Mandatory Fun Was Actually Fun

Doug an I went down to Fairfax County for his office outing. I guess a lot of people RSVPed, but only half came. 

No worries - we got extra drink tickets as a result. Thank you, no showers! 

I honestly think it has been 2 decades or more since I've gone bowling and my body is sore tonight as a result. We had a blast, and Doug's team is super sweet and a lot of fun. 

And, blue drinks are the best drinks. 

Not 100% sure what the antler theme is here at this bowling alley but, I thought this
looked HILARIOUS!

Please note, right out the gate I broke my pointer fingernail AND my thumbnail.
Good thing I do not pay money for nail maintenance! damn!

Doug Action Shot!

Yinz, we were so very confused by the bowling ball finger holes but ... figured
it out eventually. Two thumb sizes, makes sense!

Relaxed and ready to kick ass, or whatever.

I mean, c'mon man. So good.

Blue drink in action!

Doug's co-worker has a 15 month old, and baby did NOT want to let momma bowl,
so momma did what mommas do. She "rolled" with it. Ha.

After we were done bowling, I suggested to Doug we keep on playing, just us. I mean. We were having fun. He was ready to "roll" again with rolling jokes, so we did 

He wanted to visit Leesburg, VA and hit a brewery there, so that happened. We were delighted to see that there were all these women (and men!) walking around town dressed up as Mrs. Roper from Three's Company! Turns out it was a charity pub crawl fundraiser dealie, and dozens of kaftan-sportin' fun-havers were all over town. 

Hilarious. For some reason my pictures won't download so I'll post them tomorrow. 

The brewery we went to was great. Big back seating area with a GIANT TV so we watched some college football before it started raining. We ended up back inside and watched Ropers run into the tavern across the street. When we left, we could hear them all laughing and having just the best freaking time. I love this for them and truly hope they raised a ton of money for pediatric cancer. 

We visited a used bookstore and had a wonderful time there and it was about time to head home. We took mostly back roads up back into Maryland, and got home to a nice dinner by Geoff. 

I called Jess and we had a good yap while I did a good walk (then came in to charge my fitbit and went out again for more walk and yap). 

Pretty fun day, I must say! 

And, as always, living in the south there are constant reminders of what this country was, and how people once were treated, and this mural "Journey to Freedom" on the side of the Loudoun Museum is a reminder of what people endured for freedom. 

When everyone talks about "Freedom 250" as of late, I'm always reminded that yeah, it was freedom for some, and not others for a very long and horrible time. 

Sobering, to say the least. Visit the Loudoun Museum website to learn more, and click here for local news coverage of the unveiling. 

Digits, below. 

digits

exercise: 12/12 hours.  Walk and talk on the phone with Jess, 23 min/1,1 mi, plus 18 min/.63 mi (after charging the fitbit for a while 

blood glucose: 

8:30am: 122
xpm: n/a
10pm: 99 

food & meds:

8:30am: Jardiance 
at the bowling alley between noon and 2pm: buffalo wings, a couple sliders, 2 blue drinks, one slice of pizza
1pm: met+glip
4:30pm: 2 beers
6:30pm: soupy rice with chicken (the recipe is actually called Soupy Rice, that's not an adjective!) glass of red wine
7pm: met+glip

Wonderful World Horrible World

Last night, we put on the footballs and then I realized somehow, magically, it was 11pm and bedtime. So I didn't write an actual entry. Just didn't feel like lifting up the laptop and going at it. 

It's Friday and it is actually my favorite day every three weeks where we do a sprint review, where all the dev teams come together to share what they've been working on and what is coming up next. My work son owns the presentation for our publishing tools and I'm always so proud of him for what he presents. 

I slept in this morning, and missed a 9am meeting that I usually have every Friday with a colleague at 9am. Ope. Oops. Doh. She was gracious and still wanted to meet at 9:45, so we had about 15 minutes before sprint review. She lives in Brooklyn and is Jewish, and today is the first night of Rosh Hashanah and it is also 9/11 so she's full of the sad. It's hard to celebrate new year when you are remembering being 9 and your parents scooping you and your sister up from school, and hiding you from the news. 

