Very Very Busy Day

 

Started out normal like we do, phones, music, couch, coffee. Doug got up and started puttering around. A few weeks ago he had ordered a new light fixture for the bathroom. 2 of the 3 light dealies weren't working. I thought we should check with an electrician - they all worked when we had the house inspected and when we moved in. He changed the bulbs to no solution. 

The previous owner was an electrician by trade, but I think he did sloppy work? He certainly wasn't a painter, that's for sure. The paint job in most of the rooms in this house is absolutely crappy. That's another project. 

Anyway. We had two bathroom things needed done. The light fixture and recaulking the tub. He started with the tub, and we can't use it until tomorrow. I had a bit of a disagreement with him because I wanted to bleach clean the area after he scraped the old caulk out, but he said then we'd have to wait a couple hours to do this next part and he didn't want to wait. 

It is done, it .... still looks like it needs to be clean so I am going to wait and apply toilet bowl cleaner to the area to see if it penetrates the caulk. I'll do that tomorrow. 

Then he started on the light fixture. Jess sent me this a couple weeks back and they thought it was hilarious and on point. I agree. But yeah, not this bad. I hope this shows up, If not - just click on the view this post on Instagram. or hey. Click here?

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Cruz Salgado / Personal Trainer (@electricluchador)

There was some swearing, mostly because he dropped things or something didn't quite fit. He wanted the lights to point upward, and they wouldn't ... cooperate.  So he pointed the shades downward. I agree with him on the point upward part... Maybe he'll get to putting them that way, maybe we can have our handyman fix it or help him fix it sometime. 

Now it is so incredibly bright in the bathroom that I feel like I need to toothbrush and toothpick scrape clean every nook and cranny. Just so bright compared to the one bulb that was there before.

He ended up needing little wire cap things that were bigger than the ones in the wall and on the old fixture, so he went to Lowes. While he was gone, I vacuumed. As you all know, he hates the vacuum. So that got knocked out the park. Done. 

He took a nap, I hit the treadmill. Under my right kneecap started to hurt, so I stopped running at about 15 minutes in, and slowed down to a walk. Then I called it at 20 minutes. Just. Ouch. No. Okay. Please don't be like this, knee. We've been doing so well. 

I made homemade meatballs and Geoff made the spaghetti and sauce. I didn't want pasta again, but I had a marinade for chicken that was missing a couple crucial ingredients, so we opted for that for dinner. Tomorrow, different options! 

As for tomorrow, not sure what we've got planned if it is more stuff like this, cloud talk about paint, something outdoors-ish. It didn't get above 42 today and was super windy. Tomorrow might be 60? Fingers crossed for something nice. 

Here's a picture of where the light goes. Tomorrow I'll post the installed victorious light! (Note what I said about the paint job, look at that ceiling meets wall nastiness!) 

Digits below. 

digits

exercise: 12/12 hours.  Treadmill 20 min/1.44 mi run. Fitbit tracked me while cleaning/vacuuming, 29 min/.35mi walk. ha. 10k+ steps by bedtime

blood glucose:

8:45am: 113
4:15pm: 165
9:15pm: 180 

food & meds:

8:45am: jardiance+phentermine
11:30am: bowl of mac & cheese w/bacon
1pm: met & glip
5:30pm: spaghetti and home made meatballs
6pm: entenmann's chocolate donut
7:45pm: met+glip
no alcohol

Last Friday of the Month

I manage all our payments for things, some I mail checks in for (our electric and water bills because I can't figure out how to set up online payments for the city, and Doug's student loan because they have blocked him from accessing his account online. Don't ask why). 

So today is the day I put a lot of things in for payments. I set everything up at the beginning of the month so I can pick the date things clear. I am not a fan of autopay, I like checking the balances, looking at what's going on with the checking account, how much money do we have. 

