we could make a difference with your cancer. I've had patients come here, and I've told them, go get your affairs in order and do one thing you've always wanted to do. But I think we can make a big difference here, if you want to come along with me." 

The plan is 5 straight days of radiation therapy on his hip and the back of his head, followed by a rescan in 6 weeks to see if they've made a difference in the size of the tumors. 

"If we see shrinkage, we're on the right path," the doctor said, "and if we don't, we've got a problem. And we can discuss that later. But until then we do this part. If it works and shows results, we do it again." 

I really loved his kindness and compassion. He's in the right job, this guy.

After the doctors we went back to John's apartment. He hasn't been able to work, so he sold his car to pay his rent. Social work has not gotten him lined up with disability (it's been a month since he landed in the hospital). My husband was SHOCKED to hear this because it is one of the things he used to do when he worked at Boston Medical Center. "He absolutely qualifies for SSDI and I am so surprised the hospital has not kicked into gear because when you're terminal or borderline terminal, there's a next level set of rules and .... wow." 

I told him he should know how this works, but in this new administration, I think they've cut back substantially on staffing. My cousin has called 3 times and he's been told "we'll get to you." He has a couple of months before his money runs out. His rent is paid for a few months. But he's so anxious about being able to even afford food. He has no car, can't drive himself to appointments, has to rely on others. He had a huge fight with a friend who was driving him to things and now that guy won't drive him to anything. 

Medicaid is supposed to give you rides to appointments, but they want 2 weeks notice, they're never on time, they fuck up the requests, and he can't rely on them. I told him to put Uber on his phone and we'll send him Uber gift vouchers (or I'll just venmo him money, in case he'd rather have food).

I'm planning on going back down to be with him for July 21 and 22. I'll work from Richmond after his first appointment. He likes to schedule everything for the earliest possible appointment, so we'll be there for 8am radiation, and I'll probably be able to start working at 9:30am. 

Not sure if I'll stay at that hotel again, or pick something else, but... it's an option. 

I did all his laundry for him. He can't carry anything up to the laundry room, so four giant loads later he's got clean bed sheets and skivvies, and his favorite shorts and t-shirts. 

We sorted through some photos. He gave me a Phish box set called the Joy Box. It's beautiful, and I will never play it, I'll just keep it. I may just hand him 100 bucks for it. But he's been doing the swedish death cleaning thing for a few weeks, giving his things away. There is a lot of stuff. 

Right now, things look promising for him, and I think this doctor buys him some time. Fingers crossed for him for a number of things: success in shrinking these tumors; success in getting SSDI lined up soon; and hopefully some success with healing the relationship with his brother. 

The ride home from Richmond was great until just south of Alexandria. Thankfully C talked to me and kept me on the phone for quite a long time and that prevented me from pulling over on some back road (I missed an exit so the GPS dumped me in an area I didn't know, to cross over the Potomac by the Lincoln Memorial and drive up Rock Creek Park).

Here is a picture of where I pulled over to do some steps, right before the giantest thunderstorm ever. 

Digits below.

digits

exercise: 12/12 hours.  No walk, too hot to do a 10 min. at one of the rest areas. 8100+ steps by bedtime

blood glucose:

6am: 130
5:15pm: 98
10:45pm: 119

food & meds:
6am: phentermine+jardiance
10:30am: some cheddar cheese; large coffee
2pm: met+glip; 5 Sheetz chicken strips
6:30pm: piece of kielbasa & 7 pierogis
7:30pm: ramekin of mixed nuts
red wine
9:30pm: met+glip

The ministry of presence

Last night before I went to bed, I realized it was July 6th, Aaron's birthday. Because he's all the way west, I felt it was alright calling at 11:30pm ET. 

Got his voicemail and left a loving message. He texted back at 2am that he's working (on a boat) out in the Aleutian islands in Alaska. We need to catch up sometime, hoping he calls back. A couple more texts back and forth during the day. I miss my buddy.