We did have a really good chat, and she has a little boy who is not quite 2, and what a wonderful world, what a horrible world. Right? 

I hit the treadmill at 5, Geoff got home from his class and his 3 hour commute (ugh) and we just threw together dinner of mac & cheese because no one wanted to go to the market. We'll go to the market tomorrow. 

Around 8:30pm I realized it was all the way dark and it was making me sad. I took Toffee for a walk even though I was already at 10k (just about) and didn't HAVE to get extra steps but I felt like I needed a little bit of a reason to not watch TV and not pay attention to news. Just go out there and be with the dog and enjoy the quiet of the night. 

Tomorrow, we are going to a work outing with Doug's team. Somehow, they all voted for ... bowling? So. We're going bowling. It is over 2 hours from here (oh my god why do we live so far away) and so we have to be up and at them in the morning. 

Please, let there be beer and snacks at the hipster bowling place. 

More to come. I really want more apples for more apple pie or something. We can probably dovetail a farm stand visit somewhere along the way. A week from tonight, my sister will be here. I took a couple days off next week, Thursday for house cleaning and Toffee Doctor, and Friday to get our asses to our hotel and the venue for the concert. 

Honestly, can't wait for next week. 

here's a pic of Toffee after our walk, where she nestled into my legs and then went to great big snoring sleep. Digits, below. (actually, the image is not uploading so I'll futz tomorrow. goodnight!)

Thursday digits

exercise: 12/12 hours. Treadmill run before lunchtime meeting - 20 min/1.45 mi; Toffee Walk after dinner, 20 min/.98 mi; 11k+ steps by bedtime

blood glucose: 

8:45am: 112
4:45pm: 145
11pm: 94 

food & meds:

8:45am: Jardiance 
11am: 2 slices of sourdough everything bread toasted w/butter
1:15pm: english muffin w/pb & the last of the apricot preserves; met+glip
some bowls of kettle corn, god help me
6pm: 3 pecan sandies cookies (just to get the box out of the cabinet)
6:30pm: small bowl of penne pasta w/ meaty meat sauce; white wine

Friday digits

exercise: 12/12 hours. Treadmill run, 30 min/2.12 mi. Toffee walk, 20min/.9 mi; 13k+ steps by bedtime

blood glucose: 

9am: 128
4:30pm: 130
10:30pm: 138 

food & meds:

9am: Jardiance 
11am: 2 frozen breakfast burritos w/extra cheese and salsa on top
4:30pm: giant slice of banana/apple bread (note to self, don't forget to use buttermilk in the future). 
7pm: bowl of mac & cheese w/bacon. White wine; met+glip
8pm-ish: pretzel chips; white wine

Bounty of the harvest

A few weeks back, some flippin' woodchuck ate our lettuce in the garden. That sucked, but, hey! They rebounded and the woodchuck didn't come back for a second helping. 

When I got back from Massachusetts, the lettuces were looking good but not ready for picking. Getting back from Pennsylvania yesterday I noticed they'd grown like 2 feet tall. Yikes. Time to harvest! 

We didn't properly frame the tomatoes up, and so they flopped out of the planters and all over the ground. Note for next year - cage them bitches. 

I got a healthy bunch of cherry tomatoes, several nice kinds of other tomatoes. Our "big boy" tomatoes basically got trashed, they split and got buggy. So I pulled them off the plants and gave them to Toffee. That dog loves tomatoes. 

Peppers a'plenty, we've got dozens of poblano, banana, and jalapeño. 

And the aforementioned lettuce. 

I washed it all carefully and cut away the leaves that were close to the dirt because those had gone mangy. 

Due to the explosive diarrhea salad situation that the country has been experiencing, your girl has not had decent "raw greens" in a bit. So I'm was looking forward to my own home grown lettuce tonight, and tomorrow. Heck, we'll have a couple more days of it, I'm sure. There's still some out there! 

After the harvest, I came in and finally got my ass in gear to make miss Toffee a vet appointment. She's overdue on her shots, and we've been here just about a full year, so, time to get her back on track. Next, we need to finally pick a dentist. We're all overdue for cleanings. 

