Grilling

 Oh boy did I sleep in. 

I don't sleep through the night usually, between the dog and my bladder (his bladder too) it is rare that I get to sleep in long stretches of time. This morning, he woke up at 2am, and then we went to the guest room and he slept until 6:50, which is so incredibly late for him. I thought about just being up, but, it's Saturday, no one else was up, and I didn't want to be disruptive or noisy or anything. 

We headed back to bed after he had breakfast, and I fell back asleep. It was a deep sleep, almost immediate. Glad I did it. Sometimes I play with my phone, but this morning I just didn't feel like it. 

I heard Doug and Geoff talking and figured I ought to get up. Surprised to see it was already after 10:30. Must have needed that stretch. 

We didn't go to the farmers' market, it was cold, damp, and dreary when Doug got up so he passed on the idea. I'm somewhat disappointed, but it's okay. Talked to Aaron for about 2 hours, lots going on in Oregon and Washington for him over there on that side of the country. He and I had been playing phone tag for days so it was good to connect. 

While we talked, I went through my pile of clothing on the chair, put everything on hangers that belongs on hangers. Got laundry folded, the winter bed sheets and a couple other things. Pulled out some pillow cases to cover the extra pillows, they'll be needed in two weeks so may as well get organized. 

Doug went out to change the windshield wipers on the Jeep, Geoff had told him weeks ago they weren't working well and one of them just disintegrated on him the other day on the way home from clinical. Oops. Procrastination. It was funny because he had started to change them a few weeks back and the sky opened up. "Ironically, I didn't get to my windshield wiper task because of rain." 

So that's a good thing to get taken care of today. And he changed the headlights to better ones. We're not sure how much longer the Jeep is going to be viable but heck, it passed inspection in March so we'll ride it until it doesn't want to ride anymore. He has just a couple more weeks of going to Virginia with this thing, and hopes to find a job local, possibly on the Metro, so he won't have to think about it anymore. 

That'll be good. Again, I keep saying it, we'll see what happens.

Tonight I grilled. I love grilling. I pre-heated the beast (the grill) and then lowered the heat to the halfway mark. I put the peppers and onions on a copper sheet on one side of the grill, and had those cooking before anything else, 5 minutes then flip. Peppers and onions always take longer than you think they will.

After I flip, depending on how grilly they look, I'll put whatever I'm cooking on the other side of the grill.

 Tonight it was Bratwurst. I always strike them 3 times across the brats with a knife, so they don't curl and do weird things. 

I turned the heat off under the peppers and onions, lest I burn them. Don't want burned veggies.

The front of our grill is much hotter than the back, so I ended up burning those a little, moved them up the top of the "away from direct heat" shelf. 

Doug said to me "you're just grilling sausages, what's taking so long?" 

Me not burning the fuck out of them and doing it right, you'll thank me in about 10 minutes. 

I made a giant salad with mixed greens, cucumber, cherry tomatoes, feta cheese. Then put the peppers on top of the grilled veg and Doug and Geoff put them on buns. I put mine on top of the salad. I put Brianna's chipotle dressing on top of my salad, and then the sautéed peppers and onions and 3 brats on top of that. 

Twas delightful, and no pictures taken. I was too busy eating the hell out of it. 

Instead of a picture of dinner, here's Phineas, hoping for my dinner. "You have bratwurst? I also like bratwurst."

digits:

exercise: 10/12 hours of 250 steps; no dedicated 10.
Slept through 9am steps; somehow missed 4pm even though I was actively walking around, not sure how I failed that hour.

blood glucose:

10:45am: 184
5pm: 153
10pm: 188

food:
coffee, water
1:30pm: metformin; turkey and cheddar on 647 bread
6pm: Metformin+Jardiance
7pm: 3 bratwurst, salad, grilled peppers & onions
beers
9pm: trail mix/mixed nuts whilst watching the hockeys.

The gloomiest rainiest day

I am glad yesterday was a great weather day for walking needs. Today, not so much. It has been raining cats, dogs, guinea pigs, and horses out there all day. I am very happy to not go to the office. 

My fitbit tells me (obviously) how many steps I get daily and converts those steps to miles. I walked just under 5 miles yesterday at 11,153 steps. Getting up and walking around the fifth floor to all the corners (including visits to bee corner) each hour I'm supposed to hit 250 steps and it is a piece of cake to do that in the building. Oh, walk down 5 flights of stairs, boom. Go to the bathroom twice in an hour? boom. 

The walk from the train to my house (and vice versa) is about 3/4 of a mile, more or less, depending on which streets you take. You can go longer, you can make it shorter. I did the exact fastest, because I was tired and I had 3 4packs of beer in the backpack. That gets heavy. 

When I moved here, walking that walk required me to stop repeatedly. This time, I stopped once to do a Pokemon thing. And it was nice to rest at the top of the one tiny hill one has to conquer. 

Today the goal is always to get the the 250 steps in 12 hours inside, and get to at least 5000 total steps for the day. Up and off my ass, move around, do a thing. Adding in steps when I've already done the steps for the hour. About a year ago, I think I was hitting 2 to 3k steps and now I'm not happy with myself if I don't at least hit 5k. I am pleased with 6k. Even more impressed at 7k. Yesterday showed that if I was still going to the office in person and walking at least one way to the train I'd be crushing steps all day every day. 

Kind of almost makes me want to go into the office regularly. But not really.

Not much to report. A normal work day, folded laundry, played phone tag with Aaron all day. Was thinking maybe if it isn't pouring we'll go to the farmers' market tomorrow maybe, kind of maybe? 

Oh and no pokemon walk today so I messed up a 14 day straight run of play. ah well. no one died, no harm no foul. Off to bed.

digits:

exercise: 12/12 hours of 250 steps;  no dedicated 10

blood glucose:

8:00am: 153
4:40pm: 179 
10:30pm: 194

food:
coffee, water
9am: 647 english muffin w/ butter, peanut butter, low sugar jelly
noon: metformin
1pm: large-ish bowl of taco meat with a little bit of mac & cheese
4:45: 2 good yogurt
6pm: Metformin+jardiance; 2 bowls of chicken soup. Doug took my soup, extended it with chinese white rice and mexican shredded cheddar cheese. Surprisingly great. 
8pm: trail mix w/peanuts, raisins, m&ms
9pm: peanut butter, scooped out of the jar like an adult.

And there we went

Doug had a 7am meeting today. So he was up, dressed, ready. Only to find out it was canceled because 2 of the important attendees were out of office. 

One thing that I have to say about my office is, people share when they are not going to be at meetings. They let the organizer know. The organizer then reschedules or cancels, but every attendee knows the day before at least if this meeting is happening. It sounds to me like no one lets anyone know they are doing something or have a conflict or are on vacation at Doug's office. 

Good meeting hygiene, super important! 

I headed into the office at noon, after a client blew a meeting (even though I told him, repeatedly 11am ET, 10am CT your time). I had a quick yogurt and Doug took me to the train. I was happy for the ride down but also pledged to myself to walk back on the way home. I think it is easier to walk there than to walk back but. I did it. 

We had a meeting at 3pm that went well. Bi weekly office hours. A lot of good discussion. It was fun to be in the office and I got to see a couple different people that I had not seen in a hot minute. I should go back once in a while. 

I do feel like when I'm there, I do not get enough work done. In all honesty. But it is fun to be there. Also, it is fun to be in the city neighborhood that my office is in. I really love it. And we had a great visit to a brewery nearby, a good friend/former co-worker came out and she's moving to Denver in two weeks. Such a great visit and fun. 

Anyway. Here are some bees! We have these two hives at the top of our building, and I always love to visit the bees. When I got there, a lot more bees were at the bottom in the blue part. I guess they either finished their workday or were off doing bee things when I finally came to took the picture.

digits:

exercise: 12/12 hours of 250 steps;  and 2 dedicated 10s. Well, three really. 10  min from the metro to the office, 10 minutes from the office to the brewery. and the big one was walking home from the train to the house, a 30 minute total trip!

blood glucose:

8:30am: 162
Missed the afternoon reading
10:30pm: 190 

food:
coffee, water
8:45am: egg mcmuffin, 2 sausage patties, 2 slices of american cheese, one egg, 647 english muffin toasted
noon: 2good yogurt; metformin
1:30: chicken schwarma on wrap w/ couscous, onion, peppers and sauce of some kind.
6pm: beer battered chicken fingers; 3 beers
9:30pm Metformin+jardiance (forgot to bring to work w/me to take at dinner out)

to DC or not to DC

I got online early this morning so I could cut out early and head into the office. My manager is in town this week, he attended 2 webinar sessions Monday and Tuesday, and then we were going to have our weekly 1:1, in person for a change, and go get dinner. 

He was summoned to a meeting at 5:30pm tonight so rather than have me come in, and wait for him, we're rescheduling for tomorrow.