Today I worked a lot and headed down to Richmond, VA to my cousin John's in the afternoon. Allegedly a 2.5 hour drive, it took me more than 4. I knew I should have left earlier or taken the day off. I'm already taking Tues, Wed, Thurs off this week, why not Monday! 

John needed someone to go with him to a doctor's appointment tomorrow. If you recall, in 2022 I spent a week at John's apartment when he had his kidney removed. "Get outta here, Lefty!" 

Well, his cancer metastasized and is everywhere now. And he's really unwell. And they don't tell you anymore "We give you six to 10 months." They don't tell you how long, or what time, they just don't. 

Tomorrow he meets with the oncology team, and they said to not come alone. 

I'm happy to go with. I want to hear what they have to say. I want to be there to listen. He's a stubborn fuck and he said he's going to fight it with all he has. Part of me says, why? Why do this to yourself? What is it going to get you?

Doug and I talked about what we think we'd say if it was us. We know what we'd both say. But he said in the moment, in the actual moment, you don't know what you'll say. You just don't. 

He hugged me when I left and told me that I'm going on a ministry of presence, where you show up authentically. Not to go in and boss everyone around and tell people what they should be doing and thinking and feeling. You just go. You're there. Be there. His hug meant a lot, and he's absolutely right. I could sit in this room with John and hear what he's hearing, and in my mind it's a slam dunk of "can you please prescribe me some really good pain killers because this is going to hurt." Or like what I think is in his mind, "I'll go down swinging, fighting, spitting, and clawing. Let's go. Let's fight." 

After it took me for goddamn ever to get to Richmond, I picked him up and we went to dinner. He wanted to take me to a Richmond Institution, "Joe's Inn." The food was nice, I didn't want pasta so I went for a salad with a crispy chicken breast on top. He got steak tips but asked for rare, and got well done. 

He has no appetite, but he needs to eat. So he had a little dinner and packaged up the rest for lunch tomorrow. 

I drove him home and he went to bed immediately. I thought he may want to sit and talk or something, sort through some things, but he had no energy and needed to be horizontal. He's lost so much weight, is using a cane because he has cancer in his thigh, and he's just a mess. The kid is a mess. 

So I'm going to go with him tomorrow morning, and we'll see how things go. 

The hotel is cute. I like it. I don't like the room art, more on that tomorrow I guess. But now. Bed.

digits

exercise: 10/12 hours. lost 5 and 6pm to traffic. did a treadmill walk at the hotel, 15 min/.75 miles.  7600+ steps by bedtime

blood glucose:

8am: 143
4:30pm: 112
11:45pm: 177

food & meds:
8am: phentermine+jardiance
10:30am: english muffin w/pb
1:30pm: met+glip
8pm: salad w/ chicken breast and bleu cheese. 1 beer; met+glip
10pm: 2 glasses of wine at the hotel bar.

It has great bones

Sunday's entry on a Monday. And Monday gets its own.

You don't have to read unless you are interested in us looking at houses. Which really isn't that exciting.

We took a leisurely slide into the day, breakfast and goofing off on the phones. Doug got in the shower and said "if we're doing this, we're doing this..." and we headed off to the Hagerstown MD / Martinsburg WVA houses to look at. 

Toffee is so good in the car. She sits in the back seat and rests her chin on our armrest. It's nice when she's there, breathing softly, even snoring, with her exhalations against the back of my left arm. I love her. I wanted to take her picture sleeping, but her superpower is knowing when I'm aiming the phone at her, and she opens her eyes. 

Hagerstown, MD. The first house we went to was a drive-by. It is vacant, and it is from the outside perfect. Needs a fresh coat of paint and I would say replace the aluminum windows (many are missing screens) at some point, screen in the back porch, and yes. 

It reminded me so much of some of the houses that kids I knew growing up lived in, down in Huntington Bay. It has that vibe. In the livingroom at my friend Jenny's house growing up, they had a grand piano. And I looked at the historical photos of this house and there's one with a grand piano. Such a vibe. 