Bout time, kids. 

I also just went back and found the entry from when we closed on the house and it made me smile. Still so much to do. And no upstairs bathroom yet. But we'll get there. I know it will come. 

Treadmill and Dog Walk today. And then football season started. I crawled up to bed at 10:15 because ... so sleepy. 

I have pictures but they are on the phone and the phone is over there and I am too lazy to go get it. I'll post tomorrow. 

Digits below! 

digits

exercise: 12/12 hours. treadmill run, 20 min/1.46 mi; walk with miss Toffee after dinner, 15 min/.68 mi. 11k+ steps by bedtime

blood glucose: 

8am: 104
4:30pm: 105
10pm: 173 

food & meds:

8am: Jardiance ; 5 oreo cookies (just to get the container out of the cabinet)
12:30pm: zero carb whole grain wrap, 2 slices of colby jack, roast beef, tomato, mayo; met+glip
6pm: some ritz crackers
7pm: pork loin, salad (from my garden!), pierogis. White wine
8pm: met+glip
9pm: kettle corn while watching football

Dogs and Distillery

Today was hit the road day for Doug and Chris and I believe we were a balanced amount of regretful that we left, and very very ready to leave. There were peaks and peaks and peaks of what I'd call mania with Doug's mom, and some absolute nose dives of her being very dramatic. 

It was funny how on Sunday she refused to eat, too tired to eat, absolutely exhausted, cannot eat, and then she wolfed down 3 big pieces of pizza and perked right up. 

Imagine that, you're feeling overwhelmed and crappy, and all you really need is a deep breath, a beer, and a couple slices covered in beautiful fresh mushrooms. Then you're an absolute joy to be with. 

We spent time this morning with her, chatting and offering to unload her car and whatnot. She didn't know where some things were going to go, and she was all frantic about how she wanted shelves, but didn't know about getting them set up, and where will she put things while the shelves are being built (uhhhhhhh, move your car out of the car hole, I'll build the shelves and then we can move things out of the way, put the shelves where you want them, and then put the things on the shelves. It is not this hard). 

At some point I decided I should get a walk in, and headed out. It was hotter out than I thought it would be, seeing as the past few days were perfection. I decided to go all the way down to the end of mom's street, turn around, come back, and turn into each of the 3 dead end cut outs on the way back up. Then, up and around the circle at the dead end. I made it an exact half hour, a tiny bit more than 1.5 miles all told. 

We talked about mums. She is under the impression there should be some special colors this year. Doug said he did not see any when he went to home depot to get an allen wrench needed to fix a door handle in the house. 

Oh but there is supposed to be a very special rose pink color. Didn't you see them? Didn't you?

Lady, why didn't you just let us take you to home depot, get shelves, and look for special rose pink colored mums. 

No. Too much. Too much to do, think of, too much. 

Such drama. 

Anyway. She made us nice breakfast sandwiches, and we packed the car. She boxed up a few things that she wanted Doug to have, including this interesting Eagle thing. I don't necessarily need more things, but, I've learned (and I learned this from Aaron) when the parents are pushing things at you, just take them. Thank them. And if you don't really want them, donate them. Just get it over with. Just to get the day moving on further. Just do it. Take the things. 

She wanted Doug to take this stack of LIFE magazines. Initially he wasn't interested but they were all from WWII, and he finds all that interesting. And we got a small "child's desk," which no one is going to use as a desk but I can see putting it somewhere to put stuff on top of it or something. Plants. Pictures. Whatever. 

We were somewhere on the Pennsylvania Turnpike when I realized I'd left my thermal water bottle at Doug's mom's house. Damn. I love that thing. It's a thermos bottle that I picked up in Maine so I'd have a nice insulated bottle at the fest. Immediately I felt parched and wanting. 

Not sure when we're going up next, and I'm sure she'll put it safely somewhere in the kitchen, she'll drain it and wipe it bone dry and scrub the lid. She's like that. 

We stopped for gas in Somerset, after driving past a corner were dozens of people were putting flags on the street corner. Doug said "This is 9/11 country. Flight 93 went down very close to here, so for this town, this area, it's a very big deal." Indeed. 

Unlike our "esteemed" VP (cough) who said we get to "celebrate" the anniversary of 9/11 (really? CELEBRATE is the word you choose in this instance, you weirdo!) I could feel the solemnity in the act. There were several service members in uniform, lots of navy whites, and regular citizens, sticking flags into the ground. 

It felt very humbling and sobering. 

After we got gas, and got snacks, we continued down the road and got to Tall Pines distillery. Doug had noticed them the last time he was driving home and wanted to make it a point to stop in. We were happy to find them open, met the proprietor Josh, and the two dogs. They were incredibly sweet. 

What a nice roadside stop! 

I don't usually drink straight spirits, or moonshine. I've said it before to Doug and others that I have no ability to appreciate what I'm drinking. To me, the finest whiskey or bourbon, or the homegrown hoochinanny stuff like what we got today, all tastes to me like Nyquil. Sometimes, like Grape or Cherry flavored Nyquil. 

For as discerning as I can be about beer, liquor and I do not have an agreed upon taste or understanding. 

Josh gave us samples, and heck because we bought two really nice bottles he let Doug sample more than one sample! I had the strawberry rhubarb and that's all I really wanted. I thought about us buying the vanilla bourbon for baking, Lord knows that might make some ass kicking sugar cookies! My eyes are on that. And the cherries. I know how to have fun with baking and booze. 

We got home a little after 5, Geoff didn't plan a meal so it was leftovers for me and Doug made tortellini for himself. There wasn't enough for all 3 of us. Geoff will head to the market tomorrow, he's got the day off, and we'll have a decent meal before he starts week 3 of school on Tuesday. 

Toffee was thrilled to see us, Doug had to run to Lowes for a part for our toilet (which he forgot was broken when we left), and he brought her a stuffed Witch Alligator which she promptly demolished. Less than 3 minutes. Less than two minutes! monster.

Missing my water bottle somethin' fierce right now though. But not fierce enough to drive 4 hours back up north of Pittsburgh. 

Some pictures of the day, below. 

digits

exercise: 11/12 hours. missed 4pm from being in the car. Took a solo walk before getting on the road, 30 min/1.51 mi. Took a walk with Linda on the phone, 16 min/.8 mi; 11k+ steps by bedtime

blood glucose: 

9am: 142
xpm: n/a
10pm: 114 

food & meds:

9am: Jardiance 
11:30am: egg & ham w/swiss on a plain bagel
1pm: met+glip
3pm: road snacks: bag of combos, some corn nuts
6:30pm: large bowl of leftover tuna casserole; white wine
7pm: met+glip
kettle corn (an excessive amount) through the evening

At the Fair

Today we took off in the morning and headed to Canfield Ohio for the fair. We have been a couple of times, and I'm always slightly confused as to why we didn't always go to the Topsfield Fair with the kids back in the day. Maybe once or twice, especially also when Geoff was in Scouts.

But heck. A fair is a lot more fun without small beings. At least, me watching other parents wrangle their kids around in wagons and strollers and leashes felt that way. Good lord. Leashes. 

It was not super crowded, and the weather was perfect. We've gone in the past where it has been hot as blue bloody blazes.  Today was just lovely. 

Normally Doug isn't very interested in spending money on food at a place like a fair, but, we got gyros for lunch, and I wanted an elephant ear (my friend Amy's dad was a huge fan of the Canfield Fair and elephant ears, so, for you Max, I salute you). We were just about ready to leave, and Doug's sister and her son finally arrived and connected with us, so we had some extra fun together walking around. Corn dogs. Lemonade. And finally we got kettle corn to bring home. 

And, a LOT of steps! 

It was a good day, and all I could think of was Templeton in "Charlotte's Web." 

It's where a rat, and a Chris, can Glut, Glut, GLUT, GLUUUUUUUTTTTT!!!!!

We knew Doug's mom was up at the other house the entire time we were gone, and she was not going to be back by the time we were, so we headed out to find a beer. Everything, just about, was closed for Labor Day, and while I appreciate that, dudes - we need to kill some time where's an open bar?

