The Memorial Day Farming Report

Your girl was lazy last night and didn't want to write an entry so you get a twofer today. 

Memorial day holiday, I love having 3 days off. 

I also love and respect those who gave the ultimate sacrifice for us as a nation and died in the service of this country. I feel a lot of big ways about how things are now, about our leadership and military leadership. I'm full of disappointment over it all. How far we've come in 70 years or so. 

Gah.

Anyway.

We did our usual lazy Sunday thing in the morning with coffee and quiet game playing on our phones. At about noon, Doug hauled the dirt he'd gotten at Lowes up into the back yard and we commenced to filling in the planters. 

We didn't have any wood or yard waste to fill the containers with to displace area. We have a giant black walnut tree, and a lot of downed branches, but those won't be good for the garden bed because of the juglone it produces which is toxic to so many plants. So we went with straight on in dirt. 8 bags per bed, and one extra bag Jess gave us that they aren't using because they have to move soon. 

No need to put a garden in at a house you're leaving. 

All the stuff growing outside the beds, according to google lens, is some sort of wild lettuce. It is inedible, prickly, and everywhere. Our entire damn yard is full of that shit. What the hell. 

I've never seen it before in my life, and it was a bitch to pull up. Doug mowed over it, and I pulled what I could, but feh. I hate that guy. 

We used a ton of left over cardboard under the raised beds to hopefully prevent crap like this wild lettuce from growing up and in. Fingers crossed. 

After all the dirt was in, Doug declared it break time, and we sat on the porch and chilled. I was afraid this was as far as we were gonna get because I know our track record when breaktime is declared. 

Yesterday was supposed to be another wash out full of rain, but it didn't happen, and we decided to seize the day after all and went to Lowes and get plants. 

Doug always over buys, his enthusiasm for gardening is nice but it's always a bit too much. I had told him to get 3 raised beds, but he got 2 "to see how it goes," and now we have what I think is a little too much. 

There hopefully will be a bounty of a variety of tomatoes, some cucumbers, zucchini, and yellow squash. And a lot of peppers. He loves peppers. I always feel like we end up with too many peppers because I just don't care to eat them. He's enthusiastic for them. Horny for peppers, I guess. 

We also got seeds, and we got too many fucking seeds. 

The herbs are all in individual pots, and I feel like we'll need big containers in the yard in a couple weeks when they start to germinate. He told me to plant all the seeds in the pots, and .... it's too many seeds. So many seeds. But... Okay. Farmer Chris can take instructions and say "see, I told you so" later. 

Herbs a plenty! Six different ones: Greek oregano; rosemary; dill; peppermint (always has to be sequestered from everyone else); parsley; and thyme. I'm not a big oregano fan, but Doug likes it. I am looking forward to dill, and parsley is always nice in meals. 

For the veggies, he bought two kinds of lettuce, a spinach, and onions. The spinach we'll hold until late summer to plant,  he says it does well in the cold.  He told me to put all the lettuce seeds in the end of each of the planters, and we'll thin them out if there are too many (there will be too many). 

And the onions were planted down the middle of each of the beds, in between the plants. Hopefully it'll all come together nice, and full, and bountiful. 

On the left, the pepper and squash team. On the right, tomato and cucumber town. Where it is just dirt at the ends, on the pepper side are the seeds for Bibb lettuce, on the tomato side is butter crisp. I will be monitoring daily for germination.

This morning was another good sleep-in, and Toffee came to wake me up. Geoff fed her at about 7:30am but didn't let her outside. So she came to get me at 9 or so. 

I let her out, went to find my yoga pants, did my blood sugar and took the morning meds, came back down and got a cup of coffee. I walked outside to find my dog standing in the middle of one of the raised beds eating dirt. 

The actual fuck, dog. So there was a major scolding. She got out fast when I busted her ass, and she received NO cookie for going outside. No cookie for dirt eating dogs. 

I went out to survey the damage, and she'd walked in both beds, huge paw prints everywhere. Two tomato plants stomped on like Godzilla on Tokyo, and a cucumber firmly shoved to the depths. I fixed everything up, repaired the stompage, and we'll have to keep an eye on her. Can't believe she did that. 

Jerk. 

Oh, one other thing. I'm a big fan of cherry tomatoes, and sometimes the Big varieties of tomatoes don't do well in the garden. They start to get nice and big and stupid bugs find them. Cherry tomatoes are always just ready to be picked and popped in your mouth or a nice salad. 

But we did get an heirloom tomato because for real, y'all. Who can say no to something named Mr. Stripey. Here's to hoping he does well in our garden and produces some nice 'maters.

Digits below!

Sunday digits

exercise: 12/12 hours. Treadmill run, 10 min/.64 mi (i had to pee, and dinner was ready, so i stopped). treadmill walk to make up for steps, 9 min/.51 mi;   10k+ steps by bedtime

blood glucose:

9:30am: 165
4:45pm: 164
11pm: 119

food & meds:

9:30am: jardiance + phentermine
I forget what I ate Sunday during the day. 
1pm: met+glip
6pm: bowl of spaghetti w/sausage and meat sauce
7:30pm: met+glip
no alcohol

Monday digits

exercise: 12/12 hours.  Treadmill run, 30 min/2.2 miles; 10k+ steps by bedtime

blood glucose:

9:30am: 125
4:45pm: 125
10:45pm: 85

food & meds:

9:30am: jardiance + phentermine
12pm: english muffin w/pb; about 3/4 a cup of mac & cheese (not enough to put in the fridge for later so I ate it)
1pm: met+glip
6pm: 2 cheeseburgers, no rolls, some curly fries
7:30pm: met+ glip
8pm: vodka & diet cranberry

To Do to Ta Daaaa

This morning, Doug and I loafed around until about noon. He was ready to go to Lowes to get our dirt but I wanted to shower. We opted that he go without me so he can move something off the To Do list and onto the Ta Daaaa list. 