The neighborhood itself is also gorgeous. Mostly single family homes, some bungalow style, cottagey feel, old trees, no new construction. Right around the corner from the house is a little neighborhood market that has been there since 1923. 

We went into the back yard once we figured out the gate in the driveway. The neighbor lady was hanging out her sheets on the line. So we said hello when she spotted us. We asked about the house, she's been on the market for over a month. The family lived there for about 8 years maybe and moved to Alabama to be closer to her mom as she's not doing well. They've been in their house over 20. The neighbors on the other side about 10. 

She said the neighborhood is aging and she's happy to see families moving in, instead of contractors buying the houses and turning them into two or three condos (evidenced a block away, beautiful single family homes converted into duplexes, a couple of strange apartment buildings generated off of the old single family bodies). 

They have grown children and a beagle named Lucy. She loved Toffee. We told her how we have a Geoff, no little kids, but a big one. 

Doug and I stood in the back of the house for a while, looked at some mystery wiring coming off the house and going to the alley behind. I noticed the garden needs some love with the hot summer heat. There isn't much grass to actually mow. A very large tree out front has a lot of sap coming off of it, so street parking is probably not the best idea right in front of the house. 

We're very interested. She's a little more expensive than I want, but I think inside there is nothing I need to do to make it livable, and the windows, screened in porch, paint job, those can come with time. I'm wondering when they may come down on their price, or what kind of offer they'd entertain. 

Then, to an open house. The house was listed at what we thought was a way too low price point and we wanted to know what was wrong with it. We found out. 

Incredibly busy road for one. No light at the end of the street so left hand turns are incredibly difficult, so your girl already hated that. 

It is an estate sale of sorts, mom and dad have moved into assisted living and the kids are selling the house to pay for their care. They owned the house since 1969, raised four boys in it, and it is ready for the next family. The realtor told us that they had an estate auction and sold the furniture and bookshelves, and everything. It was very successful. They were in the process of doing some work, like tearing up the crummy old carpet to expose the gorgeous hardwood floors under. The front room/livingroom wouldn't need to have the floors refinished but the dining room would. 

There are four good sized bedrooms upstairs, with wallpaper that I really should have taken photos of. Flowers, so many flowers. Four rooms of flowers. It felt like the 70s. 

The woodwork was absolutely stunning and beautiful, thankfully no one had painted over any of it. The kitchen needed the most work, no dishwasher and actually nowhere to put one. A challenge. They had a portable dishwasher with its own hookup, and in theory I think you could probably put one in the pantry but where you'd stick it felt really shallow so I don't know what would fit in there. The pantry was a really good size, and it could be where you put the dishes, glasses and cups, like a butler's pantry instead of just for food. 

There was a gorgeous sun porch off the kitchen, and I suppose you could close that door off, put the dishwasher there, and then a door to the porch through the dining room. 

It felt like a lot of work. A lot. For the right person.

The kitchen also made me think of old church kitchens, like the fellowship hall at the church we used to do a coffeehouse in. It made me smile but I don't see myself living there. 

The 2 car garage was huge, with enough room for a ride on mower, and a double door out the back to ride it on out to mow the absolutely giant yard. You would not want to mow this yard by push mower. Not doable. 

The basement was "finished" with a lot of wood paneling, and is too short for Geoff to live in. I'm 5' 7" and I had to duck going through the rooms. 

Doug talked to the realtor who said they priced the house aggressively low, and already had two people entering into a bidding war on it above asking. He asked if that was her intention and she said yes. 

I thought about the family, what they're going through right now with getting this all in order and the care the parents would need. I wondered about the personalities of the four boys. Do they all get along? Are they on the same page with the process and plan? 

As far as the town goes, Hagerstown is waiting for a revival, to become the next Frederick or the next Winchester VA. It has the bones for it. It just needs some help. There are a ton of rescue missions and churches. I've never seen more in one place, well, maybe Lynn, MA.  