We found a place in New Brighton, had a couple pints and she called to let us know she was back at the house. Okay then. Back to her's. 

And then, what to do for dinner. What to do. 

The internet told us the mexican place was open but no. It was not. They are having some renovations done, so we drove to two other places, alas, also closed. 

And then we just went back to New Brighton to the pub that we went to earlier. The ladies recognized us and we thanked them for being open. Because honestly, no one else was. They said that explained the busy dinner service, and they were happy to have us. 

Honestly, we'll go back there. They were lovely. Thank you for being open. 

Here are some fair pictures. We had a great day. 

Tomorrow, home. Looking forward to it. I miss my dog. Digits below. 

digits

exercise: 12/12 hours. several measurable walks all day. 14k+ steps by bedtime

blood glucose: 

8am: 165
xpm: n/a
9:30pm: 143 

food & meds:

8am: Jardiance 
fairfood. Elephant ear, Gyro, corn dog, and kettle corn. Through the day. Met+glip at 1pm
4:30pm: 2 beers
6:30ish: dinner - buffalo wings (amazingly good); BIG steak salad w/ fries. 2 beers; met+glip
some kettle corn back at the house.

 

Wailing and Gnashing of Teeth

We have volunteered and volunteered to help Doug's mom for years over at the old house. She wants to put it on the market, and later this week, there is a crew coming to clean whatever is left stuff-wise out. Dumpsville. There isn't a lot, but, turns out she has a couple two three good decent pieces of furniture still, and there is stuff in the garage that is still good. 

She has worked on this paper bag by small box for years. She leans on Doug's sister to help and do the work. And every time we are there, she eschews our willingness to help. 

Today, we got to help. 

There was drama, and angst. And she got yelly and Doug and his sister basically kept saying we don't understand what the big deal is here, decide what you want and we have THREE BIG HATCHBACKS! and we will move things. 

She inisted on wiping everything down. WIPE IT ALL DOWN IT HAS TO BE CLEANED! We were all like "we can wipe stuff down once we get in the driveway at your for real house. Let's JUST MOVE THINGS! 

She told Doug he is "pushy." 

She said we were yelling at her, but Doug said "no, we are yelling because you are DEAF and we HAVE to yell because you can't hear us." 

She said her pulse was over 200 at one point (I doubt it but I didn't have a pocket pulse oximeter handy to test her out. 

Eventually, we got a lot of stuff moved out. There are still things over there, and so help me Doug's sister better hopefully salvage them. 

They made a second trip back to the house, just Doug, his sister, and mom. I stayed here with the excuse that I am proofreading a book for a friend (not a lie, but. I could have gone to help). 

We wanted to order pizza, and his mom was all "oh I am not hungry, I am so weary, go ahead and eat without me," drama drama drama... drama... 

We got the pizza and she ate some and brightened up. We had good chats and laughs. It's amazing what a little food can do for ya, it seems. 

I'm going to bed, but they're all out in the garage talking about some chairs that are not needed (we'll take them), and card tables that she wanted and now she does not (we'll take one, Doug's sister will take the other). All told, I'm looking forward to sleeping at this point. 

I took a bunch of pictures, some I won't post but I'll write about that later. They lost a tree in the yard the other day, so I documented that. And I stood by the garden my father in law used to lovingly tend, and I was sad. 

The plan tomorrow, I do believe, is Doug wants to go to the fair in Ohio. It's been a while since we've gone, and tomorrow is the last day. Not sure if we'll bring our nephew or not, but he is welcome to come. Doug's sister too. In fact, last time we went was with them. 

I found a cute little guy that I scooped up and brought home with me. Digits below the cute little guy. 

digits

exercise: 12/12 hours. two walks, one inside the house, 25 min/1.06 mi. outside after dinner 18 min/.84 mi. 11k+ steps by bedtime

blood glucose: 

9am: 158
xpm: n/a
10pm: 168 

food & meds:

9am: Jardiance  
11:30am: last of my fajita stuff (cold and delicious)
1:30pm: turkey & provolone w/mayo on multigrain (very rye forward) sourdough; met+glip
7pm: slice of toast
8:30pm: met+glip; 3 slices of pizza and a bread stick w/sauce
no wine/alcohol

quick note

Doug and I left for his mom's later than we intended because our toilet decided to stop working, and he futzed with it to the point where we need a part. No worries - Geoff can go downstairs when he needs to go. Problem solved.