First thing I do is pay mom's lot rent. Her online payment portal accepts auto pay setup but it doesn't let you pay until the first, which is the due date. She gets very anxious about that, because the website says it can take up to 48 hours for the payment to process. She always used to mail it in 10 days in advance of the first, so she wants it paid before the first. I manually do that every month on the 27th usually. I use her bank account, and she will sometimes go to the bank to check her balances two or three days later and say "you didn't pay my rent, did you." 

Um. 

Yes.

On the 27th. I paid it. I did.

"Well it hasn't cleared yet." 

"Well that's not my fault." Today is a Friday, which then means it isn't going to clear until like Monday or Tuesday so I bet money I hear from her. 

Then, I check my bank balance. I get paid every other Thursday and Doug gets paid every other Friday and it is never the same week. This week was my pay week. So our balance is nice. 

What has cleared? The utilities that I pay by check, Doug's student loan, our mortgage, which I schedule for whatever the last Friday of the month is (today).  I pay the Capital one, it's almost fully paid off but this month I paid less than I usually do but still way more than the minimum amount due. I wanted to throw the usual gianter amount at it but.

Taxes are due. And we've got a big huge ass payment to make to the feds. Doh. 

So I'm spending a lil'less and not throwing as much around as I want to. 

Doug gets paid next week, I get paid the week after, we'll have a substantial pile of cash in the account and can pay the piper, as it were. 

Doug also got a raise, and it'll be retro to the beginning of the year which is nice. 

And then after the 15th of April I can go back to paying my debts but also... spending money. 

I bought 8 tickets for 2 nights each for Guster at Wolf Trap in September. People will reimburse me, for sure, but I'm not asking anyone for money yet. 

In the 25 years (holy shit) that I've kept this blog it is nice to be in a position where alright, okay. Alright okay. We're good. We're fine. I don't have to pay my taxes on my credit card. 

So the last friday of this month, we're good.

Today was a good day. I had a 1:1 with my department head and she is delightful. Last one we had was in September and she reminded me that I really should get on her schedule more often, just for fun, because it is delightful to talk to me. The thing that I was working on last night is still not resolved and no one touched it today but we'll revisit that Monday. 

digits

exercise: 12/12 hours. Toffee Walk. Went to the dog park, 28 minutes round trip, 1.38 mi. 11k+ steps by bedtime

blood glucose:

8am: 125
4:15pm: 142
10:30pm: 119 

food & meds:

8am: jardiance+phentermine
11:30am: grilled cheese and turkey on 647 
1pm: met+glip
4:15pm: 2 good yogurt
6pm: kielbasa and pierogis
8:15pm: met+glip
8:30pm: ramekin mixed nuts
red wine+diet ginger ala

It's for Science

At work today, someone at HQ was trying to solve for a problem where content she was publishing was not going out to our clients' website. We couldn't even search and find the content in our network. A huge discussion unfolded about what to do and how to approach this, when finally she did something and asked me to pull it in to my test site "for science!" 

I thought that was hilarious. Just, do this "for science!" 

It worked but did not work. The expected results were not met. So more work would need to be done, and a lot of other people got involved talking about business practices and strategy decisions and why this kinda content doesn't "work" through the network. Which frustrated her, because her assignment was/is to put it out there for clients. 

At some point tomorrow we will probably have a strategy discussion.

I was able to use the term in another meeting only the developer was not in a good mood and he was not amused when I told him I wanted to give the thing a try, "for science!" 

I'm usually very good at reading the room and missed that this guy has no sense of humor. 

Later, he slacked me and said "I am not mad at you, I am mad that it is 7pm and I have other things to do, and I asked about this first thing in the morning today and no one got back to me, but then at 5:30 everyone starts telling me what to do and how fast to do it." 

I told him that I completely understand, and I'm here to help him with anything he needs just tell me. Tell me to grab a client and have him jump into the thing and test the log in process. I have three guys at the ready, and they'll do anything we ask, even late. I have their personal cel phone numbers. 

They know this is important and they're here to help too. Just yell when you're ready to go. 

The thing failed. Another thing for science, and it failed. And he started suggesting "well we can try it with another profile." But I told him no - he did great, we'll revisit tomorrow and try again. We're fine for tonight. Amazing thank you so much.

Science can wait until tomorrow for sure. 

I spent the evening writing help articles for the new app we're rolling out in May. I got a few done but I want to do screenshots for the next batch and I think I need my second monitor set up. Dragging my feet in setting up the office, well. It's my own fault isn't it. 

Maybe the dining table. Maybe. We'll see. Digits below.

digits

exercise: 12/12 hours. Treadmill 30 min/2.20 miles. Broke 14 min and held steady at 13.30 pace. 11k+ steps by bedtime

blood glucose:

8am: 140
4:45pm: 91
11pm: 112 

food & meds:

8am: jardiance+phentermine
12:15pm: turkey and 2 pieces of muenster on 647 multigrain bread
12:30pm: met+glip
4:45pm: small ramekin of mixed nuts
6:30pm: rigatoni w/spicy sauce, pancetta, mushrooms, geoff style. Extra leftover sausage from the other night's dinner.
8pm: met+glip

Work Dreams and Dresses

It's been a long time since I've had a dream about work and co-workers. Last night I worked very late on some things and had a lot going through my mind about the big project. 

So of course, it all leaks into my dreams. 

One of our contractors in Europe was working for a chop shop that was located next to a bar where I was going to meet my friends Ben & Amy. It was very dark, and the parking area for the bar was incredibly full. I was riding a Vespa style scooter, and parked up in the grass between the bar and the garage. 

My co-worker, R we'll call him, came out of the garage and demanded my scooter. He was covered in grease and smelled horrible. Looked like he hadn't bathed in years, and I said no, get away from me and I tried to steer the scooter away to somewhere better lit, somewhere maybe safer. 

He kept trying to pull the handlebars away from me, but his hands were greasy. He tried to wipe them with a nasty rag, but nothing was helping him. 

Then he pulled a knife on me, and I left the scooter and ran into the bar to my friends. 

Of course. 

So the funny thing is, this guy is one of my favorite colleagues on the contracting team. He bathes! It's true!  He is nice, and sweet and funny. Not at all someone trying to murder me, or steal something from me, or give me a hard time about anything. 

Dreams are fucked up, yo. 

Last night Doug and I were talking about this wedding we are going to in NH in May. It's an evening wedding, "semi formal attire, black tie optional." So I wanted him to be aware. Evening wedding, semi formal, he has nothing. So he's a little chuffed about having to go buy a suit. He has sports coats and blazers and ties and dress shirts and all, but nothing that is a suit. 

And I'm in a similar boat. No I don't need a suit but I need a something. 

For Friday night, I think there's a cocktail thing so I have a cool blouse that I got for the Kennedy Center Guster show when we all did dress-up. 

And the only like, actual factual fancy dress I have is the dress I wore to Aaron's wedding in 2014 when I was his best man. 

2014, friends. Feels like forever ago. 

I've worn this dress repeatedly over the past decade. Doug's office party in 2018, Kennedy Center, another wedding. It's a solid go-to. 

But it is time for a new dress, I think. 

Where do people go to buy dresses? I am serious. I basically shop at Kohl's... I wear yoga pants and t-shirts (sometimes from one band, a lot). I spend most of my time barefoot. 

I bought this dress at Macy's, so I'm thinking I just go back there. I think Molly wants people to wear floral print to the wedding according to Jess, maybe? I have to double check that truth of that so I know what to buy.

Also shoes. 

Shoes. 

I had a pair of sweet kitten heeled sandals for Linda's wedding way back when, God only knows where they have ended up. 

I also have a comfortable pair of silver lamé sandals that I got for Aaron's wedding to match that dress, I still have those but they're looking a little worn. They can do, and Lord Knows they're the most comfortable things on the planet. 

That and a good pedicure the week before, my feet could be all set. 

Here's that silver dress in action again and yeah, you can see how it no longer fits me compared to the Aaron Wedding shot up there. 

Also. Maybe a haircut. I don't want bangs again but maybe layers. For fun curly fun. Or something. 

Also. Me and my sister are super cute. 

Digits below. 

digits

exercise: 12/12 hours. Treadmill, 30 min/2.06 mi. 11k+ steps by bedtime

blood glucose:

8:30am: 109
4:30pm: 83
10pm: 160 

food & meds:

8:30am: jardiance+phentermine
12:15pm: english muffin w/pb and low sugar j
1pm: met+glip
6pm: shrimp and rice with onions and bell peppers (a Geoff recipe) very good! 
8pm: met+glip, last big piece of bread that Geoff made the other night.
vodka tonics

Squishy Squeeky Stuffy Toys

Yesterday a box came for me in the mail. I was surprised. Doug asked me if I knew anyone in XYZ New Jersey and I had no idea who this was. 

I opened the box, and it was FULL of boxes of Girl Scout Cookies and a beautiful hand written kid note from "Quinn" thanking me for the Tiny Desk. 

Um.

My memory sucks sometimes. 

She had pictures of Guster's "Big Friend," so at first I thought it was just a thanks for helping set up their Tiny Desk (which honestly, I wasn't responsible for). 

Then I remembered a mom from the Guster fan group who emailed me last year to ask if I could give a tour of the office to her and her 8 year old daughter. I had already moved and I think I was even away at the time. So I could not, but I connected her with one of my team members who is always in the office to do a tour, and, there was a Tiny Desk that day which my co-worker suggested they go to. 

Quinn is a musician, and she was very interested in Tiny Desk. She'd watched Guster's many times, and watched many others so even though the artist who was there the day of their visit was someone they had no exposure to, she was thrilled to witness. 

15 minutes or so, but an impression to last a lifetime. Mom emailed me later to let me know that Quinn was buzzing on this for days. "Someday, I'll play the Tiny Desk," she declared. 

One of her favorite radio shows is From the Top, which is younger kid musicians play

I'm all for it, Quinn. 

So this surprise box of joy that arrived was a surprise. Mom doesn't use her "real" name on Facebook, so this was a little bit of a challenge for me to piece together to figure it all out. 

They also sent gifts for Toffee, which was so sweet. The cookies were lovely and there were some stuffies for her to play with. 

We know the Toffee vs. Stuffies adventures. I gave her one of the toys and she obliterated it. Hilariously. I sent a bunch of pictures to mom this morning, and they both thought it was hilarious. I think Quinn was a little sad for the destruction but I told her that stuffies are an investment in happiness, joy, entertainment. And even though they don't last long, Toffee sure does love the experience. 

Before and after pictures, below.

digits

exercise: 11/12 hours. Somehow missed 8pm, I think I was loading the dishwasher.  Treadmill, 31 solid fast minutes, almost broke 14 min mile average. 2.21 miles. 11k+ by bedtime

blood glucose:

7:45am: 130
4:15pm: 142
10:30pm: 139 

food & meds:

7:45am: jardiance+phentermine
protein shake in my coffee
1:45pm: leftover creamy chicken stuff w/a few potato chunks; met+glip 
6pm: 2 sausages w/sauce and cheese, and a roll with butter
white wine
8pm: about 6 thin mint girl scout cookies
8:30pm: Met+glip
9:30pm: bowl of popcorn 

The Sentimental Type

When we bought our house, the previous owners had a lot of kids. Like, 6 I think. Our yard is full of toys and toy parts. 

I'm not exaggerating. There are hundreds of tiny plastic toy pieces are all over the place yard, from legos, and cars, and hair clips. Mardi Gras beads, a couple of crocs/sandals. It is kind of unbelievable. Doug goes out and finds things, brings them in and puts them into my houseplants. There are little trucks, and rubber ducks (sounds like song lyrics there!) 

All left behind, forgotten, unwanted. Makes me really think that kids maybe don't need toys if 90% of the parts of them are going to be abandoned in the yard. Where are the rest of the toy? Did they move? And these 9 lego pieces are left behind? 

One of the other things they left behind are these cute round garden circle tiles that look as if they were made as part of a summer program or Vacation Bible School or something. We have four of them. I took a picture of one while planting the bulbs.

It kind of makes me sad. I wonder if mom just forgot they were there, or if she just to be honest was not fond of them? 

I have an incredible soft spot in my heart for kid art. I have boxes and boxes of stuff my kids painted and made over the years going back to early elementary school. I have saved everything Hen has drawn for me. My favorite is when he writes "Hi Christine,  it's me! Henry!" on things. Like I don't know this is from Hen.

I admired the little circles and I'm kind of happy they are here even if they were not made for me by my own kids. 

That's another piece of sentimentality for me, the bulbs. I thought about how I had planted a dozen or so bulbs that Doug's dad dug up for us back in 2015 and brought to us at Geoff's graduation. I put them in front of the porch at our last place in West Newbury, and I don't even know if they are still there since the house got rebuilt and refurbished. 

I hope they are. I hope very soon they pop their little heads up and the new homeowners or renters love them. I kind of wanted to go by and knock on the door and ask if I could dig them up. but I thought better of it. And I hope ours come up happy. It is supposed to get super cold tonight and I'm worried. 

Digits below.

digits

exercise: 12/12 hours. Toffee walk for 15 min, back home to finish on the treadmill, 30 min total/1.53 miles 10k+ by bedtime (slacker!!).

blood glucose:

7:30am: 119
4:30pm: 146
10pm: 186 

food & meds:

7:30am: jardiance+phentermine
11:45am: bowl of mac & cheese w/bacon
12:30pm: met+glip
2:45pm: apple w/pb 
6:30pm: steak marinaded by Geoff, slice of homemade beer bread; big salad
7:30pm: about 6 thin mints
8:15pm: met+glip
no alcohol

Not as much done

We started off this morning the usual way, coffee, toffee, tv, phone games. We had ordered a microwave to replace the one we've had for 8 years that started giving off wicked smells and some smoke (bye, you were used almost every day for 8 years, friend. Thank you for your service). 

The box sat in the living room for days (not weeks, just days) and I knew Geoff would need it before too long for dinner prep and snacks. We got her unpacked and on the counter. Counter got a deep clean. She's fancy. She makes music. I have a microwave that plays tunes. Hilarious. 

Then, I started to organize pots, and measured the front porch for the redwood table. 

Doug came out and looked at his tape measure on the ground - a placeholder/visual so he could see how big the table was edge to edge (58 inches). He said it wouldn't work, it was going to be too big. But I thought we could just try it. 

He got it pulled out of the car port, set it up, got the three benches, it fits. It looks good. 

So far, he likes it too. She needs a cleaning so the internet gave me some advice on how to properly clean redwood patio furniture. I'll look into doing that tomorrow. 

After futzing with the table, chilling out front, and talking about pots and stuff, I asked if we were going to buy flowers. 

He looked at me funny. "On a Sunday? Places are gonna be mobbed! No!" 

Well then, sir, when do we go get flowers if not a Saturday, when places are also going to be mobbed, or a Sunday when places are going to be mobbed? 

It started to feel like we weren't going to go out on an adventure or anything, so I said I was going to go on the treadmill. He said, "Well, no how about we go for a walk?" He suggested a revisit to Gathland where we went in November last year for a walk. I thought that sounded great, and I was ready to go. The dog was ready to go. Geoff was even going to come (shock).

And then he said he didn't feel well, and we did a pivot with him napping and me on the treadmill. After all. I think that's really why he didn't want to go buy flowers. Just not feeling well, and not feeling up to shenanigans at a nursery.

Geoff went and picked up milk, and a few other sundry items needed around the house. Toffee didn't get a walk, so I feel bad. If Geoff doesn't take her tomorrow, I'll get a loop in with her. 

Linda and I checked in for a long call, and then my phone died. Timing was right because dinner was ready. 

All told, not the most productive day ever but yeah, we did stuff. A balanced weekend, one could say. 

I have some pictures but they need explaining, so I'll just post this and save those for tomorrow. 

Digits! Below.

digits

exercise: 12/12 hours. Treadmill 32 min/2.19 mi. 12k+ steps by bedtime

blood glucose:

8:45am: 135
4:30pm: 91
10:30pm: 117 

food & meds:

8:45am: jardiance+phentermine
1pm: small zero carb wrap w/cream cheese and sliced turkey; met+glip
6:30pm: pasta primavera, 6 buffalo wings from the pizza parlor re-cooked on the grill
vodka+zero sugar lemonade
8:30pm: met+glip

Bulbs

When Doug went to his mom's in the fall, he brought home a gianormous box of daffodil bulbs that were dug up from his childhood home. He and his sister split them, and received a really good sized box full. 

They sat in the mud room all winter, waiting. I thought we should have planted them around Thanksgiving but we didn't. Then winter came. Then it has been super cold and stupid out there so we didn't. 

Doug opened the box and the daffodils were starting to sprout. We thought hey - if we don't get them into the ground, they do not stand a chance. They won't make it through spring in this box. 

First thing to happen was Doug took down the bird feeders. You know winter is over when those get put away. It makes me sad, because I love to sit and watch them but it's true - birds need to eat bugs all damn summer so don't feed 'em! Then we prepped the side gardens of the house. We wanted to split the bulbs up evenly between the left and right sides of the porch. I started on the side closest to the driveway. I had no idea what I was doing - I just grabbed a trowel, dug a hole, dropped a bunch in, rotated my butt, dug another hole. 

When I felt about half of the bulbs were in on that side I went to the other side. The plantings over there are different, we used google lens to determine what was growing and how to handle the dead stalks and flowers, and Doug cut things down and back, pulled out what looked to be a wooden baby gate that was trying to be a trellis for something to grow up, which never did.  

There was bark mulch on that side of the porch but not the other, so that was a little bit odd. And there was that stupid black landscaping fabric which I couldn't dig through, could not penetrate, did not want to deal with. We agreed okay, go around the side of the house and put some over there around the window wells (Geoff's bedroom and the storage room). And I still had bulbs left over, so I went back to the area I started with, and put the rest there. 

Doug went to Lowes and got some spray paint for these two huge planters we got 2 years ago from one of my co-workers when she was moving. He thought they could use some livening up, so. He spraypainted while I planted. 

He fixed the leg of the picnic table he brought back from his mom's. It broke in transit, and had been sitting in the car port since arriving. We got that all situated, and we're trying to decide where to keep it. I would like it on the front porch, he thinks it is too big. We'll tape measure and discuss tomorrow. 

He also swept the carport up, where the squirrels made a giant feast of the 8 boxes of black walnuts he had harvested, and then he never received the nutcracker he ordered in November (they canceled the order on him. We think it has to do with imports and tariffs). I was thankful he did that because it made me scream internally every time I walked past the disaster of shells and ripped boxes. I think there are still 2 boxes worth of walnuts back there - maybe he'll renew his vigor and get a nutcracker from somewhere that will fucking deliver one to us. 

Geoff went to the market, got stuff for burgers and he said "oh this was a great idea tonight," as he wolfed down his dinner. 

Tis the Season for grillin', babe. 

Oh, he gets SUPER mad at me when I call him babe. I asked why he was mad about that. He pointed at Doug and said that's your husband, call him Babe, not me!  I asked what he wanted me to call him. He said nothing. You don't have to call me anything. 

"Okay, shithead." 

Doug thought that was hilarious. 

We relaxed on the front porch for quite a while. She's coming along. 

While Doug was at Lowes I did my "mile" which was a mile and a half, and, because of all the shit tons of walking outside all day I went over 14k steps for the day. 

I hurt everywhere. 

Doug said "well, you were using limbs you don't use while running in a straight line on the treadmill," and this is true. My elbows. My lower back, shoulders, neck. Oooof. Today was a workout. 

Not sure what tomorrow's shenanigans are. I do want to get flowers for all the pots we have, do a bit of an audit over coffee while Doug watches the stupid morning news. Our realtor suggested a nursery in Pennsylvania, but they are not open on Sundays. And Doug said he didn't really feel like driving up there when plenty of people around here have plenty of flowers we can buy. 

So, we'll see. 

Took a ton of pictures today. Digits are below. 

Before we got started: 

Daffodil Party Time and Spraypaint Party Time

digits

exercise: 12/12 hours.   Lots and lots of steps! Treadmill, 22 min/1.52 miles; 14k+ steps by bedtime

blood glucose:

7am: 140
4:30pm: 128
9:30pm: 142 

food & meds:
7am: jardiance+phentermine
11:30am: 2 small brekkie burritos w/scrambled eggs, bacon, shredded cheddar on zero carb wraps
12pm: met+glip
6:30pm: one cheeseburger on bed of baby greens and tomatoes, w/bleu cheese dressing and a couple french fries
7:30pm: big piece of carrot cake (she's almost gone!)
8pm: met+glip
white wine

Chuck Norris Jokes

The man, the myth, the legend, Mr. Chuck Norris, has passed away. If you believe that. He didn't die, he got promoted to the Grim Reaper. This is all fake news - Death would not DARE. 

He was born the same year as my dad, and Doug's dad. Our dads would be 86 this year if they were still around. 

Hearing of his passing today, I was remembering a camping trip with Geoff and the Scouts. Chuck Norris jokes were very big with the Troop. They'd tell jokes and laugh and laugh, fall over laughing. 

A couple of the boys were rather on the young side of things so I asked "Do you guys know who Chuck Norris is? Have you seen any of his movies?" The older lads answered in the affirmative but one of the boys in Geoff's grade said "Wait, what? He's an actor?" 

I had to smile. "Yes! He is an actor and he's famous for kung fu movies and for kicking butt and taking names, and a hairy chest, and his Roundhouse kick." 

The boy said "Oh, I had no idea, I just thought the jokes were funny, like there's an actual guy that tough in the world." 

I guess I could see that, and then yes, even if you didn't know him the jokes would be hilarious if you were like 11. 

After that camping trip I said something to his dad about how his son could probably use a good Chuck Norris marathon and learn all about him. Dad agreed and said he'd bring the boy up to speed with a few good flicks. 

It was kind of fun to hearken back to those memories, and then see all the new Chuck Norris jokes flowing in on the internet in honor of his passing. 

Nothing else today, got a good treadmill run in which was nice. Didn't like the dinner I ordered so I compensated with one slice of pizza a big piece of carrot cake and a high blood glucose by bedtime. 

It'll come down tomorrow. 

Digits down there. 

digits

exercise: 12/12 hours.  Treadmill 30 min/2.08 mi. 11k+ steps by bedtime

blood glucose:

9am: 160
4:45pm: 100
10pm: 264 *see dinner

food & meds:
9am: jardiance+phentermine
protein shake in the coffee through the morning
1:45pm: bowl of salad w/tuna mayonnaise; met+glip
6:30pm: slice of pizza, big piece of carrot cake
8pm: met+glip
no alcohol

Maple Sausage and the Impromptu Brekkie

Since I ate very little for dinner last night and didn't snack on anything snacky around 8pm like I sometimes do, I woke up around 3am rather hungry. Blast. Damn. Argh. 

I went to the bathroom, and Doug had already gone downstairs at some point. Toffee has been sleeping up  in his face lately, and I guess it was too much, and too in the middle, and too taking over the bed for him so he was in the guest room. 