We left and drove over to Martinsburg, West Virginia, which is super close to Hagerstown. This is an area we drive through on the highway when heading to Pittsburgh, but have never gotten off the interstate. 

The house pictures on Zillow don't really tell the story. The road is a 4 lane busy downtown central drag, close walk into town, but a horribly run down neighborhood. They put so much effort into the interior, it's outstandingly beautiful, but outside it is a mess. We parked outside and looked at it, and left. I know I spend a lot of time inside my house, and inside this house someone is going to be very happy, but it ain't me. 

Next, it was time to get some food. We had planned on a brewery in Hagerstown but Doug said there was one near where we were and we should hit that. 

It's always fun to find a We Rate Dogs sticker on a car when I'm out in the world. And yes, always tell your dog I said hi.

Amani Brewing is out in the middle of nowhere, and I'm not even exaggerating. We almost blasted by it because there was no sign. The GPS told us to turn right, so we obeyed and boom, there it was. We wondered if it was a beer farm, but couldn't see any actual hops or farming going on, just a lot of land. According to their website they're just getting the farming going. And they do bees, which is super cool, for their own honey for the cocktails and beers. 

The place was gorgeous, the beer was great, and we got their pizza which was honestly some of the best pizza we've had in this area. Hats off to the kitchen project.

Time to head home, even though the temptation was real to sit and have more beers. We knew we'd hit traffic. And boy did we ever. Holiday Sunday, accidents, road work, and what a mess. It took well over 2 hours to get home, and we were happy to get here. 

On the way, I texted our buyers' broker and asked if she was licensed in Maryland or West Virginia. She is not but said that she knows folks she can refer us to. I sent her the house in Hagerstown, and she wrote back "okay that's a super cute property and it is so your jam." She ran the comps on it, and said the price is outstanding. She's shocked that it is still available after a month on the market. 

She also recommended another town/area to look at and sent a few listings over. I didn't feel like looking at them last night. My brain hurt. Here's some pizza. Digits below. Monday gets its own entry. This was a lot. 

Sunday digits

exercise: 10/12 hours. lost 2 hours in the car (noon/5pm). very short walk around a neighborhood. 6500+ steps by bedtime

blood glucose:

9:45am: 169
6pm: 134
10:45pm: 171

food & meds:
9:45am: phentermine+jardiance
11am: english muffin w/pb & low sugar jelly
2:15pm: met+glip
3:45pm: 2 beers, nice pizza
6:30pm: cheeseburger on a potato roll w/ a couple potato chips
8pm: ramekin mixed nuts
9:30pm: met+glip 

Imagine the Possibilities

Doug sent me a couple listings in a Maryland which was not originally on our prospects list, but he's got a wandering eye. And a couple different towns on the PA border may be really good. 

It used to be a church, and has been mostly converted to a residential home. The upstairs church part of things is still a church but the downstairs is the home. 

Check out the listing if you like. Very interesting. I started thinking about how it would be kind of a super cool place to have a coffeehouse, like we used to run back in the day in Marblehead, MA. The sanctuary is a great size, there's space to put in a guest sleeping area for wandering musicians coming through (up in the choir loft). I could see hiring one of my co-workers to design the sound and get a nice sound board and lighting system in there. 

It is kind of funny because for Northerners, we were taught the names of the Civil War battles differently than the south teaches them. This is Sharpsburg, which would be Antietam (probably rings more of a bell if you're from "up there," like I am). Southerners refer to the battles by the town name. My cousin John corrects me anytime I say something like Bull Run (no, that's Manassas...) 

There are only 560 residents in this town. And I bet a lot of tourists some parts of the year.

It could also be a place to host Scout Meetings or bridal showers with tea and sandwiches. I would wonder what this is zoned as. What would be allowed. 

Doug and I like quirky shit, you know. If you bring us to show us a big 4 bd, 3 bath rambling ranch with an open concept kitchen/dining/living space we'll thank you but walk out. Which is why the house we liked that got scooped out from under us was so perfect for us in all the ways, and our realtor gets it. 