I'm all for that. 

While he was at Lowes, I hit the treadmill. 

I wanted to do a 5k inside today on the treadmill as a training, but he got back before I was done, so I got off to help move dirt. 

After dirt was moved, I showered and he built the second garden bed and then napped. Geoff got dinner ready. 

It wasn't a very exciting day overall but it was a good day overall.

Happy that I got some things done, and Doug got things done.  And the Ta Daaaa list has a thing on it. 

Tomorrow? perhaps we have enough no-rain time so we can prepare the garden, and maybe think about starting to get ready for what plants we want. 

Tomatoes, ahoy!

Digits below.

digits

exercise: 12/12 hours.  Treadmill, 28 min/2 miles; 11k+ stesps by bedtime

blood glucose:

8:30am: 145
4:30pm: 148
10:30pm: 103

food & meds:

8:30am: jardiance + phentermine
2pm: turkey and colby jack on plain bagel w/mayo; met & glip
6:30pm: porkloin sauteed w/mushrooms & garlic; pierogis
7:30pm: met+glip
red wine & diet ginger ale
10:30pm: kettle corn

Back on my bullshit

I took 2 days "off" from doing the 10k steps because one was due to being trapped in the car, and the other was just screw it - take another day. I looked at my weekly/monthly stats and was super bummed to see these 2 low dummies in the mix, so yesterday I went back to the treadmill. Today, back to the treadmill. 

One could say this is my two day "streak" and we'll keep on rolling. 

Due to it being absolutely dead quiet at work, I mostly had yap sessions with co-workers (2 are standing meetings, one was impromptu). I did a lot of ticket things. It was about 4pm and I felt like I could just fall asleep so. Treadmill.

That woke me up a bit, and I went back to doing work things while Geoff made dinner. 

It poured all day today, again. We're getting a super soaker, which is needed. Toffee went out at 7am, and has not gone out since. I'm proud of her resilience. Lord knows I would not make it to 11pm without peeing all day. Hopefully tomorrow she'll get a break in the rain. She also doesn't like wet grass either. She's a classic house hippo - absolutely abhors the wet. Checking the weather just now, Toffee may have to suck it up. It also is barely going to get over 50 tomorrow so. meh. 

Perfect weather Tuesday when we go back to work. Such is life, eh?

Doug just ordered bags of dirt from Lowes that we have to go pick up tomorrow. Big sale! 40% off online orders! We just saved 90 bucks by buying online and picking up in store. 

Suckers! 

Digits below.

digits

exercise: 12/12 hours.  Treadmill, 21 min/1.51 miles; 10k+ steps by bedtime

blood glucose:

7am: 134
4:30pm: 154
10:45pm: 118

food & meds:

7am: jardiance + phentermine
12noon: bowl of mac & cheese w/bacon; met+glip
3pm: atkins snack bar
6pm: rotini pasta, chicken, cheesy sauce; met+glip
7pm: ramekin of mixed nuts
no alcohol

Here Comes The Rain Again

I was awake at 7 this morning, I had to call my mom to see if it was okay with her that the Physical Therapist wanted to come by at 12:30. Today being Thursday, it's one of her days to go to lunch and she usually leaves the house at 12:45pm. 

I fed the dog, went to the bathroom, started the coffee, went upstairs to get clothes to put on after a shower, and sat down on the patio to call her. 

She was surprised to hear from me so early, but I told her that I wanted to get back to the PT quickly this morning with her answer. She said that was fine, and we caught up on things. I wanted to let her know when we got home and she said she was going to call and ask me but figured she'd give me some time off from her constantly calling me about things. I thanked her for that. I told her that I always call to let her know things like when we get home (although, to be honest, I didn't call her yesterday on this but at least I eventually told her, right?) 

C said no one can drive you as crazy as your own family. 

 told her about my fall (someone who I'm friends with on FB will eventually say something to her so I wanted to clear the air on that). She said "oh you're getting as bad as me!" 

"I know!" I said, "Who is going to walk around behind me yelling 'Where is your cane! Why aren't you using your walker!'" 

It was good to have a laugh.

Finding that it was rather cold out, I headed back inside. Compared to yesterday's 89 degrees or so, this morning it was 59 degrees and pouring. We've been in a severe drought, so it is good we're getting this rain. I guess the weekend will possibly be a washout. 

Kind of disappointing because Visionary Doug wants to put out his planters, and Farmer Chris wants to go get some tomatoes. 

But I also can use a day or two inside to do non-Farmer stuff. 

Work was busy today, and one of the reasons I did not take off was to do a training for the new product. Our original launch date was pushed back to mid-June so we are still offering zoom trainings, my manager and I split the duty on it and it is fun. Lots of good questions, lots of interaction. We budget 90 minutes for this training, 60 minutes of training and 30 minutes for Q&A. So far, we've gone all the way up to the end of each session with no early dismissals. 

I'm starting to get excited for this product launch. It will hopefully be loved, well loved, by our clients. 

After work and before dinner I did the treadmill. It felt good to be at it again. Inside. With no potholes and no rain. Ha. I did 20 minutes, wanted to go longer but I was super hungry and dinner was ready and waiting. 

All told, a good day all around. I'll call mom in the morning to check on how PT went. And we'll see what the weather is doing. Friday before a holiday weekend, I'm not planning on going anyplace at all. 

Digits below. No pictures today. I gave you so many over the last couple! 

digits

exercise: 12/12 hours.  Somewhat of a jog on the treadmill. I've missed her. 20 min/1.37 mi; 10k+ steps by bedtime

blood glucose:

7:30am: 128
4:45pm: 154
11pm: 121

food & meds:

7:30am: jardiance + phentermine
9:30am: 2 chocolate chip cookies from the wedding welcome basket
11:45am: 2good yogurt w/crushed granola bar
1pm: met+glip
3pm: 5 wheat circle crackers w/pb and a spot of peach jam on each
6:30pm: dirty rice w/chicken and some extra queso topping
7:30pm: met+glip
no alcohol 

Farmer Chris vs Visionary Doug

After that trip home in one fell swoop, getting things out of the car I said to myself that I was truly happy being home. Driving home today in what looked to be an epic mess of thunderstorms across NY and PA, I think I am happiest knowing we did not have to. 

Doug and I both had today off, he got up early, I slept in. Once awake and somewhat alert, I had my coffee on the patio while Toffee soaked in the sun. Geoff did a great job with keeping things happy and healthy and wet while we were away but things were needy this morning. I finished coffee and got the hose out to water everything. Turns out I didn't really need to because we did have a huge rain squall come through, but it gave me time to spend with the plants, let them welcome me home, and assess the situation out there.

In the two weeks I was gone, things really progressed. Roses are popping out on the established climbing rose bush, and buds are  on the yellow one Doug planted. She's taking to her new home nicely. A few things are out there that I didn't recognize, they were short and flowerless when I left but tall and blooming this morning. 

It was exceptionally hot out so after the survey I headed back in. I spent the morning (and part of the afternoon, to be honest) finishing the blog posts from this trip. Laundry got done and folded. My bag got put upstairs. I chatted with my work son who is so happy I'm back. 

This afternoon I realized that Monday is a holiday. Not sure why I thought Memorial Day was in two weeks. I was miffed at myself for not just taking this entire week off, but that would have been two solid weeks of not working and with the product launch coming up (we moved it back from May 12 to June 15) I do have so much to do. 

Doug said "hey, you have a 2 day work week followed by a 4 day work week preceded by a zero day work week. You already win."

True. 

Doug ordered some garden beds and we have been at a disagreement as to what a "raised bed" is. I wanted them off the ground entirely, 3 ft high in the air. He bought ones that go on the ground but you fill them with a foot of dirt and thar raises them. 

Informing him that I am not bending over to weed, he told me I won't have to. He is going to weed proof these beds, and the foot-deep soil will keep the weeds from coming up. 

I said "Have you ever weeded any of the gardens we've had here in Maryland? Do you even realize how hellacious the weeds are here? They will find a way. I guarantee it, and I'll mark this day that I told you so and I'm right." 

He'd better weed proof the hell out of these things. Or the most sarcastic, vile, evil I TOLD YOU SO will come forth from my face.  Also I wanted them really raised, like high-up raised, but he told me those are very expensive (no they are not) and the weight of them is too much so the bottoms fall out/fail, and they are small.

Whatever dude, Farmer Chris knows what she wants but you picked what Visionary Doug wants, and we'll see how this works out. 

The beds are cute. You can arrange them in many different shapes, but he chose the long skinny floor plan, so no one has to reach into the bed too far, everything will be nice and in 2 easy rows. He bought two of them "to see how it goes this year." 

One is assembled, the other to come, and we will need like 40 bags of soil to put in them. It feels weird buying dirt. That much dirt. I mean, I've bought potting soil in the past but now this is a truckload of soil. 

Geoff made dinner, so that was nice to not have to think about. And I headed to bed on the early side of things. Still kind of wiped from the trip, and ready to sleep. Digits below. Coffee time, porch life, and bonus Toffee Feets.

digits

exercise: 11/12 hours.  Missed 10am by a few steps as I was distracted by something on the internet; 6500+ steps by bedtime (no streak kick off today!) 

blood glucose:

9:30am: 115
4:30pm: 112
10pm: 164

food & meds:

9:30am: jardiance + phentermine
noon: met+glip
12:30pm: bowl of left over mac&cheese w/hamburger and bacon (Geoff musta lived LARGE whilst I was outta town) mixed with extra spicy hot queso dip (ooof. ouch).
3pm: 2 big crackers w/pb on them.
6pm: bowl of sausage tortellini w/red sauce; small piece of blueberry cheese cake (split a piece with Doug)
8:45pm: met+glip (forgot to take w/dinner)
no alcohol

I ended up not even getting to see the ocean

This is Tuesday's entry, wrapping up the weekend, posting on Wednesday because we got home so late I didn't want to deal with finishing the post. Apologies. 

Buckle up though, this is a long entry...

Saturday, Wedding Day

The wedding was beautiful. 

In and of itself, a lovely ceremony. We were told not to take pictures, be in the moment. Those of us who listened did a good job and of course there was a contingent of people who disregarded the bride and groom's request. Including the bride's family. 

After the wedding, off to the reception in the big hall. This was a farm back in the day, so this was the barn. There is a little room off to the side called the Milk Room. Which Doug just referred to as the Red Room or the Room with the Very Slow Filling Ice Machine. 

It is a big beautiful space, and it was decorated wonderfully. the Bride & Groom had a shared loveseat couch, and the Bride's Side table consisted of Team Us. Jess was the "Best Mate" which made me smile, and their toast was very lovely. 

M&D set up "signature cocktails" for his & hers, but asked if they could add a third. In tribute to my husband, who once said to the bride he was "sweating like a toilet bowl in August" and that "blue drinks are the BEST drinks." She remembered his recipe for our favorite blue drink, minus one ingredient... 

His drink is at the top, her drink the middle, and Doug's at the bottom. 

Doug seemed kind of surprised, overwhelmed a little, and honored. 

Pineapple juice, midori, blue curacao, vodka. The missing ingredient that M didn't add in was ginger ale, which makes it bubbly and poppy. But that's okay. 

Doug informed the bartender that this drink was entirely his fault. She found that amusing, but at the end of the night said it was the absolute most popular choice. She had to mix up multiple containers of it - they served all 3 coctails out of big lovely glass containers, which were so pretty next to each other. Here's a pic of Jess and Liz, modeling with the cocktail "Toilet Tank in August." The name of which I'm sure confused a lot of the wedding guests. But. We know the story!

There was some bride's family drama, which I won't get into. Suffice to say, it's kind of heartbreaking when on your wedding day your family pushes you to the brink of tears and frustration. The groom said to me that she was suffering from "death by a thousand cuts..." and he felt frustrated by them all. Welcome to your wedded life, honey. I'm here if you ever need to talk. 

Jess, as Best Mate, will be following up with her. They wanted to give the newlyweds a lot of peace and grace, but when you're someone's best mate, and you usually talk every day of the week, a touch base after giving that wide swath of space is important. 

C took a ton of fantastic pictures at the reception, I spent about an hour combing through and looking at them on Wednesday morning while finishing this post. So many to pick from... they need their own blog entry. 

We clean up very nice.

Sunday

Sunday morning, we skipped breakfast and slept all the way in. 

I was up until after 1am the night before hanging out with Lin and Jess. Doug went to bed but his belly ached from too much delicious and too much Blue Drinks are the Best Drinks action. 

Thankfully, Lin texted me and my alerts were on, so that woke me up. Otherwise I would have missed them.

Lin and Ronnie were headed for the ferry in CT, so they left off early. 

Missed them before they were out of the parking lot. 

I had a little Jess time before they had to go back to the doggo. 

Check out was strictly at 11am, so we obeyed and got our shit together. So much stuff, so many bags, so much mess. Throw it in the car we'll deal with it later!

Doug and I had the day free to meander around Southern NH. Our goal was the seacoast but we ended up lolling about at a library booksale fundraiser, (Doug thought the sign said "Boob Sale" because of the telephone pole in the way). 

Then he was hungry, wanted an omelet, and we tried to find a place C had taken me to in the past but it is out of business. Sadly! We discovered we were a mile or so away from C's camp. So let's swing by there, grab her, and go to the place I had suggested we go to earlier in the discussion after the book sale - The Big Bean cafe in Exeter.

We had a lovely late lunch, and took a toodle aboot in Exeter, which is a lovely little town. Back at camp we had a burger grill night, cocktails by Doug, including a lovely purple thing. 

One can never get enough camp. 

For as crummy as the weather was on Thursday when we were all there (the night of my wipe out) Sunday more than made up for it with sunshine and wonderfulness. 

Monday did too.

Monday

C delayed going to work until absolutely necessary. We played with her dog on the porch for a super long time before she went and it was the best. I love her dog.  Ginny can play and play and play for hours without stopping. But eventually falls over sideways. 

After C left, Doug and I discussed doing something, anything, such as maybe making it to the seacoast. But, he picked up his book and went upstairs to the bed.

"I live here now." he said to me as he slunk off to read, and nap. 

Okay then. 

What to do with myself? I didn't need a nap. I didn't want to go for a walk. I should have but I was kind of meh about it.

C had recently purchased some garden plants. She has this old picnic table that every year we say "this is the last year for this table!" yet she continues to stand up. Resilient! 

I went into the garage, and got all the pots out, some potting soil (ended up not needing that bag since there was plenty of dirt in the pots overall). Got the shepherd's hooks and the hummingbird feeders. 

Farmer Chris then went to work repotting the plants, making sure none of the plants and pots of the same color were put together. Can't have that. She has so many to choose from. And I didn't even repot all the plants. C's sister R is coming this weekend and I wanted to leave some work for them to accomplish together. Farmer Chris can't steal all the work! 

Doug came down after a while and made comments from the porch. I put him to use and got him to pull out the hose and hose-holder, which were too heavy for me to really lift and move around (my right arm still hurts). 

I watered all the babies, and we watered her hydrangeas and other shrubberies that were along the house. Doug talked about what needs to be cut back in the fall, what's good to let go to see how it does. She's had no luck with a lot of bushes over the years but the hydrangeas in back are going to be amazing in a few weeks. 

We met Jess at the Dog Park in their current town, and had a load of fun with Miss Dijon and her pals. Then we went to dinner for yaps and apps, and hockey on TV. C was in bed when we got back, Doug went to bed shortly after, I quietly stayed downstairs in the front guest room so as not to wake anyone up by going up the stairs. And I slept fitfully. 

Tuesday

C headed to work because it is Bagel Day for her team and she is the Bagel Fairy. Doug and I plotted our course of travel, and got out the door by 11:30. He scraped tree sap off the car window, I stripped beds, unloaded the dishwasher, and organized our stuff a little better than it had been "organized" on Sunday when we left the wedding. 

Our plan was to drive 101 West across Southern NH to Vermont's Rte 9, then into NY State to the Catskills to Rte 30 around Broadalbin. We'd head south from there to see what happens. 

It takes 9 years to drive across NH, but 5 minutes to get from Brattleboro to Bennington. It's a beautiful ride. 

NH and VT were gorgeous on the ride. Tons of pillowy clouds, mountains rising in the distance and suddenly you are at the top of them. We stopped to overlook everything by the Beer Naked Brewery, and I'd love to go back there for a visit sometime. 

Not the best picture. Lots of overgrowth and nowhere really good to get a shot of the valley below, unless ... we were in the brewery (behind me) up on the patio. That would have been sweet.

We stopped for lunch at the Vermont Country Deli in Brattleboro. The sandwiches were amazing and we both got dessert. They had a great selection of local beers, and they even had some Butterfly Bakery things for sale.  

Clare at Butterfly Bakery is a huge Guster fan, so folks like to take pictures of her stuff in the wild. I'm no different. Hats Off to you, Clare!

Somehow, we got twisted about with a detour near Bennington, finally making it over to NY in Hoosick. That cost us a good chunk of time, and as we approached the Albany area wouldn't you know it traffic was the absolute suck. We managed to get on I-87 South and didn't make it over to our Rte 30 excursion. 

Doug decided and declared that he just wanted to drive home in one fell swoop. I kind of really wanted to stop off and spend one more night somewhere. I also wanted a walk to keep the steps streak going. But. 

As he was the driver, I acquiesced to his wishes. Away we went. 

We did stop for dinner in Allentown, PA. We didn't want a big long stop, just something quick, but not Taco Bell. Doug saw a sign for this hot dog shop, Yocco's. Well. A hot dog shop, can't be that bad, can it? 

This is going to get its own entry, so be sure to read the side quest write up over here. 

And enjoy this comedy photo that I had Doug take of me of the Satan Hot Dog poking me in the butt.

Back on the road.

Things moved very well until we got to Harrisburg. Night paving/work on the highway slowed us right down and we were stuck for quite a time in Carlisle. 

He suggested we bail and take the backroads, which wouldn't be a bad suggestion if it wasn't late at night on unfamiliar roads so we stuck with the highway. At the state line, literally right at the state line, no more construction so Maryland welcomed us with a wide open road and about 10 minutes left in the journey. 

Hallelujah. Home. 12 hours of a trip. Albeit with lunching and detours, it was a good day. 

But sadly... the end of my 10k steps per day streak. I made it 226 days. By the time we got home, I needed close to 2k steps to hit the goal and I was not going to jump on the treadmill for a run. So I let it happen. I let her go. 

Before we left, I thought of walking down to the mailbox and back, but really wanted to clean up and get going more than get the steps. And, I thought we were going to stop along the way. There's the wonderful Walkway over the Hudson, which we've visited in the past. I would have enjoyed that. Oh well. 

Today begins a new streak, I guess. Digits below.

Tuesday digits

exercise: 9/12 hours.  No walk. 8200+ steps by bedtime

blood glucose:

8am: 119
xpm: n/a
11:45pm: 156

food & meds:

8am: jardiance + phentermine
10:30am: piece of danish
2pm: turkey sandwich on sourdough; slice of carrot cake; met+glip
7pm: double dog, mystery sauce, a couple fries; met+glip
no alcohol

Side Quest Post - Hot Dogs on the Road

I'm not going to slag them too bad, but. 

This was not the best hot dog shop experience I've ever had. Honestly, at the end of the day who is sitting around deciding to eat hot dogs, of all things. But we were in Pennsylvania, and we're hungry, and the signs and billboards lured us in. 

Ladies and gentlemen, meet the Hot Dog King of Yocco's Hot Dogs. 

First off - I'm going to give any family business the flowers they deserve for being around for over 100 years. They also have a partnership with Mrs. T's Pierogis, so I thought hey - let's go. I'm here for it.

We are both accustomed to the hot dog shop styling of Brighton Hot Dog Shoppe in Western Pennsylvania/Eastern Ohio. 

Friends, look at the Hot Dog in the picture above. He's the King of Hot Dogs but he has a hot dog on his pitchfork. 

He looks to me more like Satan torturing one of his minions than the King of Anything. 

If you click the link to the Brighton Hot Dog Shoppe website, see how friendly their mascot is. 

Which guy do you want to hang out with? Satan Hot Dog or borderline Spongebob-ish friendly Hot Dog Boi? 

Alrighty then. We continue. The secret is in the sauce, the sign says. 

The only secret is ... what is this sauce? What even is it? I thought it would be like a chili sauce but it is a brown paste with no flavor. I got the double dog, which is 2 dogs on one bun (tryin'a keep them carbs down), and I asked for cheese sauce and onions. I got no cheese sauce and some onions. And a lot of brown stuff. 

I didn't get the pierogis, shoulda. Because maybe it would have brought me some joy. Doug got fries, and those were exceptionally good, but an incredibly small amount. 

C told me that this restaurant is hugely famous in the region (she grew up not too too far away). But I cannot see why. It was just not good at all. 

Reader, if you find yourself out in Western Pennsylvania, and you would like a hot dog, go to any of the Brighton Hot Dog Shoppes out there. Get the chili cheese fries. Get a dog with chili sauce, onions, and cheese. 

And while you are at it, get a chocolate shake. Jess says these live in their head for free. 

Okay - side quest over. 

The Big Wedding

In addition to the last post wherein your humble narrator tells you the story of the shiner, many other things happened. 

Apologies for no posts, for anyone keeping score at home, but I am with one of the real human people who is not an AI bot who reads this blog and the other one just left to head home yesterday, so if you are a human and you missed our posts since last week, I apologize. 

Last Wednesday, Lin and Ron arrived at the hotel super late. In the morning, Lin and I had breakfast, we asked for late check out so we'd get an extra hour of coordination time. 

Then, on Thursday we headed over to mom's for a visit. She had PT, so everyone got to meet the dude, and he got to meet us, and watch mom be sassy with me and my sister. 

We all chatted about the masonry work, the walkway, everything. It was drippy and rainy, so we didn't do a lot of outside work or anything. 

After PT, we went out to lunch with her at the Familiar, had a wonderful time. 

She's hard to read but I think she was happy having us there. 

After we ate, it was kind of on the late side of things and headed north to C's cabin so we'd be able to have some fun there and not go straight to sleep. Ronnie had a great time with her little dog. And we had a great time with each other. 

There was the realization at some point that Linda and Ronnie forgot their garment bag, with their wedding attire and everything - especially Ronnie's new suit. Oh no. I guess we have to go shopping! 

Then I tripped and landed on my face in spectacular fashion. 

C went to the office on Friday morning, we drank coffee, and we got our plan together. Ronnie needed a barber shave, so he left off to do that first. When he got back, it was in time for Doug to go meet Jess to get their car out of the shop. Lin, Ronnie, and I headed to the mall. 

We bought me another dress, just because there were more options at this store than the one where Jess and I went last week. And we got me shoes for the rehearsal dinner and wedding. I have not bought any new shoes or dresses in years. Lin has a good eye and picked things out for me. She also got her dress, not what she wanted because what she wanted was hanging in the garment bag at home.... but she looked fantastic. Ronnie got his suit situation secured. A successful mall trip for all!

We also stopped and got me an eye patch at a Party Store, and some shiny doo-dads to bedazzle upon it.

Doug got to the hotel we were all staying at just minutes before us. 

Checked in and getting readied up, we were invited to the rehearsal dinner, even though we weren't in the wedding or rehearsed anything. M & D think of us as family. So, family comes to the dinner. 

We had a lovely time, wonderful visits, Jess' former roommates Liz and Ashleigh were there. Liz & Jess were in the wedding party. I hadn't yet met the groom in person, but I feel like I've known him forever and my heart was very full from just being there. And Miss Molly. Oh my girl. So beautiful. 

I had never met the groom in person before, but when we met the first time on Friday afternoon it felt so organic, like I'd known him my whole life, or his whole life. 

Friday night was great, we happily collapsed into bed. Here are some more pictures from the rehearsal dinner. 

I have to admit, even with the black eye, I didn't look too shabby. And we all cleaned up nice.

Saturday, we had the whole day to ourselves as the wedding was not until 6pm (Molly put 5:30 on the invitations to trick anyone who is persistently and consistently late to be there on time for 6pm). 

Lin and Ronnie set out into the mid-NH universe to drive around, look for some brekkie, and find a place for Lin to get a mani-pedi. 

Doug and I got up around 9:30, and slugged about until we felt like going for lunch in Manchester. We were about to get on the highway when Linda called to say their car was dead. Somehow, Ronnie had left the down-window button engaged/active while he waited in the car snoozing while she went in for her beautification treatment. 

Ooops. 

We turned around, to Doug's dismay (again, why I didn't call him on Thursday night to come help me because sometimes he doesn't understand when/why someone needs help and he questioned why they didn't have jumper cables, why there wasn't someone else there in the parking lot who could jump start them, why they don't have AAA.... this is why I don't call you for help, friend, and why people do call me). 

We got to them, they went to the auto parts store and got jumper cables, and we had the car started lickety split. And all it took was a half hour of our time.

They drove off to go get a replacement battery (smart) and we went to Manchester for lunch. Doug wanted to try Stark Brewing. Good choice. We had a couple beers, I had a great burger, and I think he downed a Reuben. 

We took a walk along the river, and there was some sort of artist/community fest where we bought some cute octopus things for Jess and got the hard sell from some community based businesses that we had no interest in but they were tenacious. No, I do not want life insurance from you, guy. 

Back to the hotel. Shower, dress, ready. Wedding. 

There are a lot of pictures to go through, but I have to go to bed. Ha. 

More tomorrow. I'll just post this fave of Jess and their friend (and my other "daughter" Liz) who were in M's wedding party. Besties since eighth grade or some shit. 

Digits below! And please love on Jess' shoes becaus they are so badass!

Monday digits

By the way - for all the days we were away (Fri-Sun) I did very well with the steps and the glucose. I just didn't keep track of it all. Starting fresh and new on Monday here.

exercise: 12/12 hours.  gardening in the yard/walk about, 10 min/.55 mi. Get the last steps for the night, 18 min/.85 mi. 10k+ by bedtime

blood glucose:

8:30am: 115
4:30pm: 167
10pm: 153

food & meds:

8:30am: jardiance + phentermine
10am: mini bagel w/pb
12:45pm: turkey and colby jack on Keto bread w/mayo. met+glip
3pm: slab of Tiramisu
6:30pm: scallops and mixed grilled veggies, coleslaw, 2 beers
7pm: met+glip

Puddle Puddle Pothole

Okay so I've been exceptionally clumsy this past year. Between falling down the stairs at C's house last summer, the treadmillpocalypse, and this past Thursday, it's been a journey. 

Your girl went for a walk Thursday night. We were at the cabin with C, having our visit, it was pouring, and I felt kind of bummed because I wouldn't get 10k steps for the first time in like 224 days or something. Damn.

C offered to go for a walk with me but I felt it was not worth the doing. I needed 2k steps which was basically a walk to the end of the long road and back. 

She went to bed, the others were chilling here and I noticed it had stopped raining. Well. It's 10:30pm. I'm going. 

So I did. 

And I was listening to Noah Kahan's new album and the song Haircut was ringing through my ears. I stepped in puddles. They were all cute and shallow. I feared no little splashes. I was doing this. I'm getting in these steps. 

Down to the mailbox and back, I'm thinking about all the poetry Kahan's able to write that are meaningful mostly to him but become universal somehow. American Cars is one of those songs. I've never really connected with his music, but on this album I'm hearing his confessions and it is all blowing me away. How do you dig this deep, be this personal, how? 

The title track, The Great Divide, hitting me in the feels.

Another puddle. I'm headed back to the cabin. Another puddle. 

Another puddle, but it isn't a puddle. It's a pothole. 

After what I can only describe as me flailing cartoon character-esque, with arms and legs wildly spinning in an attempt to not fall.

Fuck. I landed. 

I ate shit with my face on the side of the road.

Okay, get up. Laughing at myself like "I'm really glad no one saw this..." Get up.

Only I can't get up? I can't stand up. I can't push myself up. My left knee is still a mess from the treadmill. My right knee is now screaming at me. Both the palms of my hands are screaming at me. I flop over onto my side. 

Oh shit, I can't get up? What the actual fuck? You're strong enough to get up from a prone position on the ground? Did you break something? Is your leg broken? What is the major malfunction here? 

There's nothing to put my hands on to push myself up onto. Sand in the cuts, mud and water, I feel mud on my face, in my hair, the side of my head. In my ear? 

Another attempt or two and I'm like alright. Time to Phone a Friend and get some help. 

I call Carrie, I call Linda. Note, I did not call Doug because he sometimes doesn't answer the phone even if it is me. 

I asked for help and they came running. 

Their reaction upon seeing me to me was comical. But they were both anxious. "Oh, Chris." 

I said I had mud on my face, C said "that's not mud." 

And it indeed was not mud. 

They got me up into the car, up to the bathroom, got my clothes off, down into the laundry. I grabbed a shirt an my yoga pants from my bag. We got me cleaned up. 

Repeatedly, they asked me if I wanted to go to the hospital. I said no. I didn't feel like anything was broken? I knew I was going to be bruised up. They were worried I had a head injury, needed some concussion protocol, tests, something. But honestly, I think I knew this was not as bad as it looked, or, was going to look. 

I was terribly disappointed because I knew this was going to fuck up all the photos of this weekend. I wanted pictures with C. Pictures with my sister. With Jess who was the Best Mate on M's side for her. 

Here we are, in the one time we're all going to be super cute and I'm going to be sporting a shiner of epic proportions. 

Pictures are below, but, I'm putting a large amount of space between these words and the images, just in case you do not want to scroll all the way down and see them. If you're sensitive or squeamish, you'll want to not scroll beyond here. First picture is right after the incident, second is the following day. 

Mason, Finally

On Wednesday I was up at 6. I had to pee, and noticed mom hadn't gotten up to start the coffee the way she does, so I fired it up. Then, I stripped the bed sheets, put them in the wash, and started to organize my disorganized life. 

I think I was more than ready to check out of Hotel Hotbox. 

I looked in on her and she was fast asleep. She'll often say "I wasn't sleeping, I was resting my eyes." But she was out cold. Alive but out cold. Even the TV was off. 

Mom came down around 7:30 and was surprised I was up. I told her that I woke up at 6 and got the day started. The sheets were in the dryer and I had started her laundry that was in the hamper.  We chatted a bit, and talked about the plan for the day. 

I was leaving to get Doug at about 1:30, she'd be out at lunch. I wasn't planning on coming back to the house. "You have a lot of food in the refrigerator," she said. 

"Yes, I will pick that up Wednesday afternoon." 

She left, I left, and I got to Providence right when Doug's train arrived. He said it was a good trip but felt extremely long. Considering when you fly it is a little over an hour, a 7am train coming in at 3pm is indeed a long ass trip. 

With no wi-fi. None.

So his young man's dreams of riding the rails weren't as fantastic as he'd hoped. 

Still. He was there, and I was so happy to see him. 

He had picked out where he wanted to eat so we headed right over there for early dinner/late lunch. They do an Appy Hour (cute) and he got oysters, we got beers. I got Asian wings, which were beyond wonderful. 

I'm kind of a wing snob, I can't remember if I've written about this before but wings have to be deep fried and crispy. If you serve me some flabby ass wings, you are dead to me. These wings were perfect. Absolutely the way I love and always want them. They were tossed in a sweet and tangy sauce and generously sprinkled with black and white sesame seeds. 

I ordered a second serving. God, yes. I'm being that person. But when you're finally in a place where the thing you like is just that amazing .... do it. Don't deny yourself. Eat that thing. 

After his dozen buck-a-shuck oysters, Doug got a spicy tuna roll from the sushi menu and some lobster bisque. 

I felt the need for some salad, with protein, and went for the beet salad with a gorgeous slab of salmon. 

Amazing. 

We took a walk after we ate, Doug was in search of a big ass gelato, but somehow each place we went to that said they had gelato didn't have gelato. We ended up at a little bakery, I kind of wanted a cannoli but they had these beautiful cakes... and we each got a slice to enjoy back at the hotel. 

Providence had some weird things to show us, but overall, she was fun. 

At the hotel, we passed out. Big naps. I normally don't nap in the day but I was incredibly exhausted so it felt good to sleep.

Cake and hockey, back to sleep. 

My phone rang at 7:30am. Guess who it was. Yes! It was my mom! 

"What did you do with my bill from the Propane Company?" she asks. 

"I didn't do anything with your bill from the Propane Company. I offered to go pay it for you if you wrote the check, but you said they would miss you too much and be sad if you didn't come in personally so you were going to do it, so, I never touched it." 

"I've gone through everything on this dining table and I cannot find it." I thought to myself Jeeeeezus this is how things get lost when Linda has stuff organized, and you mess shit right up. Great. 

"I had the envelope down in my room because I wrote Jimmy's phone number on it."

"Well, if you had the envelope down in your room I'd almost thing for sure you have it in your room, but hey don't fuss, I'll call them."

We went back and forth, and I finally told her that she should just let it go, I'll find the amount by calling them when they open. Just.... stop fussing. 

I went down and got breakfast, there were a couple business ladies down here taking up the conference table in the lobby, talking about how they had to reconcile this thing to that thing and have a conversation with that guy before the meeting and everything was so big and important. 

I called the propane company and got the amount, and indeed, the girl at the desk there said she loves mom very much, and had a birthday card for her ready to hand over. I let her know mom would be over this week. 

Doug and I went over to get mom, and we went over to the BBQ place that one of her favorite people and her brother own. It was like a family reunion. We had a kick-ass lunch, and a wonderful visit. 

Back to mom's and she went to take a nap. We had a mason come over to meet on fixing things up with the walkway and the parking, putting in a handrail, and getting it all fixed up for her so she can safely get around the outside of the house. We did a little yard puttering, and I planted some wildflower seeds that I really hope will take, and will be beautiful by my next visit. 

Doug took a nap so I hit the treadmill. I could not fall asleep. Then, I talked to my cousin B for about an hour about his brother. He's on his last lap, it seems. B is headed down this weekend and wanted to check in with us to see if we were interested in coming. Well, sorry. Nope. Maybe next weekend if he's still hanging in. 

It was a heartfelt discussion, up against the reality of his brother's imminent demise. 

Lin and Ronnie are on their way, they'll be here probably in 2 hours. I'm writing at about 10:30 at this point. I got them wine and beer for their arrival. I will probably be out cold by the time they get here. 

Busy day. Tomorrow, one last visit with Shirl, and off to NH! Woooooo! 

Digits for Tuesday and Wednesday below. 

Tuesday digits

exercise: 11/12 hours.  Slept through 7pm. 2 walks, neighborhood for 20 min/1.04 mi; around Federal Hill, 24 min, .40 mi; 10k+ by bedtime

blood glucose:

6:15am: 133
xpm: n/a
11pm: 107

food & meds:

6:15am: jardiance + phentermine
9:30am: 2 good yogurt w/nuts and berries mixed in
noon: atkins shake; met+glip
4pm: asian chicken wings (double batch, so good); beet salad w/salmon (so good) met+glip
10pm: slab of carrot cake

Wednesday digits

exercise: 12/12 hours.  Hotel treadmill, 20 min/1.5 mi; 10k+ steps by bedtime.

blood glucose:

8:15am: 160
4:45pm: 120
10:45pm: 140

food & meds:

8:15am: jardiance + phentermine
9am: Hotel bacon, a biscuit sandwich w/pork sausage, scrambled eggs and a slice of cheddar cheese
1:30pm: pulled pork sandwich, coleslaw, met+glip
glass of wine at mom's while gardening
8pm: snacks snacks.... celery w/pb; pita chips and queso; chips. 2 beers, met+glip