Great ride, beautiful mountains, back roads, clouds, mountains, misty mountains, some rain and sunshine, and clouds. 

More tomorrow, digits below. 

digits

exercise: 11/12 hours. missed 1pm in car; 11k+ steps by bedtime. 25 min. walk, forgot the distance. happy to squeeze that in!

blood glucose: 

9am: 134
xpm: n/a
10pm: 164 

food & meds:

9am: Jardiance  
2pm: met+glip, one hot dog w/chili, cheese, onion (hot dog shoppe)  a bunch of green grapes
6:30pm: chicken, beef, shrimp fajita, one beer
8pm: met+glip

Thank you for being the best part of XYZ thing!

My boss insisted I take today off, and I listened to him, and did so. 

Like Monday, when I said "sometimes you take a day off," sometimes your boss insists you take the day off. I am all for it. Thank you to my boss for extending the grace to me to do this and have a day. 

I'm still seeing Slack messages, and chatted with my work son for a bit. He's off to NY on a weekend Broadway Show trip. We usually have a check-in on Fridays, so we still had our check-in, but didn't talk work stuff. Just about the hospital thing and how much damn fun he's going to have. And how jelly I am

I slept until 10:50, woke up in time to do that hour's steps and went straight into 11am's steps. Seeing as I missed 9am. Gotta make up for lost steps. Especially since I got 300 steps on Wednesday while in the hospital. This week will not be a winner.  

Chores and tasks. Those needed done. I got the laundry ready to roll. I scheduled payment on our October mortgage (I manage things manually instead of auto pay, and pick the Friday before the first of the month's payment due date and check our bank balances and stuff). I made a capital one payment. I smiled seeing that Geoff also made a payment for stuff he's bought. He's an authorized user on our account now and every single time he uses the card, he pays exactly that amount. It is darling. Build that credit history for your bad self, son. 

He got an offer from Capital One to open his own account, so ... he applied, was approved, and he'll start using his own account once the card comes. 

Fly baby, fly. Build your little credit rating. Finally.

I had been getting emails for weeks now from our mortgage company saying we needed to update our address, which seemed peculiar to me. Because, um. We bought this house? And we live here? When I log in to make payments, I see that our address is correct. We... have been here almost a year? (really? REALLY???) So? Whut? 

I went to our personal account details page and saw my address was correct, but Doug's address was listed at the old house. Peculiar! okay. I'll fix that. But no.

Stupidly, the stupid thing was I can't edit the stupid address. Whut?

Hilarious that yinz send me emails saying the address is wrong but your bitch website won't let me change it.  

I called their customer service, I hate calling anywhere. because you end up in a disgusting maze of auto attendant hell. And you never get things done that you need done. But they had a human come on rather quickly, much to my surprise and relief. The guy at the other end took care of it. Did not say "I need to talk to Mr. Your Husband," the way things sometimes are when you call a place and it isn't your personal information you're calling in reference to. He just did it. Boom. Thank you.

He asked "May I assist you with anything else today?" I told him that was quite alright, perfect, you did what I needed done. Thank you.

Then he said "Thank you for being the best part of [Mortgage Company]!" before we hung up. Putting emphasis on best like that. I'm the best part of this business transaction thingie.

How ... adorable. 

I'm always peculiarly tickled with things like that. I've never had customer service thanking me for being the best part of XYZ thing. I thought about how I could use that in closing salutations on helpdesk tickets going forward. 

People would probably think I lost my damn mind? 

I renewed our AAA membership and I updated our address. I'd been getting emails on that for about a month. 

Many things done and dusted. Using our time for getting shit accomplished, one might say. Eventually I did hit the treadmill, had a run for 30 min (last 5 were walking) and got a shower. I realized I had not showered since Tuesday and I felt super icky. Then, I felt super awesome.

Geoff went to Aldi for groceries and everything he wasn't able to get, I added to a list for Target. I've been meaning to go to Target for a while, I had some bathroom things to get, new bathmat and slippy thing for the tub, we needed bleach and tide pods, TP/PT, all that jazz. Stuff you don't get at the Aldi. 

No one was at Target. I kind of love when stuff like that happens, I had the place to myself, and was able to fart around up and down the aisles. I danced to Peter Gabriel and Squeeze in the aisle. Don't take me out in public, sometimes.

I've been meaning for quite some time to get a 360 degree mattress enclosure to put our split king together. Trust me friends, don't get a split king mattress, even if you think it sounds like a good idea to have separate sides to go up/go down/whatever. It's not good. Nope. 

We've had this bed for quite some time now, and we've just dragged our feet on solutionizing this.  

Now that I have the mattress enclosure, and a nice new set of king sized bed sheets, we'll be good to go to fix this up when we get back from Pennsylvania. Wish us luck. 

The other bit of news is Doug was fixing the taillight on our car tonight, and there was a puppy running around the neighborhood. Doug scooped him up, and he's seen him in a yard a street over, so he went to the house. The guy said "oh, I gave him to the girls in the house over there," so Doug went and knocked on the door. No answer. 

He knocked on the neighbors' door in the duplex and the guy said "oh, yeah. he usually stays in the yard..." 

Thing is, there is no fence? So Doug was a little stunned. The guy took the puppy back, and Doug was a little pissed. 

Dimes to donuts we see this puppy again soon. No puppy is going to "stay in the yard" with no fence.

People suck, and you know what, that guy is not the best part of XYZ thing. Fuck him. 

Okay. off to bed. In the morning, Doug and I are aiming for a hopefully early departure to get to his mom's. Wish us luck. 

No picture, but digits below! 

digits

exercise: 11/12 hours. Slept through 9am. Treadmill, 30 min/1.75 mi; 11k+ steps by bedtime

blood glucose: 

11am: 172
5pm: 130
10pm: 190 (* see dinner time vs. when I took meds vs. this result) 

food & meds:

11am:  Jardiance (skipping new meds for now)
11am: blueberry muffin
2pm: english muffin w/sausage & american cheese (too lazy to do an egg) 
3pm: met+glip
6:30pm: small bag of peanut m&ms (i was feeling gross at the store and needed something) 
7:30pm: bowl of geoff's chicken pasta alfredo
8:30pm: met+glip
white wine

The Strait of Hormuz Only... in My Bowels

I was released from the hospital this afternoon, and everything shows that no one knows why this happened, what happened, and heck, they don't know if it will happen again. 

Suffice to say, I'm going to be paying incredibly close attention to my belly. This was weird, unexpected, and fucking annoying. I hated it, and do not recomend.

Thank God no surgery was needed, and whatever it was indeed was taken care of by the barium contrast they had me drink. May I never have to do this again. May none of you ever have to do this, ever.

The surgeon and his residents came to see me yesterday, before the contrast X-ray tests. He described what he saw on the CT scan as a "kink" in a hose, and that there could be "just a blockage" or an actual adhesion. We'd know more after the X-rays. 

I made a joke about my bowel being the Strait of Hormuz, and there's a blockage there, as we all know the history of right now, and we need to deal with and resolve with diplomacy. 

He caught right on, and said "yes. A diplomatic solution! We don't want boots on the ground in this situation so let's see how the X-ray negotiations work." 

A couple of his residents thought this was hilarious. He had a very wry smile, and I could tell that he was okay to make dark jokes with him in this situation. 

Dark humor is how I deal with all of this kind of shit. No pun intended. And he picked up the vibe.

At about 7:30am, they brought me more clear liquids, after the surgical resident put in that I could go on regular food. So I drank the chicken broth, ate the jello. Passed on the other things. 

Then, at about 10:30am a regular breakfast came, late, but it came. I've never been so happy to eat cold pancakes, cold scrambled eggs, and cold bacon. It was utter joy. And to be honest, it tasted fine. I'm sure if it was served warm at the 8am service time it would have been amazing. 

Still. Damn, good to eat this. 