Anyway, kind of fun to imagine a guest bed in a choir loft and soft lighting all through the downstairs so the musician/s sleep comfortably and safely and can find the bathroom. 

We are going to an open house tomorrow in another town in Maryland, not Sharpsburg. We have to bring Toffee because Geoff is at work. Slightly inconvenient, but doable. 

It's back to unbearably hot in these parts. So we just stayed inside all day, and I pondered what I should be doing today before it was suddenly 3pm and I had done nothing. Doug took a big nap and I thought I might go to the gym but lost track of time and didn't go. 

Tomorrow we are going to an open house. And a couple drive by peeps. To check out neighborhoods and maybe see a brewery. Not to let the long weekend go entirely to waste. 

Here's a couple shots of Toffee from this morning's cuddle time. Digits below.

digits

exercise: 12/12 hours. indoor walk while cooking dinner and Doug walked Toffee. 20 min/.96 mi. Pokemon walk, 30 min/1.21 miles. 10k+ by bedtime 

blood glucose:

8am: 105
4:45pm: 114
10:30pm: 194

food & meds:
8am: phentermine+jardiance
12:30pm: turkey & gouda on sandwich skinny w/mayo
2:30pm: met+glip 
5pm: celery & peanut butter
6:30pm: 2 pork chops, about 7 pierogis
8:45pm: met+glip 

Half Done Things

It's weird living near DC. We used to go to my office and watch the fireworks from the balcony of my building. Beautiful view to the national mall. They put some apartment and office buildings in the way and now you can barely see the Washington Monument, and the Capitol building is blocked unless you go up to the 7th floor. Which is now off limits. 

A lot changed after the pandemic. And with this administration. 

I actually had no desire to go see fireworks anywhere, with how rather unhappy I am with this city, this administration, right now.  

In fact, I thought my neighborhood might be quite active but as of 11pm, it is very quiet. Very quiet. Even my neighbor across the street who usually whoops things up is very quiet. A few distant pops, but not the barrage of years past leading up to and going beyond the 4th. 

Tonight it cooled off enough that a bonfire might have been good but neither of us were in the mood to go out and start one. And we were thinking that it'd get explodey out there. Better to stay inside. 

Last night, we stayed up until 1am looking at houses. We extended our search a little further south down I-81 and up into West Virginia. Even Hagerstown MD. Some real treasures out there. I thought perhaps we'd take a ride out west maybe today if Doug was in the mood but it got to be 1pm quick. That happens when you sleep until almost 11am. 

Not me though, I was up at 9, did my steps, and actually did a little work by sending out a couple emails to folks. I thought I hit send. Turns out I hit enter, which does not send your email. Doh. 

Doug mowed the lawn since Geoff has been doing kind of a crummy job. To be honest, Doug did a crummy job because he told me he was going to mow on the side of the house, and he did not. So it sucks trying to get to the garden hose spigot. I swore a lot about it. I pulled on the porcelainberry vines taking over the front fence but I needed the hand clippers, and didn't feel like going to get them, so I left it half done. A crappy job, myself. 

But the plants all got watered, inside and out. 

Geoff made a nice dinner for us, but he overcooked the beef. I think he follows the instructions to the letter, and these swiss steaks were very thin. He cooked them for an hour, but I feel like he only needed 40 minutes. Everything tasted alright so no complaints. 

Since he is working tomorrow, I set up the coffee maker for him in hopes it will keep him a little quieter. He can be so noisy. 

And our dishwasher ran 3 times today. That's a lot of dishes. 