She had her head on his pillow. Total takeover. 

After I finished in the bathroom, I got back in my bed and put on a podcast. I was thinking about breakfast already. I knew we had a package of sausage links in the freezer so I was psyched to recall that. I don't usually make breakfast during the week but I knew I'd have to today. Protein shake mixed in my coffee over a 4 hour period (it works for me) wasn't going to cut it. 

Doug was already up when Toffee and I came down. I offered to make breakfast for him and he was excited for that. I opened the freezer and the sausage links were.... maple. flavored. 

I'm so not a fan. Not a fan of artificial maple "flavoring" in things. If I want maple in association with my sausages, it is syrup on a stack of pancakes and the sausages taking a direct hit. 

Blah. 

But I wanted sausages. Suck it up buttercup and get to making. Doug was game for breakfast too so I made him 2 eggs over hard. Our non-stick pan is nice but the flipping of eggs is literally impossible in that thing. I have to either find a different tool or develop better skills. 

Sausages sizzlin', eggs makin' it felt like a Saturday morning but I already should have been at work. 

For myself, I cut up 3 sausages, wilted a bunch of greens in a tiny bit of butter, 2 eggs, probably should have done 3 because of the surface area of the pan but. And a hefty amount of goat cheese mixed in. The sausages got dropped in there, and the omelet was a disaster in flipping but it was a delicious mess. 

Maybe I should do this more often. 

Geoff came upstairs and saw I was at work on my brekkie so I asked if he wanted something. He asked for scrambled. 

Now that works in this pan, really well. 3 eggs, a little milk, salt & pepper. boom. 

Everyone had a meal. Everyone had nice breakfast. The day got its big begin. Maybe I should do this more often. And the maple sausages were not the damn worst thing I've ever had. I survived.

I've also been thinking a lot about french toast or pancakes. I bought some Kodiak high-protein pancakes and those are in the freezer. Perhaps I'll break into those this weekend and give them a try. 

We had some carrots in the fridge that were in danger of not being too good for much longer. I had been threatening to make a carrot cake so. In between meetings I picked a recipe that claimed it was the most moist and delicious carrot cake recipe ever. 

It wasn't too complicated, except I didn't have crushed pineapple I had "tidbits" which were not the same. I should have kept some of the pineapple juice in the mix. It wasn't as crazy moist as the recipe told me it was going to be. A little dry. But. The only carrot cake I had in front of me today. 

I also cannot find my 9" round pans. I have no idea where they are so I just ordered another set. I found my springform pan, but that's not the right tool for carrot cake. Since I couldn't find the rounds, I used a big glass rectangle baking dish. So we had a SLAB of carrot cake. I'm not joking. 

I make a really simple/easy cream cheese frosting and the recipe I used made a lot of it. Probably good for if you had a layered carrot cake, or a million carrot cake muffins. Oooooo. I should have made muffins. 

There are days when, between Geoff and me, we basically dirty up every bowl and plate and mixing tool and whatever that we own. Today was one of those days and it wasn't even a weekend day. 

With Breakfast though, she felt like it. She really did. 

My blood sugar is a little elevated, I expected much worse than the reading I got at 10pm. And I'll try not to have carrot cake for breakfast. Although, tempting. 

No picture today, I have one but it is on my phone and the phone is over there and .... meh. 

Digits below.

digits

exercise: 12/12 hours. Treadmill, 30 min/2.10 mi. (would have kept going but i needed to get some more work done!) 11k+ steps by bedtime

blood glucose:

8am: 130
4:30pm: 111
10pm: 163

food & meds:
8am: jardiance+phentermine
9am: 2 egg "omelet" w/wilted greens, goat cheese, and 3 sausages
2pm: met+glip
6:45pm: roasted potatoes w/onion (not a lot); geoff's chicken in mushroom gravy slow cooker dealie (very very good)
8:30pm: large piece of carrot cake w/cream cheese frosting; met+glip
no alcohol