The X-rays came back clear. When the surgeon and all the residents came back to see me he said a "celebratory lunch" needed to be consumed in order for us to be sure that all negotiations over the Strait of Hormuz were in place and regular shipping business can resume. I thanked him for using such great diplomacy. I pointed out that I literally just ate breakfast. He said that was fine unless I really didn't want it. 

No, I want it. Your girl is hunnnnnnngry after all the diplomacy we just did to open up the Strait of Hormuz. 

Lunch came at 12:30, open face roast beef with some mashed potatoes and broccoli. It was very tasty but I could have skipped the bread in the open faced sandwich part. It wasn't toasted so it was mushy. I ate around it. I enjoyed the mashed potatoes. 

The surgical team came back to check on me to make sure I pooped, I did. I let the world know it. 

The regular floor doctor came to see me too and we had a discussion about what happened. I asked him, "So please tell me, what the hell happened? What on earth was this? Is it going to happen again?" He said he has no idea why it happened, how it happened, and if it would happen again but we know some warning signs. Like I didn't feel good on Monday? Yeah.

They signed off on releasing me, Doug came and got me. I am so happy to be home. Toffee was so happy for me to be home. 

Home. 

I was a little more than disappointed that no one loaded the dishwasher or did anything since Tuesday night when I ... loaded the dishwasher and whatnot. Disgruntled, I did that and Doug went out and mowed the lawn in the 90+ degree heat. 

Okay. I wouldn't trade that. Glad he did that. 

I also made dinner, and whined that we didn't have wine, so he went out and got me some. 

Not mad. Not mad at all. Happy he knos how to read a room.

Linz and I talked for a couple hours, and I did steps around the house but didn't hit the treadmill. Just internal steps. I'll get back on my bullshit tomorrow.

My boss basically ordered me to take tomorrow off, and I already have Tuesday off. We thought about canceling our trip to see Doug's mom, but we are going to go after all. 

Weird to have such a long bit of time off, and for ... weird reasons. But I'm not complaining. I'll take it. 

Digits below.

digits

exercise: 7/12 hours (fitbit battery was dead, charged up and got it going once home). Walking in the house, 30min/1.24 mi.  7k+ steps by bedtime

blood glucose: 

6am: 138
4:45pm: 153
11pm: 100 

food & meds:

food is a blur, I had liquid diet (chicken stock) then pancakes/eggs/bacon
12:30pm: open face meatloaf sandwich, mashed potatoes, broccoli, grapes
7:30pm: 2 bowls of tuna casserole
8:45pm: met+glip
white wine
9:30pm: 2 blueberry muffins, homemade with love

just a note

Alrighty then. 

Last night, around 10:30pm, I had an acute sudden onset of pain in my upper abdomen. It would not stop. So Doug suggested we go to the hospital. 

I was very reluctant to go to the emergency room. I knew we'd be there for so many hours. I thought for sure, this is nothing and this too shall pass. But my husband is a medical professional, and I listened to him. And I'm glad I did.

After a CT scan, they said I may have a bowel adhesion, or, some sort of blockage. 

So what you're saying is that if it is not adhesion, I'm full of shit. Alright. 

I had a surgical consult, I was admitted at 4:30am. 

I was in some of the worst pain in my life. Everyone was super sweet, except one nurse who kept saying "you're going to have to calm down and understand..." 

Oh ma'am, no. Fuck you I'm in pain. Please go away. I do not like you. 

Some Dilaudid  later and things were a lot better. I relaxed. 

The day consisted of an X-ray followed by "contrast" and then another X-ray 6 hours later and things worked out. I think everything is 100% better. Including the fact that I did poop my brains out for 10 minutes and all the pain went away. 

So yeah? I was just full of shit?

I'm spending the night here in the hospital, not absolutely sure why but, I guess the discharge orders couldn't be set up in time for the cut off time for that to happen. 

No biggie. Doug and Geoff came to visit, brought me some things, and I'll go home in the morning. 

Hopefully a little lighter? lol. 

Anyway. That's the update for right now. More after I get back to the house. I think our planned trip to Doug's mom is off. Probably. We'll see.