Digits below. Goodnight.

digits

exercise: 12/12 hours.   2 walks, one inside while watering the plants 20 min/.74 mi. Pokemon walk, 24 min/1.04 mi. 10k+ steps by bedtime

blood glucose:

10am: 142
5pm: 119
10:30pm: 89

food & meds:
10am: phentermine+jardiance
1pm: english muffin w/pb and bonnie maman's cherry preserves
3pm: Met+glip
6:30pm: swiss steak in a wine sauce w/mushrooms, carrots, celery, onions (a Geoff recipe)
white wine
7:30pm: ramekin of mixed nuts
9pm: met+glip

Earworm

Do you get Earworms? 

If you don't know what they are, the Kennedy Center website has a nice writeup on them. Go read it and come back! 

Okay. So now you know. Earworms are loops of parts of songs that just play over and over in your head and you can't stop them. Today my earworm is one of the guitar solo parts of Neil Young's "Down By The River." 

Only, the album version, with the "oooooooo la la la la, ooh la la la-la part," and the electric guitar bits. I just like this acoustic version, and there isn't a good version of the electric version online that isn't just album audio. So go enjoy. Go enjoy Neil. 

Doug once told me that Frosty The Snowman has been stuck in his head for years. YEARS.  Which is bad. 

My earworms change a lot. Over the weekend last weekend I had Black Cow by Steely Dan stuck in my head. Better than 20+ years of Frosty.

Had a good but busy day. Got the final piece of info I need for the big DNS project to close out (yay!) and emails to send. Had an amazing catch-up with one of my Boston colleagues who left the job before our office closed but is now like super director of brand marketing high level dudeness, and it was a riot. I love that guy. So happy he works with us again. I did an indoor walk while Doug was walking Toffee, and Geoff and I got dinner started and pushed to 30 minutes somehow. Pausing to check an office issue/outage for our big product and our devs were handling it. Remarkably, no helpdesk tickets. And then Toffee and I went for a pokemon walk for a little bit just to push up the step count. There were so many dogs out there that I cut the walk short rather than try to play pokemon and deal with the leash and control the dog. 

Geoff has tomorrow off (we do too) and he's working all weekend. So tomorrow is the day to do some yard work, I guess. Hoping it isn't 900 degrees. I've got some porcelain berries to kill. He's got a lawn to mow. I'd almost rather work.

Digits below!

 

digits

exercise: 12/12 hours.  Indoor walk, 30 min/1.68miles; outdoor pokemon walk w/Toffee 16 min/.67 mi. 10k+steps by bedtime

blood glucose:

8am: 115
5pm: 105
10:30pm: 160

food & meds:
8am: phentermine+jardiance
11:30: bowl of mac & cheese w/hamburger
1pm: met+glip
3pm: last bratwurst
6:30pm: chicken parm
7pm: mixed nuts/trail mix
9pm: met+glip
white wine

Anxiety and Fireflies

(Started on Tuesday, finished Wednesday) 

Monday night Doug was looking at a house he likes and he told me he wants to go look at it. The asking price is 415k. I told him that's too much. They need to come down below 400k. I'm not comfortable with over 400k. 

He got snippy and said we qualify for this, we can pay it. 

Yeah, just because we qualify for it, doesn't mean we should do it. 

"Well, you want a house that doesn't need work, and things under 400 all need work." The tone implied that I'm the problem here. But no. I am not.

Yeah, but, a house could need work and the work waits. That's okay if it is livable. But fucking hell what if I lose my job. A mortgage of 2700. It will kill us. I need him to hear me on this. Please "in this economy" don't let us get fucked. 

He was super angry with me. I didn't care. I lived through this in 2008. I am feeling a great deal of anxiety over this when he's looking at houses listed over 400 and "it's just an asking price, it is negotiable." 

I had a mild panic attack on Monday night and went to bed, woke up, paced, went to the guest room, was awake for two hours, did not sleep at all well. Tuesday I didn't feel well all day. I feel like I fell down another flight of stairs. Back/neck/shoulders are killing me. Horrible headache. I started thinking "what are the symptoms of meningitis." Seriously, what are the symptoms of meningitis. 

I don't think I have meningitis. Or Fibromyalgia. Or Guillain Barre. Or whatever. 