It's good and annoying at the same time. The good is, I don't have to put the dog in the kennel for a couple hours until Geoff gets back from class. It's also good because the sky just opened up and I'd be walking to the train right now (3pm). 

It's annoying because I got up early and started working.  And by 5pm I'm completely toast and done.Tomorrow I can go in any time. Doug and Geoff are both here. Phin won't be forever alone and dying. 

I had hoped to get into DC today for a good walk, but not the case. Tomorrow it will be, and the weather will be really nice to boot.  In the meantime, I took a walk tonight, and made myself go a little further and a different way. Found a fun sign on a fence and took a picture, just for you. Digits below.

digits:

exercise: 12/12 hours of 250 steps; Dedicated 10+15 and a wonderful walk

blood glucose:

8am: 167
5pm: 142
9:45pm: 143 (surprising considering I missed my dinner time meds)

food:
coffee, water
9:30: 3 pieces of bacon, 647 english muffin w/butter
noon: Metformin
12:30: two bowls of chicken veg soup
2:30pm: apple+3 crackers w/peanut butter
4:30pm: mixed nuts; handful of cherry tomatoes
7pm: bowl of chicken soup; more mixed nuts
wine
9pm: metformin+jardiance (forgot to take before going for my walk (oops)

Chicken Stock and Music

On Tuesdays, at least for the next couple weeks, both Doug and Geoff are gone early. 

At 7:50am, Phin was walking around crying. Like, dude, I'm here you are not alone. I tried to get him to get in the bed with me to settle down, and he wasn't having it. I guess we're up. I played games on my phone, goofed off, chatted with Linda about a game we both play that makes us both crazy.

I'm not a morning person and when I'm up before 8:45, it's a miracle. I have a routine, and with an hour extra to kill in the morning it's kind of like I'm flopping around and unable to kick into gear. So I decided I wanted to make the most of the time and got the chicken out from a few nights ago to boil down for stock. I discovered that the bag of carrots I had went south. Super slimy and gross. No bueno. Sorry carrots. I had a bag of frozen peas and carrots to throw in. Dicing up two onions, and celery it became soup. We have left over chinese food white rice, I could throw that in too and stretch it out. I wish I had a couple chicken breasts or thighs to grill up and drop in. Maybe I'll send Geoff to the market in the afternoon when he's back from lab.

It was kind of cold out today. We turned the heat on last night. It was 37 degrees outside. I'm super glad we have not put our garden in yet. Doug has always said you never do that before Mother's Day, so we haven't even prepped it yet. My neighbors across the street put theirs in Saturday, it looks like it's all a bust. 

Still gotta get him out there with the weed whacker to take care of the patio. And I'm looking at the weather, this weekend looks to be a rainy mess! Oh no. Indoor activities, I guess. 

Monday we're going to a concert with M&M. Coheed and Cambria. A band I am familiar with, know a couple of their songs, but haven't gotten into the whole scene. Sci-fi books, themes running through full albums. Absolute prog-rock/post-punk/American chaos. I'm looking forward to it. I know that when Doug and I agreed to go, we may have been slightly drunk. He seems displeased that this is happening but that was December talk. But we're all in, tickets are paid for. 

I'm looking into the venue to see if there is an upgrade to seating or VIP or something. 

My friend Debs from the Guster fam is also going to be there. This is actually her most favorite band ever, more than Guster so she'll see them at home Norfolk, VA and then head up to Pittsburgh. Monday she's driving down from Pittsburgh to us, and we'll see her at the show. I offered her a place overnight but she said she has class Tuesday and will power through and get herself home. She said she's done it a million times between DC and home. 

She's going to probably be right down front on the rail. I'll be happy for her. I'm sure it'll be amazing. Like with Guster friends, she's got a whole group of fans she's friends with, they call themselves Children Of The Fence (COTF) while Guster fans, well, we are Gusterrhoids. hahahha. I have a lot to catch up on, but they're doing one whole album in its entirety, so I'll focus on learning that. 

On May 17th I'm going to see Josh Ritter with Amythyst Kiah opening, with Sara. Sadly, I was offered tickets to see Frank Turner that same night but since Sara already bought the tickets I'll go with her. We planned it for a while, so I'll stick with it. Plus we'll pregame at the tiki bar on the end of the block. Good times!

Someday, I'll see Frank with the full Sleeping Souls band... someday.

Anyway. Photo of the azalea out front, freshly bloomed already turning brown. So fast. 

digits:

exercise: 11/12 hours of 250 steps; missed noon because I was troubleshooting something with someone in another time zone. fell just short of the total 250 count. Pokemon walk dedicated 10+2

blood glucose:

8am: 143
4:30pm: 142
9:45pm: 142

food:
coffee, water
10:15am: 2 good yogurt
noon: 2 large helpings of BLT Salad, Bacon, red onion, cucumber, feta cheese, field greens, cherry tomatoes; metformin
12:45pm: bowl of chicken stock to taste how it came out (bland and sad, unfortunately, but I'll punch it up).
2pm: a little more chicken stock, still not happy with the flavor.
4:30pm: a little more chicken stock, veg is helpful but it is still bland. meh. 
5:30pm: bowl of cheesesteak filling (no roll)
6pm: Metformin+jardiance
8pm: crackers & peanut butter

Walkies

Today was a busy day with a lot of meetings. My boss is in DC at two days of in person webinars, so he put me on duty to attend some meetings he usually attends. Over my head stuff and a little overwhelming. But I was happy to be there and listen while decisions were made that he really should have been saying yes or no to, but I knew enough to say "well, I have actual evidence of this and am happy to share it with anyone questioning things so let's not dismiss that...." Good thing I was there.

Doug and Geoff got the dead mattress and box spring pieces out to the corner. Geoff and I got all the trash and 90% of the box recycling out. I'm holding some of the cardboard back for next week. It is a lot. I've never had them not take my trash, but, with the bed and everything out there I just want to not overdo the expectations. 

Unless I am up in the morning early enough to wrangle the last of it and get it organized. I am personally just fine with things as they are out there for the night, for the week.

For dinner tonight, Doug grilled a hangar steak that we picked up last night thinking we'd need it for dinner last night. Geoff surprised us by having dinner all set for us when we got home. I made a Big Salad and we put the steak on top of it in strips. It was fantastic. We haven't been eating a lot of steak because of how expensive things are, but this was affordable and well worth it. We have a goodly amount of salad left over so tomorrow, it's a can of tuna and maybe some bacon thrown in, and I'll have a feast for myself. Oh, and there are two avocados that need to be eaten so. 

Planning ahead.

After dinner, I thought about just doing steps inside or walking around the yard to hit the hourly marks but it was beautiful out. 6:30pm, and sunny and beautiful. No excuses, right. I put on sandals and headed out. It was cold last night, cold enough for a freeze warning. Today was too cool to go out and work at the patio, but by late afternoon it was very nice. 

Usually I walk down to the end of the street to the pokéstop, sometimes I cross the street to the other corner to be close enough to hit the pokégym. And other times I'll walk back up, pass the house, and go up 2 more blocks to one other pokégym to hit them all and get a solid mile walk. 

Today I kept walking past the stop and the gym, and turned left around up into the neighborhood beyond the end of the street. I met a beautiful Doberman out on my walk who pranced like a pony. She was gorgeous and friendly. I had a lovely time patting her and saying hi with her owner. There were a bunch of children riding their razor scooters, screaming and laughing. And there was a woman and a small boy with these popcorn walker toys from Fisher Price, he was running screeching pushing his, and she was bent over, pushing hers and trying to keep up. The handle is obviously meant for toddlers and not mommas.

There's a house down the street from me, 3 doors down on the next corner, that I absolutely love. I love it because of the porch but I'm sure the whole rest of the house is amazing. On the way home, I stood and admired the porch set up. They had the lights on the railing and there is a big tall kerosene heater, beautiful patio furniture and two huge ceiling fans up there. It isn't screened in, but, I'm sure that could be accomplished. I'm sure the price of the house would be 700k, it's so beautiful and the yard is perfect. Sigh. 

This entire neighborhood is wonderfully beautiful and so well kept and the houses are so nice. I'm so happy here. 

Sometimes I am careful of saying stuff like that out loud because the universe does weird things to me when I say "this is perfect and I am very happy." Right? I don't want to fuck anything up by stating that we're happy and good. But housing wise, we're on a lease to February 2025 here, so no one is rushing us out the door. We're happy to be in this spot. With our new bed and our old dog. And a nice neighborhood to walk in.

Today was a good day emotionally.  Even though I did have a headache and out of my depths in this planning meeting. The long and the short of it though is all's well... The walk was a great way to end the day for me.

Pictured: Phineas on the bed.  Still trying to figure this all out.

digits:

exercise: 12/12 hours of 250 steps; dedicated 10 plus 15. 

blood glucose:

8:30am: 191
4:45pm: 165
9:45pm: 143

food:
coffee, water
8:45am: 2 good yogurt
11:30: 647 english muffin w/ pbj (low sugars)
12:15: metformin
4:45: Macintosh apple+ pb
5:30pm: hangar steak strips over a giant salad. pickled beets (should have checked the sugar/carbs on the label before assuming they were carb free. ha). caesar dressing
6pm: metformin+jardiance
Wine
8:00: ramekin of mixed nuts

Sunday Fun Day

Today we had a mission. We brought the shirts that my friend V got in Boston over to my friend RCJ, so she can be ready to go to a Red Sox at Orioles game on Wednesday. So happy to have friends willing to make connections and dreams come true. 

I also knew this was a good way for me to assure I'd get to see her and the fam. It has been too long. 

We got there a little after noon, and A gave me a tour of the house. We then had some fun outside time, chatting with her and her husband, and playing. A and I have a great bond, he is going to be six in July, and we just click. We played pokemon on our phones and then did a pokemon battle in the yard where he was a pokemon called Poison Ivy with a shovel hand, and I was a pokemon with a bubble shark gun. And I think I won, but he kept changing the rules, the way 5 year olds do to guarantee they'll win. 

I then decided I was Snorlax, and he yelled "OH NO!" Because Snorlax just falls on his opponents while sleeping, and squishes them. That's his battle style. So he knew he was done for as I stumbled around the yard looking for him while fake snoring.

It was fun.

I sometimes forget how exhausting it is to have a high energy boy like this. Geoff was so much the same. I wish I'd paid more attention and played along nearly as well as I know how to do now. We got in the car and I told Doug "it's not even 2pm and they still have a whole rest of the day to get through with that much energy in one kid. Oh man."

We then headed over to Nepenthe Brewing in the Hampden neighborhood of Baltimore. We'd intended to get up to Hampden for a while, it's been about 4 years since Doug and I have been there, and the last time I was there was in 2019 with Linda after we saw a concert at the Hippodrome and spent the night at a hotel in town, and I wanted to bring her up there to have brunch and walk around and shop. It's a fun neighborhood, a little hipster, but still authentic and fun.

The good thing about Nepenthe is they have a kitchen, so we were able to get lunchie snackie items, and have a couple of beers while listening to Lord of the Rings Trivia. 

Pictured, me not hating a picture of myself, with a beer.

Afterwards, it was walk around Hampden. We walked down 36th to Chestnut and turned around because it started to rain and got very cold. Earlier in the day I noted that it was 67 degrees, and people were walking around in parkas and winter hats and gloves. Huh. Who knew they'd be prepared for 5pm? 

I was disappointed to see the Five & Dime Alehouse and Cafe Hon both out of business, because we would have tucked in on one of them to have actual dinner after our snacks at Nepenthe. Disappointment. Well, it's raining. And I'm freezing. So.

We headed home, Geoff had made dinner, and was just taking everything out of the oven when we came inside. Perfect timing. It was a really fun day. 

Here are a couple of pictures. Digits below. 

Two absolute classic shots to take in Hampden, the "hon" mural and the LOVE mural by Michael Owen. 

digits:

exercise: 11/12 hours of 250 steps; missed an hour due to being in the car; dedicated 10 plus. not sure how much plus. But we took a good long walk in Hampden, Baltimore. 

blood glucose:

9:30am: 164
6pm: 155
9pm: 241

food:
coffee, water, beer
11:00am: Macintosh apple
11:30: slice of banana bread fresh out of the oven
2pm: metformin. queso w/ chorizo sausage and thin tortilla chips; 4 buffalo wings (beer)
6:30pm: nacho meat over a small amount of chips+avocado salsa and sour cream
8:30pm: 2 baby bell cheeses

Mad About Dinner (Friday Night)

 I mentioned the other day that I was very mad about dinner. If you see the Friday post, I missed an hour of steps and also my food log doesn't seem to have dinner listed, just snack types of food. 

Doug's office gave everyone a gift card to Grubhub, so he decided to pick a local restaurant for Sushi for himself, and Bento Boxes/Gyoza for me and Geoff. Neither of us (the Boy and me) enjoy sushi, but he does. So 100 dollars worth of sushi and chicken teriyaki, and dumplings ordered later, we waited for the food to arrive. 

He got a text saying there was a delay. That's alright, Geoff's not home yet so it can be later. Then a text saying they don't have shrimp gyoza and are removing it from the order and giving a refund. 

Then, the food arrives and it is just Doug's sushi. He gets a text after the driver leaves, that says they're removing the bento boxes and pork gyoza and the other things we ordered, and giving us a refund.

Literally, all the food that we got was Doug's sushi. 

Now. Sigh.

I'm merciful to the service industry. I really am. It's been a crappy few years. I get it. 

If they were just removing the shrimp gyoza that would be no problem. But the literally removed 2 entrees, and 3 appetizers, and we got the text AFTER the food arrived. 

In my world, in my little world, you'd call the customer to tell them 70% of their food is being removed from the order. You'd explain, or offer something. 

This was our dinner. It is now 7pm, and Doug orders Geoff a pizza and some cheesy bread (he said for me, but I was fuming angry and hate Domino's Pizza with all my heart and soul, so I didn't want it). I don't like eating after 7:30, because I wait to take my night time blood sugar at least 2 hours after my last food. If it is too high, I eat something with protein and go to bed.

Doug enjoyed his sushi very much. I did eat one piece of cheesy bread and a slice of pizza. Geoff ate all the rest of everything. I really wanted some gyoza. Like, I was mad about it. Thursday night, Doug ordered chinese food, and he ordered Peking dumplings with veg filling instead of meat, "for a change of pace."

Both Geoff and I hated them. They were soggy and weird texture. Do not recommend. He also got chicken wings, General Gao's style, instead of getting General Gao's chicken, which is my favorite. The wings were ok. But we only got 3 each, so it wasn't like an entree amount as a meal. Consequentially, I ate Lo Mein because I was hungry.  

So I was carrying some mad from Thursday. Then on Friday having this epic screw up by this restaurant, I kind of was mad at Doug when maybe it was not warranted to be mad at him. For his choices Thursday, alright. Being mad at him for that, would make sense. But it's not a big deal. 

I sat here at my computer and contemplated ordering all the chinese food or thai food that I wanted just for me. He could have his sushi and be happy, Geoff inhaled his crap pizza, and I could eat what I want. Let's be that weird family. At least I'll be happy. 

But no, I ate the pizza product, and an apple with peanut butter and some pepperoni slices and went to bed angry. I want to write a yelp review about how shitty this experience was and completely drag them. But is that fair? Doug said the sushi was outstanding. If we go to the restaurant in person and they don't have anything to eat other than sushi,  and they tell me right there and then they don't have any of it, but the menu is FULL of not-sushi things, I'd get up and walk out. And be mad. So with this Grubhub situation, is it the same.

The thing that really pisses me off is the text after the delivery. I'm still mad now that I think about this. What the hell is going on over there? 

So my question is, and if you're reading this feel free to leave comments. Was I being a baby? Or is it like "Am I The Asshole" on reddit where people confess to maybe being jerks and the community can say yes or no, you are the asshole in this situation. 

I regret not ordering all the chinese food I wanted. But I didn't. 

Let me know what you think. I'm open to hearing commentary on this from whomever is reading.

Boxes of Bed

I was having a crazy dream this morning and the last thing I heard was my sister yelling "come on, I gotta get the keys to the boat."

Alright. That's something. I think I remember a lot of what was happening prior to that. I had taken her to see a high school production of King Lear, and our cousins were sitting behind us (Mike, David, Debbie) and Mike has a very distinct laugh. 

It is not a funny play.

At one point, Linda wanted to go to the snack bar, we discovered that they had wine in these really nice tall tumblers. Alright then. We're drinking wine, and Linda starts helping at the concession stand. 

I decided to make some phone calls, I don't remember who I called, but I wanted to give a friend condolences on the death of his father. His brother answered and told me it was impolite to call with condolences, I should have written a letter, or come in person. 

"Dude, you're 3000 miles away. I kind of ... can't?" So now I'm wondering who that would be. And then while I was arguing with him about not being there (and he wouldn't give the phone to my friend) that's when Linda told me about the keys to the boat. 

Geoff and Doug were in the living room talking, I heard Doug say "okay well before you go I need you to help me drag this box up off the porch so we can build the bed today. 

I looked at my watch and it was 8. Great. Time to get up, I guess. We've got a big day ahead.

Geoff was in his scrubs, so I asked Doug if he was going to school for some extra lab time. I guess yesterday he had a rough time with the woman supervising him. He wasn't doing something right so she got snappy. I figured that would be something he'd make use of when he can on Saturday. He's gone a few other times, so I wasn't surprised to see him up early and dressed.

On the subject of the woman giving him crap for not doing things perfectly on his Fourth day of clinical placement. I do not understand how you can put a student in a situation with people who don't mentor and guide the student... He doesn't need this. He said last week the guy he was with was so much better. I hope he's back Monday. Ugh. He said he handled it well, and hopes the other guy is back on Thursday.

But no, no extra lab stuff today. He was going down to work the open house. The same open house he went to last year that got him set on this path. He volunteered, and was hoping to talk to people who may need some extra guidance with learning disabilities to share his experience. His instructor and the woman running the program were thrilled he was willing, and talked to him about how things have gone for him so far. 

Three weeks. He's got to make it three more weeks. And pinning is May 11, graduation is May 15. And we're good. We are golden. He is good, he is golden. 

So Geoff headed out at 9 (open house starts at 11, it takes 1/2 hour to get to where he was going. If you hire this kid, folks, he will NEVER be late). 

Doug and I drank a little more coffee, and then we got to work. 

We disassembled the old bed, it is now standing in the dining room. The old mattress and the split box spring are propped up in the hallway blocking the guest room. The dog has been very confused. Where is my happy place going? What is happening? 

We swept and cleaned the immediate floor area (I wanted Doug to organize his piles of stuff that are along the wall and he yelled "NOW IS NOT THE TIME, WOMAN!" He then spilled my coffee all over the top of my bureau, so I had to stop progress and clean it up before it all ran into the drawers below. It's been on my project list for a while to get the bureau and small desk cleaned up, thought I would do it this winter but I didn't. I was too lazy. 

I had promised myself that I wouldn't let things get messy in this house, and on the whole I've done a good job. Kitchen is always clean, bathrooms too, and the living room is always passable if all it needs is a quick vacuum and table top clean. But bedrooms are not where people hang out. So that becomes kind of the dumping ground. Once this bed situation is all resolved, I'll tackle things. 

Just like the Little Projects of 2020. 

Doug bought an area rug and I kind of am unhappy about that. I do not like rugs on the whole, and he wanted one "so feets get cleanie before you get in beddie." We have a small throw rug on my side of the bed for Phin so he gets some traction for jumping. So it's a good thing on the whole, and this bed is much lower, so that will help him out more. 

The boxes weigh so much, and navigating them into the bedroom was a challenge. A couple of times we both got a little frustrated with the assembly of the bed because it felt like the holes and the connections were literally a FRACTION of a centimeter too far apart. Where you screw stuff in is so so close to the edges of things that you can't really get a screwdriver in place. I had looked at a platform that had wonderful dovetail connections and absolutely no hardware. I was regretting Doug's decision. 

It's also padded, all the way around. Like a hotel bed. Headboard is padded, footer is padded, side runners... padded. I'm not sure I like it. I thought we were getting just a platform, but Doug said this was a better deal, and he got to assemble it and think on his choice. I helped by holding some things in position, and hammering pieces so they got closer into the slots they needed to be in (using a towel to protect things. I'm smart like that). 

Doug got everything put together and then opening the box with the mattress in it was next. I have to say I'm kind of impressed with all of these new mattresses you buy online and stuff. We cut away the plastic, very carefully, and it started to expand. We could hear it hissing, and it looked like a mouth opening up, with two pillows build inside. "Oh! That's where the pillows are that I ordered!" Doug exclaimed. 

We put the mattress in its place, and put the mattress cover on. Noting that the instructions said it would take up to 2 hours to be ready, it was gently expanding and doing its thing. After an hour, Doug couldn't stand it anymore, and went to take a nap on it. I joined him after a bit. 

It's about 8 inches shorter than our last bed, which hopefully will be helpful for Phineas. I kind of liked being up a little higher but this is fine. Much better than mattress on the floor, which is how we were in our last house in MA because Doug didn't feel like building that bed. 

I took a couple pictures of the unboxing and assemblage. I want to take a finished picture in the morning, after I tidy up my bedside table. Can't have a picture of the bedside table looking a mess. 

The sheets are on, and I put a brown light blanket on it, for tonight. I want to shop for a lightweight summer comforter (C. Do not buy one for me! lol. I want to shop for one Doug and I agree on). The pillows it came with are firm and nice, We'll see how tonight goes. In the meantime, here's a picture of a confused dog on an area rug.

Digits below.

digits:

exercise: 11/12 hours of 250 steps;  took a nap during the 1 hour missed. No dedicated 10. Thunderstorms and bed building got in the way.

blood glucose:

8am: 171
5pm: 129
10pm: 180

food:
coffee, water, sugar free ice tea
11:00am: 2 good yogurt
12:30: pbj (low sugar) on 647 italian bread; metformin
lost track of times, but, 2 baby bell cheeses, some triscuits, slices of pepperoni
6:30pm: 2 cluck pucks w/american cheese and mayo stacked on 1 onion roll. Several cherry tomatoes. Metformin+Jardiance
wine
9:30: 2 baby bell cheeses, some pepperoni

A Murder Mysterbee

I woke up at 7 for some reason. Well, I know exactly the reason. I thought Doug had to go into the office today, so I had an alarm set to make sure he got up. 

But he was already up, sitting out on the couch with the dog. He said his meeting was canceled, so he was happy he checked his mail before getting dressed and ready to go in! 

I thought about going back to sleep but I was up and wide awake at that point. Coffee time, thenI worked outside from 9-10:30, before it got too hot out. Morning time is delightful in the yard. There are lots of birds, and my neighbors have thankfully figured out their motion camera, so Phineas can walk around. It makes me miss the back porch office at the old house. I know if I move somewhere, or buy something, somewhere, someday, I really want an enclosed 3 season porch.  

The sun got bright while I was in a meeting with colleagues in Pittsburgh and Louisville, it made my hair look pretty and shiny, but after a while, I got was very squinty and uncomfortable with being out. I felt like I was glowing. It was time to come in. 

Coming up the stairs, and I noticed there was a pile of carnage under one of the steps. Three dead carpenter bees amidst a pile of sawdust from the step above. They were in various stages of ... being eaten.  Or at least bitten apart. Or something.

The bees have been fighting each other, but I honestly think they've gone mad and are killing each other. 

Now there are just two buzzing around. One kept dive bombing me when I was taking this picture.

I'm actually not mad if they kill and cannibalize each other, to be honest. Less stuff we have to spray, fewer holes in the stairs. Doug has sprayed bee killer and filled in the holes in the past. The less we have to do with this, the happier he will be. Bee. ha. 

Yesterday afternoon, we received several boxes. A banner day for FedEx delivery to my porch. C bought an umbrella for my patio table after I recently said it was too bright to sit out there. That came in two boxes. Doug said "but the leaves are coming out... we don't need this," and I said yeah sure but no. It will be helpful, and, it is nice. It is a very nice thing. And to be honest, even when the leaves are out, after 2pm and until the sun goes behind my neighbor's house, the table is in full sun. So. This will be wonderful. Thank you C.

We aren't setting it up until he can weed whack the paver stones, the grass and weeds have come up hard between them. You could actually mow the patio if you were so inclined. That has to happen first. Then we have to discuss if we leave the table at an angle, or if we put it straight. Where is the fire pit going? He wants it to go by the shed until we need/use it. I want it on the north west part of the patio, over on the grass, and stay there. The wheels are melted so it doesn't roll, so dragging it around the yard is no fun. As you can see, there's work to be done. 

Also, Doug had ordered a bed online from a company I'd never heard of. It came in three huge boxes and two small boxes. We obviously have to take apart our current bed, get the old horrible mattress and box spring. Then clean. Best to clean the room before putting something new in it. He also got a rug to put the platform on, it's grey blue. Super neutral.

Will go great with our white dog.

Wondering how complicated this will be. But it'll give us something to work on together. More work to be done. This will be a busy weekend.

Anyway, here is a picture of the bee carnage. I hope it isn't too distressing. Digits below!

digits:

exercise: 11/12 hours of 250 steps; Dedicated 10 (missed the 6pm hour because I was busy being angry about dinner)

blood glucose:

7:30am: 171
5pm: 150
9:30pm: 190

food:
coffee, water
8am: 2 good yogurt
11:30am: BLT Salad with a can of tuna mixed in
noon: metformin
3pm: 2 baby bell cheeses
5pm: wine w/zero sugar ginger ale
6pm: metformin+jardiance
7:30pm: Dinner Fail (I'll blog about this tomorrow), 1 slice of pizza, 1 slice of stuffed cheesy bread w/feta & spinach. Macintosh Apple w/peanut butter; several slices of pepperoni

Ants Marching

"When all the little ants are marching
Red and black antennas waving.
They all do it the same
They all do it the same way."
-Dave Matthews Band

(Note: This should have published Thursday night but I fell asleep!)

We've had ants in the house each spring that we've been here (this is spring number 3). Last year we waged all out war on them, pulling everything out of the cabinets, spraying everything down with Raid organic lemongrass ant spray. We found they were coming into the house through the back door, so we sprinkled diatomaceous earth around the back porch, steps, and door jamb. This greatly reduced the ant population. We only had to do it the one time. Pretty great.

Here we are again. Yesterday I went to get a cup of coffee, there were two or three ants on the counter, I killed them with a piece of paper towel. Geoff makes the coffee in the morning and positions the coffee maker at the very edge of the counter so he can open the top, and open the cabinet above. He leaves it there, and I don't like it at the edge. 

I lifted the coffee maker up and about 100, or maybe ten thousand, ants came scurrying out. Goddamn, you guys. 

It must have been nice and cozy under there, but, it was their end. 

I determined that I had to do the war waging right then and there. Well, after some meetings. I let my manager know around 4pm I'd be signing off, and I went into battle. 

The counter was cleaned off, the cabinets emptied. I found the remnants of a broken glass behind the basket I keep measuring cups in (ask me how I found that!) and my kitchen looks "move in ready."

I got the Raid "lemograss" spray out, and did the edges of everything, and let it all dry. Geoff got home from work at 5 and helped put things back. 

I've seen one ant so far. So help me, you jerks. Stay out of my kitchen. 

We had chinese food for dinner, which was a dietary mistake. See the 9pm Blood Glucose Reading below. 

digits:

exercise: 12/12 hours of 250 steps; Dedicated 10

blood glucose:

9:30am: 163
4:30pm: 140
9pm: 262

food:
coffee, water
11:30am: 647 english muffin w/ peanut butter and a teaspoon of peach preserves (not low sugar!)
12:30: Metformin
1pm: 2 good berry yogurt
4:30pm: very hot spicy hummus & about 15 small pretzels 
6pm: Metformin+Jardiance
7:30pm: Chinese food: Lo Mein, general gao's chicken wings, veggie peking ravioli (do not recommend), 1 spring roll, pork+garlic
9:30pm: Protein Shake 

Up and Down

Doug went into the office today, his boss has been on vacation (she didn't even tell him she was away, that's how laid back his new team is) so he felt that he didn't need to go in while she was away. Yesterday they had a big confab zoom call, starting at 7:30am (doctors start early, yo). And then he decided not to drive in after the call finished at 10. 

Today he went in, he left while I was still sleeping.  

I got up at 8, when the dog came into the bedroom to cry because Doug was gone. Oh such a sad time when Doug leaves. He wouldn't get up on the bed with me, and, I had to pee anyway. We got up, got coffee, went out to the patio. An absolutely perfect morning out there. I played games on my phone, he sat behind my chair. Then it was time to start thinking about getting ready for work. We went inside, I got a shower and got my laptop. 

We went back outside around 9:30. I couldn't resist enjoying the day some more. 

No carpenter bees tried to kill me. Which was good. The other day I got swarmed by the little jerks. I had an 11am video call with a colleague who got laid off and her last day is next Friday, so I wanted to have some time with her and talk. She's sad and confused. We had a good cry together. That put me into feeling kind of a sort of way, so my happy from being outside swooped down low. 

A little while ago my sister texted me and told me to open up my FB messenger. I don't have notifications for that on my phone, because I have a friend who sends me all kind of random things at way late hours, and I don't want to put DND on my phone... so I just have notifications off for Messenger. 

I don't usually check FB during the work day - it becomes a distraction and time suck. So, opening it up I find she's sent me a screenshot another friend had sent her of another friend's ex-husband from the FB dating app. 

Oh dear.

He's in a relationship and put this ad up, with the world's worst picture (seriously he looks like a bridge troll in mirrored sunglasses), and his write up is all about how he's looking for a "fwb" (friend with benefits) and the "b" can be whatever you want it to be. He has some things he wants to "check off his bucket list" so he's .... I don't know. Venturing out? Not sure if it's with her blessing and knowledge but. 

Ew.

The write up is ridiculous... the picture is horrible. I can't even. So I told her to video call me, because, as they say, "I have questions." 

I told her that I really couldn't believe THAT is the picture he's putting out into the world hoping to attract a F to come have B with him. She said "I wouldn't fuck him with a stolen vagina and blame it on someone I hate."

I demanded a video call, so we could laugh. And we laughed. I had tears running down my face, just thinking about how hilarious she is for saying what she did, and how gross he is because he's gross. He's absolutely gross.

Thankfully, Doug is at his office, because I don't think I could explain any of this to him, why I think it is so funny, but it is. he would just sit across from me and look at me, blankly. 

But dude, it is so funny. So I flew back upwards again with the big laugh. 

Anyway. What a day. Here are some pictures! Digits below. Not a bad day!

digits:

exercise: 12/12 hours of 250 steps; dedicated 10+5

blood glucose:

8am: 140
5pm: 156
10pm: 186

food:
coffee, water
9:30: egg mcmuffin, 1 647 english muffin, 1 egg, 1 slice of American cheese w/4 pieces of bacon and 1/2 avocado on the side
noon: metformin
6pm: chicken parm (a la geoff)
3 glasses of wine (edited - forgot to add)
8pm: Metformin+jardiance

Would you like to walk a dog?

This afternoon, I was out. for my pokemon walk/dedicated 10, which to be told I should stretch out to dedicated longer because it is literally exactly 10 minutes down and back. 

I was crossing the street and there was a man ahead of me with a little black poodley looking pupper. He said hello, I said hello back. He stopped walking, and turned towards me.

"Would you like to walk a dog?" 

"Well, I have a dog, and I could be walking him," I replied. He laughed.

"I was going to say if you give me ten dollars, you could take him for a walk. But it sounds like you are all set." I patted his dog, and we laughed.

"That sounds like a pretty darn good deal, I gotta say. Hard to resist that offer," I said as we walked along toward my house. "Maybe next time I see you I'll take you up on that."

We got to my gate and I said, "You've probably been barked at by my dog. He's kind of a jerk," he laughed. 

"Oh we get barked at by all the dogs. It's quite alright. I'll be sure to say hi to him if he comes out to bark at us next time." 

He said his name was Brian, and his dog is Charlie. Nice to meet some new folks I've not met before. Charlie seemed to like me a lot. 

Spring is pretty much on fire here right now. The temperature is perfect. I have spent a lot of time outside over the past couple days. I drank a bunch of beer outside last night before it got too dark, Doug was watching a TV show I had lost interest in, so I sat out playing with my phone until it died in the cool of the evening, pre-humidity time, no bugs, just, perfect. 

Here's a picture of the bushes on the side of our house. We let the ivy grow, we did this at the last house too. It's just such a nice look. I should take a picture of the inside of our shower, with the ivy against the glass looking so pretty. 

Digits, as always, below.

digits:

exercise: 12/12 hours of 250 steps; dedicated 10

blood glucose:

9am: 137
4:45pm: 151
9:45pm: 156

food:
coffee, water
9:30am: left over tuna fish from yesterday
12:30: roast beef and 2 slices of sharp cheddar on 647 bread with mayo
4:45pm: one cheeseburger, with cherry tomatoes, sliced red onion, and bleu cheese dressing
6:30pm: bowl of shelled peanuts
6:45pm: metformin+jardiance
8:30pm: more shelled peanuts 

Hi. You are being recorded

I was outside walking laps around with the dog and I heard a distinct voice say "Hi. You are currently being recorded."

Uhh.

Walking another lap, "Hi. You are currently being recorded." 

Where is this coming from? I thought John and Linda on the corner had a new security system. It wasn't until later when I heard "Hi. You are currently being recorded" and a floodlight turned on, at the other neighbor's house, that I realized it wasn't John and Linda. It was the house with the screaming children.

The screaming children go out to play all the time, and the blood curdling screams that come off some of them make me close my windows faster than someone running a weed whacker or leaf blower. 

Oh, okay. I'm currently being recorded.

I sat at the patio table this afternoon, and when I crossed my legs, I heard "Hi..."

A car drove up the street, and, yes, after the car was gone, "Hi..." 

A bird flew around the neighborhood and again, I heard, "Hi..."

I was out sitting at the patio table tonight while dinner was grilling and someone walking their dog stopped and looked around. I laughed. She asked me what the hell is that. I pointed to my neighbor and said "That." 

She gave them the finger.

I kind of loved it.

Tomorrow, they are going to record me walking up onto their steps with me knocking on the door to say "turn this shit off." 

"Hi..... You are currently being recorded" whacking the shit out of our security monitoring system.

No picture today. Just picture me sitting there trying to enjoy a beer while the grill is going. "Hi..."

digits:

exercise:  12/12 hours of 250 steps; dedicated 10 (pokemon walk)

blood glucose:

8am: 178
4:30pm: 138
10:30pm: 167

food:
coffee, water
9:30am: 2 good strawberry yogurt
11:30: tuna over field greens and cherry tomatoes
12:30: Metformin
2:30pm: pretzels w/pub cheese snack
6pm: 4 sausages on the grill, cheese sauce with mustard, beer, milk
7pm: metformin+jardiance
8pm: shelled peanuts (large bowl)
3 beers
9pm: protein shake
 

GusFam

A couple of our Guster friends were passing through the are on their way to family down in Southern Maryland. I had reached out to him because my work wife needed a Red Sox shirt for an upcoming Sox/Orioles game. She wants to represent Boston at the game, while her son is wearing an Orioles shirt. She had been shopping online and the shirts were over 40 bucks. 

"I need a side quest, if you choose to accept it," she tells me. "Do you know any one who will go to Walmart of Target and grab me a shirt, and send it to me?"

I happened to think of my friend Spicy V. He's always the go-to for side quests and fun. I messaged him and he said he actually was on his way to buy a shirt for his nephew, who lives south of us, and they're headed our way. "I'll pick up a shirt and do you one better, save the money on the shipping and we can have lunch on my way!" 

Well, heck yeah! 

Today was the day, we met up with our other nearby friends Sara, Sean, and Henry. V's wife Kendra was with him, so we had a full house. And you'll notice, even Doug came out. The reluctant Doug, who sometimes avoids the things I like because he is overwhelmed by them. I was proud of him. And glad to have him there.

We had a laugh riot, telling stories. Kendra once had a 17 yr old cat die, in the thick of January. V tried to dig a hole out back to bury it but the ground was frozen, ... you know what you do then. Cat in freezer, and you take it out to bury it at your parents' house next time you visit them. In July. Doug made a comment about what, you had to move the dead cat to get to the pizza rolls and ice cream? Howling laughing ensues. 

Sara said to Doug "I hope you can tell, that when your wife goes off to Guster concerts and goes all over the place it isn't just the band, it's this." She gestured around the table, to the "GusFam" present. Many others are in the family. We all love each other, and have these ridiculous times together. 

Since moving to Maryland, I haven't made a lot of friends outside work, and having Sara up the street is super nice. Going to her graduation party for her Master's degree, she didn't think I'd come but I did. I'm inviting her to Geoff's shindig for his graduation. We're here for each other. And it's friends, family, fun. And we do love going to see Guster.

V brought the shirts for RCJ and they're fantastic, also 2 rip off uniform Sox jerseys he found in his basement, and threw those in too. He said one is for me, one is for her. "If they're too small, just don't button them up, wear a t-shirt under and be a "bro" Sox fan." He brought an assortment of beers (we gave him some beers too because I knew it would be appreciated), and he gave us Teddie peanut butter and Fluff. 

We had a delightful time. I was sad for them to go. Photo here, digits below.

digits:

exercise:  took kind of a steps break today. Only 5/12 hours

blood glucose:
9:30am: 177
6pm: 198
9:45pm: 196

food:
coffee, water 
11am: 2 colby cheese snacks, metformin
12:30: large salad with corn, beans, spicy chicken, blue cheese
6:30pm: metformin+jardiance, Fish sticks & salad (you know we're out of food options when this happens)

Yardwork and Beerwork

We had a really good thunderstorm roll through at 2am. I was the only one who caught it, both Geoff and Doug slept through it. 

Phineas snuggled close to me. We had the shade pulled up in the guest room, so watching and listening to the storm roll through with the Lore podcast gently under my pillow was about an hour of un-sleep. 

Phin was up again at 5 expecting breakfast. Ha. No. 

I let him out, went back to bed and he figured it out to follow me back, reluctantly. Sighing heavily and moaning on the bed, eventually he went back to sleep. He woke up at 7 when he heard Geoff in the kitchen and then he got his brekkie. I thought about being up for the day but slipped back into bed after I fed the dog, let him out, heard Geoff leave for the gym. I slept so deeply from that point to about 9:15. 

I do all my best sleeps after 7am. I should just never set an alarm and let myself wake up organically when I wake up. Set my work schedule to what I want. 

Saturday mornings are for Doug and Chris to sit quietly in the living room, charge our phones whilst simultaneously playing games, and read snippets of stupid things to each other. He pointed out that a brewery we like is celebrating their 5th anniversary this weekend. 

He decided to mow the lawn, I cleaned the bathroom and folded laundry, charged up the batteries for the weed whacker. Doug went to get propane for the grill and put air in the car tire (we need a new tire, we have a super slow leak and our mechanic said the tire needs to go anyway, so it wasn't worth the money to patch. Let's put that on the list of things to remember to do). 

Geoff wanted to go too, so that meant Phin got to go. We got showered, dressed and ready after we put our chores first. Like responsible adults. 

We ended up leaving much later than I'd hoped, and the crowd was HUGE. I knew it would be crowded but wow. Amazing turn out, even for as late as we got there. We each enjoyed three beers, chatted with a bunch of makers market folks, met dogs, had a cute little kid named Chandler feed Phineas cookies, which he took from her with care and love. And she stuck her hand out to me over and over for more cookies for the doggie. 

"What's your name?"
"Doggie."
"No honey, I don't think your momma and daddy named you Doggie."
Child: sticks hand out for another cookie to give Phineas.

I'm so relieved he is so good with children. Honestly. I am not around a lot of them, but thinking of the day Henry played him like a bongo and declared him "Thunderdog" in reference to Guster's drummer, the "Thundergod." I can only imagine any other dog would be "fuck this" and bite the kid. Phin is just so gentle. Likes to be patted. Very patient. Wish he was nice to other dogs. It would be nice for him to have company!

We stopped at the market on the way home. Dinner was late, but hearts are full. Good times were had. Phineas is worn the hell out. He almost can't stand up, and he for sure can't jump. I just had to pick him up and put him in bed with Doug. He's a tired old bean tonight. But he got a really nice steak bone, met small children, took a nice walk around the brewery while we looked at the vendors, and lived a super full day. He probably fells the same way I felt after 17,000 steps in Philly.

Digits below. Here are a couple pictures. One is a cool truck for a local fresh cut flower shop, and the other is a "voodoo" doll for Vladimir Putin. Guess where I stuck my needle. Hint: not on the front!

digits:

exercise: 11/12 hours of 250 steps. Missed 6pm cause i was in the ca. Lots of walking and steps but I wouldn't call anything a dedicated 10.

blood glucose:
9:30am: 160
7pm: 153
10pm: 193

food:
coffee, water 
10:30am: pepperoni slices, snack size colby cheese bite
11:30: metformin
12:30: 2 good yogurt
1:45: last of the chicken salad
2:45pm: 3 crackers w/peanut butter schmear
3-5:30pm: 3 beers at the brewery (didn't get BBQ)
7pm: metformin+jardiance
7:30pm: steak, salad w/blue cheese dressing; 2 beers
8:30: very small bowl of gourmet vanilla ice cream w/gourmet goat cheese caramel drizzle

Purses and Bag Policies

The other day, I mentioned I had feelings about purses, and a lot to write about. Carrie reminded me I should write about it. Lest I forget. In my heart of hearts, "strong letter to follow" will probably be something that goes to the venue. I'm still kind of bent over what we experienced. 

I'm not mad at purses. I don't understand giant purses or purses with labels or names or whatever. I'm not a fashion girl. I like utility. I have a couple nice, small bags. Purses only need to hold my phone, my credit card/s and license, possibly my diabetes testing kit, maybe some mints or gum, and that's it. I don't carry makeup, or a hairbrush, or tons of other things. 

I'm simple. My purses are like cargo shorts, only with a strap to go over my shoulder diagonally. 

We went to see Guster in Orlando, FL and traveled with a friend who has MS. My other friend Sara is always very good at checking the "bag policy"  at venues. Especially because she is often bringing 8 yr old Henry. She had a clear ziplock style bag, that fits the requirements for sizing, and a lot of times she is given shit at the gate even though she is within their guidelines (It happened to us in Philly when they wouldn't let her bring her medication into the building. But eventually someone in a supervisory position came over to help and let her in). 

Sara notified us that bags couldn't be over a certain size, and you could bring clear bags in, but they couldn't be over a certain size. Small "clutch" sized purses were allowed but who the hell uses a clutch to go to a rock show? 

Our friend with MS has to bring a purse with her large enough to contain adult diapers and other medical accouterment. It isn't a backpack. In fact, it's rather compact, small, elegant. She was a little dismayed, but I called the box office day of show to talk to someone to find out what to do. 

Now, I'm going to preface this all with I get it. I get it for venues needing to have strict security. I get it for Orlando, home of one of the worst mass shootings in our country's history. I get the need for safety. 

Talking to the box office, I explained our friend's situation and the girl said "this is not a problem. When you get to the security, explain to them that you spoke with the box office, and this is an ADA exemption, they'll search the bag, and they will put a band on the strap to indicate it had been searched. You are all set." 

Tremendous. So kind. So understanding. The staffer was amazing, and we felt comfortable and confident. At least I did.

Still, my friend went to the box office window in person herself and explained that she just wanted to be sure, just wanted to be sure she was all set. The girl at the window was probably the girl that I spoke with earlier in the day, and she told my friend verbatim what I learned. 

We got in line. We walked up to security. 

Two women were working the metal detector and gate and one started to scream at my friend. "Ma'am! Your bag is too large to come in here. You need to take it back to your car now!" We were a little astonished, and my friend said she talked to the box office, and ---

"I don't care who you talked to, that bag is too big and it cannot come in!" Again, attempting to tell these women what we were told by the venue, and the one woman would not hear it. 

"I have an ADA Exemption," my friend said.

"You have no ADA Exemption, is there ADA equipment in that bag? Right now?" Security yelled. 

My friend, feeling incredibly ashamed screamed "Yes. You are supposed to search my bag and you have not searched. If you searched, you'd see." 

"I'm not searching your bag," security yelled back, "Show me your equipment." 

Now think about how you'd feel right here. First of all, you've been assured by the venue that this was not going to be a problem. Second, some whackjob who doesn't know how to do her job, refuses to search the bag as the policies of the venue state, and is screaming at you to basically whip out your shit for everyone on line to see. 

I was about to pull her out of line to say "okay let's go back to the box office and get some help," but my friend took out her bag of medication, her adult diapers, and waved them in the woman's face. 

"Is this enough for you? Is this evidence enough for you?" she yelled. 

The security girl angrily applied a band to her purse, the band fell off and my friend told her to do it right, the way it was supposed to be done. 

We were very angry, this was uncalled for.

See, I personally feel that bag policies are an excuse for security to not do their job. It's lazy. And it is misogynistic. Men can cram a shit ton of crap into pockets in cargo shorts, not get searched and waltz right the fuck in somewhere, but a woman with a purse that is "too big" or not a clear plastic bag (like, so fucking fashionable, right?) is subject to abuse, shame, and embarrassment. 

Furthermore, a policy that states you should "take your bag back to your car" is asinine in a world where people take Uber to venues, and don't drive a car. Further, your car gets broken into, your purse gets stolen, and the venue is "not responsible" for items stolen from your vehicle, even though they're the rocket scientists that told you to put your stuff back in your car, if you happened to drive. 

Here's a tip for trying to prevent a gunman from coming into a venue. Have Security Work.  Search the bags. Search the damn bags. Pat people down. Pull someone with a questionable bag aside, be discrete, search the bag. 

Use a flashlight, wear gloves, rifle through my bag. You have my permission. Do it. Don't start screaming that someone doesn't have an ADA Exemption, that you don't care who they talked to at the box office, they are not coming in. End of conversation. 

In this case, I am pretty sure the security team doesn't work for the venue. They're a third party partner, and they suck. They need better training. They need any training. They need to be taught how to do security detail. People are coming to the venue to have fun, have a good time, and not be berated and made to feel shame, especially after going through efforts to make sure this kind of thing would not happen.

The following night, we were in Ft. Lauderdale to see the same band. I had my bag with me, because size-wise, it was not too big and I knew it fit their policies. 

When I got to security, I unzipped my bag, I had my blood glucose monitor with me because I felt I'd probably want to test a couple hours after dinner and make sure I wasn't 300+ or whatever. 

I explained what was in the little black container, and offered to open it to show the guy. He had a flashlight and a little stick, he moved stuff around in my purse and said that it was fine. "My wife has diabetes, I know whats in that little container. You're good."

Quite a difference. No crisis, no shame, actual searching of the bag, quiet and respectful search, actual trained eye and empathetic human. 

Shove your bag policy up your ass. I doubt I'll ever be back to your venue.

digits:

exercise: 12/12 hours of 250 steps; no dedicated 10 but lots of movement

blood glucose:
8:30am: 188
5pm: 150
10pm: 161

food:
coffee, water
8:45: one slice of rye bread toast (because it was in the cabinet being sad and lonely) with butter
11:30: chicken salad, left over marinated chicken thighs, mayo. 
11:45: metformin
6pm: macaroni & cheese with ground beef (we need a trip to the market) Metformin+Jardiance
7:30pm: mixed nuts; protein shake
9pm: several slices of kerrygold cheddar cheese

Buzzzzzzzzz

 The dog and I slept in the guest room last night. He got out of bed at 1, so I didn't want to disturb Doug by trying to get the wriggling monster back up into the family bed. We just went in the guest room where he can jump up easily. And I do believe I've said it before, that bed is more comfy. I prefer it and sleep better in it.

He was then up again at 2:30.  C'mon dude really?

And 5:45. I figured it was close enough to 6 that it was alright to feed him. I prefer if I can get him to wait until after 6am but, this was close enough. He ate and came back to bed for a few minutes, and then heard Geoff in the kitchen, so he went to investigate, see if there were opportunities in the food room. We have a sign on top of the dog food container that says "Dog Has Been Fed" so he doesn't get second breakfast, as the Hobbits say. 

I heard Geoff talking to him, and then Doug got up. And I tried to go back to sleep. 

Some mornings, I can. Today, not so much. 

I was out of bed at 6:45. I got coffee, went outside to the patio, perfect weather, coffee and phone games. Doug has a team call every other week on Thursdays at 7am, so he was in a shirt and tie (and PJ Pants) downstairs. The dog and I were just happy being out. 

Eventually, it was time to work so I went in and got my laptop. I had two zoom calls before 10. Met with my team at 10:30. The sun was moving into position to make it difficult for me to be out there. The leaves have not yet popped on the trees, so starting around 11, and running until about 5:45 it's too bright to be out there. I came inside. Sadly. 

After I finished working I decided to go outside with a glass of wine, even though the sun was still a bit of an issue. I settled in, and watched the carpenter bees that enjoy our deck stairs, and we fight with each year. Usually there are two or three. 

But ... there were dozens. And they all decided to attack me. Bombarding me, with angry buzzing, bip, bam. They don't sting (to my knowledge) but I got ganged up on, and I ran away. 

Doug will have to deal with them. But boy was I mad. I just wanted to hang. Bastards. 

Anyway. At least the morning was great. Evidence.

digits:

exercise: 12/12 hours of 250 steps; no dedicated 10

blood glucose:
7am: 171
5pm: 177
9:30pm: 139

food:
coffee, water
8:30am: pbj on 647 wheat
12noon: last of the Doug cream of chicken soup, about a cup of peas thrown in for color; metformin
1pm: a couple handfuls of mixed nuts
5pm: more mixed nuts
6pm: metformin+jardiance
7:00: roast chicken and carrots, one small scoop of mashed potatoes. Gravy.
8:30: more roast chicken while putting it all away for soup stock later

Mowing

I went outside to work this morning from about 10 to 11 ish. I had a check in with my manager on a video call. The sky is blue, the leaves are making their appearance, the temperature is perfect. Right as he and I ended our chat, the neighbor's lawn service showed up. Three guys, with 2 mowers, one small push mower and one stand-on and drive mower, leaf blower, weed whacker, chaos. I had to go inside. 

About this time I may have gone in anyway, or started my move-around-the-table process to stay in the shade. Leaves are not open, so the table is in direct sun starting at 11:30. And it gets better around 4, but, mornings are the time to be out. 

For such a small yard, these three folks had a lot of equipment, and took a LOT of time, and I was just over it by 12:30. Like, c'mon guys. Just finish up. And it would honestly go faster if you used a broom instead of a blower. 

Not to be cranky but, I wish everyone's lawn service came at exactly the same time once a week. Just fuck up my entire Wednesday morning, all together now. Pull that grassy band-aid off and be done with it. Tomorrow I'm sure someone else is going to have service, and then another guy and another. And then Saturday Geoff will mow our lawn. It will end in ... October.

No picture today. Just. digits.

digits

exercise: 12/12 hours of 250. No dedicated 10

blood glucose:

8:45am: 228
5pm: 180
9:30pm: 166

food: 
coffee, water
11:30: grilled cheese on 647 wheat w/ turkey. One whole avocado w/ 6 pieces of bacon, smooshed together as a spread (I made for both Doug and me, but he ate a bagel with peanut butter and passed on the avocado bacon smash. Couldn't leave it to sit there). 
12:30: metformin
7pm: metformin+jardiance
7:30pm: 3 chicken thighs, marinated in soy sauce, spicy sesame oil, green onions, garlic, lime. a lil'bit of roasted potatoes, a ton of baby peas
10pm: 3 tablespoons of peanut butter

Walkies

I have a whole big thing I want to write about pocketbooks but haven't had the time to just sit and write.

Tonight might have been a good time because I sat waiting for Doug to come back for his walk so I could go down to the pokegym, and back, to do my dedicated 10. If I didn't think the dog would lose his mind, I'd just go. He (the dog) does not do good on walks lately, he is very stumbly and slow, and then seems to be in pain for quite a while. He's being a little extra weird the past couple days. Doug was gone for over an hour, and it was pitch dark when he got back. So I didn't go.

Phineas and I have been walking 2 times around the outside of the house each hour. A little more than the 250 steps per hour. He gets super excited when we go out, turns left, and then we walk around the yard. Sometimes I get ahead of him and stop to wait. He catches up and sees me and trots to me, tail wagging. It's rather darling. I talk to him as we go, and we've been looking at the tulips and irises, wondering what some of this new ground cover is that we've got, chat about the dead vines from last year's morning glories and how I should pull them off the fence. He is helping me plan my gardenings.

So far the last two days have just been the most perfect temperature-wise, and I love it.

Anyway, not much else to report. Digits below!

digits

exercise: 12/12 hours of 250.

blood glucose:

8:45am: 161
4:30pm: 187
9pm: 161

food: 
coffee, water
10:30am: one egg over hard, one italian sausage, diced, one slice of colby jack cheese
12:30pm: Metformin
2pm: large bowl of cream of chicken & mushroom soup
5:30pm: bowl of Chili w/ shredded cheese, sour cream, fritos
6:30pm: metformin+jardiance

Four Pounds

I weighed myself this morning and put on 4 pounds over the last 3 weeks what with my eating out-ness and laziness, etc. Ready to kickstart things again over the next couple months and drop back to the 207 and hopefully below. Not getting off to a good start today. Didn't get a good walk in, and have had the worst eating today. 

Truly should have done a decent walk but got super busy with things. I got distracted with real work in the 3pm hour and didn't get my steps in then. Oh well. So close. 

Not much to report after the super fun weekend post.  Thought I'd share this fun picture from the Jewish museum Saturday. 

digits

exercise: 11/12 hours of 250. no dedicated 10

blood glucose:

8:45am: 181
5pm: 150
10pm: 239

food: 
coffee, water
10am: 2 pieces of cheese, 1 colby jack mini-brick, one baby bell
10:30: 2 slices of 647 wheat toast w/peanut butter
11:30am: metformin
1:30pm: 2 good berry yogurt
6pm: 2 chicken patties w/ american cheese on potato rolls. 2 sour dill pickles. metformin+jardiance
wine
lots and lots of crackers w/ goat cheeses that we got at the farm a week or so ago. 

A Philly Weekend

Doug and I left the house around noon Friday. We'd intended to be in Philly by lunchtime, but we got in at 3:30. Doug slept in, and I didn't futz at him about it. We went to a meetup at 5 with some Guster friends, my sister finally arrived, Sara and Sean were there. Doug didn't want to go but I really wanted him to. I want for him to spend time with my friends, maybe they'll become his friends. We had a great visit, and I think he had fun. 

I even got him to join the group picture. 

He went to go for a walk, and the Guster fans went to the Fillmore. We got there well after doors, and I find if I'm not at the rail, with something to lean on, or the wall at the back, I'm kind of bummed. The Fillmore doesn't offer a lot of seating for us olds, and Linda's leg has been bothering her so much so that I

called her Captain Sciatica. 

We asked about the balcony and they told us we could "upgrade our experience" for 100 bucks a person. Gah. Fuck that.

There was another section for 75 a person, and because I was worried about her, I got the upgrade. We had our own section bartender (nice) and plenty of place to dance our asses off. Even though that was still Fuck that, it was a few dollars less of a Fuck that.

We danced, and even though her leg was bothering her, we did it, got through it, and had a great time. 

We didn't take a lot of pictures, too far away, but the show was amazing. Brian got to sing (Total Eclipse of the Heart) and a good time was had by all. 

To go with the fact I got the playlist from Huntington, she went and managed to get the set list for this show. 

After the show a few of us went to Yards Brewing but they were at last call, and the kitchen was closing. Based on his walking around the area, Doug recommended we cross the street to Silk City, open much later. Good call!  We had a blast hanging out and talking until exceptionally late. 

Saturday Linda went to go join Ronnie's family at Drexel University where her nephew was playing lacrosse with his college. They had a big tailgate and fun. 

Doug and I got out and about, and took a walk to Reading Terminal Market. Hugely crowded, we walked all through the place, eyeballing foods and drinks, and everything had a giant line and there was nowhere to sit. We finally found spots at Hatville Deli, had good sandwiches and great conversation with the girl behind the counter. We walked back down Market to our hotel's street, playing Pokemon and people watching. 

We got back to the hotel and took a big nap. Linda got back and we decided to head out to dinner to LaScala's Fire. She kind of turned into a pumpkin during the meal so we got her an Uber back to the hotel. Doug wanted to walk to South Street to check out the scene there. We were walking between the Merchant Exchange building and City Tavern (sadly closed forever, because we would have liked to have gone there, since we passed on it in 2019). Doug stumbled on an uneven brick, and I said "make note of that and don't tri----" And I tripped. I started to fly forward and grabbed the hedge row to my right, and swung into the bushes, with my face. 

Thankfully, I didn't land my ass or face on the ground, or the bricks, or the anything. But there was a crowd of people milling about. Students. Making a movie. Doing some audio. They were concerned but I told them "oh indeed, I am fine. Silly bricks, I mean, am I right!?" 

We walked on a little and I realized I was bleeding, my face took some direct branches. Ouch. I luckily had some napkins in my purse I'd chucked in there previously, so I blotted. We walked. I was starting to get pissy and grumpy. My knee started to hurt, and Doug was just la la la'ing his way along. 

Sweet Baby Jesus can we just find a bar. And go in. And Sit. Please.

On South Street, there were a dozen options and I was irritated because I thought Doug had done research and picked a place to go. But we're just walking along while he looked at things. He finally got a clue and stopped window shopping for Hookahs and eyeballing shuttered bars that didn't survive the pandemic.

We came to Wooly Mammoth where the bartender had a very good 90s playlist rocking, and we felt at home. And I got to put ice on my cheek. 

It's not as bad as it could have been. And the beer and cider made things better. When we were done, around midnight, we walked up 4th to the hotel, another mile. Without tripping. The cider and beer made for a no pain walk. And the wind had stopped. And I could have walked even further. 

Here is some mural art along the way on South Street.

This morning, my knee didn't hurt nearly as much, which is a relief. Linda packed up to go, and Doug and I were going to take a walk over to Elfreth's Alley. We circled around the Arch Street Quaker meeting house, walked by the Big Giant Ben Franklin Head that's made of keys, found coffee, strolled past the Betsy Ross House, over to the Episcopal church which was just getting out of Easter service, so all the children and parents were out being pretty in the sunshine. 

There's a bookstore across the street, we've been there before and I find it claustrophobic and tight, so I don't enjoy browsing in there, but Doug does. I enjoyed my coffee, people watching and city seeing. I did go inside to peek and met the cat who lives there. Dr. Pickles (don't call him Mr. Pickles, he didn't spend 8 years in cat medical school to not have you call him by his appropriate title, don't you know). 

I had a good time patting him, and he licked my hand and purred. That was just what I needed. 

Doug got a few books, and remembered the books he bought there in 2019 and forgot about, they're somewhere in the house, probably on a bookcase downstairs. I think I've seen them. 

We went further down 2nd street, I was hungry but Doug's stomach was bothering him. There were so many places we could duck in and eat, nothing was crowded. But he didn't want to stop and eat, lest he get ... sick on the way home. 

That was okay. I get it. 

We stopped to listen to a man playing blues guitar for quite a while, he was so good. I think Doug tipped him a 20. I wished him a happy Easter, and he thanked me - and said I was the first person to mention it. All day. The blues don't take a break for Easter.

Walking on Chestnut, we passed Constitution Cannoli King, and turned around and came back. 

Yeah. We couldn't resist them cannolis. And they were worth it. Holy crap. So good. 

Turning up 3rd, we got back to Market, and we ducked into the Fragments of Franklin's Court.  

It was a beautiful day today, big blue sky, and it was fun to walk around the grounds. We got to see the covering of his Privy, which, was right next to his Well. 

Not sure one of the smartest people in history should have put his pooper next to where you pull water but. Alright. He maybe knew something about something, I dunno. Whatever. Still I wouldn't have done that. 

Back to the hotel, get the car, head home. A great long walk seeing a lot of old city and things. 

We left around 2:30 thinking we'd be home around 4:30, but we decided to stop and have early dinner at Jimmy's Famous Seafood in Baltimore. Doug was feeling better, and felt like being an hour from home instead of 2+ with a belly of food would be a better idea. We don't get here often enough, it's so good, and I had my crab cake with a Guinness Blonde, brewed in Baltimore. 

So we changed from Philly Things to Baltimore Things. Just in time to get home. 

I'm not sure what I'm going to without a Guster concert every weekend so I'll have to make due and get through April and half of May, and survive. 

I will be exhausted for a couple of weeks though. 

Worth it. 

I didn't do a good job of tracking the digits, the wifi in the hotel was pretty bad, so I just decided to do this entry here at home. 

Here's the big giant Benjamin Franklin Head. Digits for today below. 

Sunday digits

exercise: 9/12 hours of 250 (car ride = less opportunity for walkies). Very long walk in Philly in the morning before we left.

blood glucose:

9am: 209
5pm: 183
9:30pm: 197

food: 
coffee, water
10am: mixed nuts, pepperoni
2:30pm: Metformin; 2 crab cakes, coleslaw, 2 beers
5pm: big ass cannoli 
8:30: mixed nuts; protein shake
9:30pm: metformin+jardiance