But this sudden onset of pain, headache, and I don't know if I have a fever because we do not have a thermometer (they're all labeled "dog" and I keep forgetting to buy a new one) so I don't know if I'm dying. 

I have to get a thermometer for humans. 

Tuesday I drank a LOT of coffee. A lot. Maybe that's why I hurt all over? Stress, Anxiety, Coffee? I didn't put my heart into work, and I told the team I was going to rest at 3:30. We were awaiting a giant thunderstorm, and I laid in bed with the dog as it rolled in. Maybe the drop in barometric pressure is what's killing me? But over 2 full days?

I love Toffee so much. She's absolutely unbothered by thunder and lightning. She just looks out the window after the lightning flash, and cocks her head to the side with the rolling noise comes after. I wonder what dogs are thinking is happening. 

Geoff needed a ride home, and we needed something for dinner, so I went to get him and had him go into Aldi for makings. I cooked dinner for us since he was so kind to go into the store, a good trade off. I ended up not even wanting dinner, so I crawled off to bed at 9-ish. 

Doug is watching the Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret, and I think we tried watching it a few years ago and gave up. But now he's elbows deep in it and I just can't stand it. 

This guy gets it. 100% accurate review.

I hate every character on this show (except Alice, poor Alice, but even she's....meh). So I am sick of sitting here cringing, so I just went to bed. I think I was asleep in no time, Doug came to bed and I woke up. Pain, hot, uncomfortable. 

If this doesn't break by tomorrow, I'm calling the doctor. 

In other news, Doug's aunt gets the keys to her new rental house on Monday. Doug has gone above and beyond the call of family duty to help her and I'm happy he's done with her. Until she calls in a crisis this weekend because she can't hire a move on short notice and needs us to help. LOL. no. 

The realtor she's working with has been calling Doug, because he's responsive. They were supposed to receive a check from her or a wire transfer, but she has done neither of those. And she's not answering her phone as of 11pm. Or all day. He just left her another voicemail. We'll see if she calls back while we're sleeping.

Work was good, busy, got a lot done. And the site launch worked out even though it almost did not. Mad props to my buddy B for being patient and not losing his mind on the call when the client was asking a lot of questions about how to do things, and all these things could be done after the site launch. They were not blockers. But they wanted a couple hours, so we gave them their wish after a stern lecture that we would not launch tomorrow because it is "Like a Friday" as Friday's a holiday, and Monday we're both booked, so the soonest the launch would happen would be Tuesday. They stuck with today. Still haven't gone face down in my spreadsheet but maybe can do that tomorrow. 

Took 2 walks today, both slow paced and I fell short of 10k but that is okay. Still not feeling the best and am hurty. I've noticed this year that we have so many fireflies! It finally got down to 80 degrees so it felt nice to be walking around out there, looking at them sparkle.

Digits below. 

Tuesday digits

exercise: 12/12 hours.  no walk. 4900+steps by bedtime

blood glucose:
8:15am: 106
5pm:115
11pm: 138

food & meds:
8:15am: phentermine+jardiance
12 noon: "skinny" rolls (15 g carbs) w/pb & jelly. wanted turkey but someone ate it all. bastard.
2pm: met+glip
6pm: small bowl of pasta and meat sauce (didn't finish it) 
10pm: met+glip

Wednesday digits

exercise: 12/12 hours. 25 min. One internal house walk, 25 min for 1.05 miles; outside walk for 25 min and 1.07 miles.  8700+ steps by bedtime

blood glucose:
8:15am: 163
4pm: 137
11pm: 118

food & meds:

8:15am: phentermine+jardiance
1:15pm: skinny slices thing w/ tuna and 2 slices of cheddar
2:00pm: the rest of the tuna from the bowl (not enough to put away); met+glip
4pm: one leftover bratwurst 
6pm: chili w/meat and beans, cheese, sour cream, fritos
white wine
10pm: met+glip
10:45pm: