Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end

This is the longest I have worked anywhere. 

I've had jobs where I thought I'd be there longer. The college job made me exceptionally mentally ill so I quit it and walked away. My colleagues that started around the time I started are all still there. Imagine having a resume with one employer on it, 26 years worth of time (I know how long because I started when Geoff was 3 months old). 

There were a couple other jobs I got laid off, but I was incredibly happy there. I had a contract job that I liked until the company decided that they couldn't keep me on or let me WFH as a contractor during my surgery recovery, so they terminated my contract. Well, I was not truly happy there. 

The best part of that one was I got picked up as a free agent by my current job right after that thanks to the hiring/placement agency that recruited me. When the company that severed the contract with me wanted me back, it was a joy to tell them no. Hilarious. 

No, sorry. For real though, I'd still be working for you if you were not so short sighted on telework in this the year of our Lord 2014. Your loss. 

Well, they hired Jess because my manager was in complete desperation, and then the following spring fired her. 

I don't think my employer counts May 2014-December 2014 as part of my tenure, that was contract work. I was hired back on as a full time employee in April 2015 and have been there since. 

These things I know because of a log in to an application. That application is officially retired this week. No longer to exist. Sad. It's the first product that I've been the "SME" or "Subject Matter Expert" on. We replaced it, and over time we've been planning the sunset. And here we are. it is time. 

I was reminded of the song "Closing Time" by Semisonic. A huge hit back in the late '90s there. Closing time for you, dear broken and dilapidated product. You did good for when you needed to do good. 

We've moved on to a new Content Management System (CMS) which the last 3 years of my life have focused on. But this old jalopy will always have a place in my heart. 

Thanks for always reminding me of my work anniversary. Too bad I won't be able to watch this date and these numbers grow now that your little display is gone. 

Digits below.

digits:

exercise: 12/12 hours of 250 steps.  not a real dedicated 10 per se but a lot of walking around between meetings!

blood glucose:

8:30: 166
5pm: 145
10pm: 165

food:

coffee, water
11am: big salad w/bacon (romaine, tomato, red onion, cucumber, mayo, bacon) 
11:45: metformin
2:30pm: apple+peanut butter
6pm: wine
7pm: metformin+jardiance
7:45pm: homemade potato salad, 4 bratwurst.
9:30pm: 6 crackers w/peanut butter

nothing

 I didn't write an entry today because the day got away from me and I didn't think of anything. Apologies if you come here for stuff. 

Here's a picture of a wee trail staircase at one of the overlooks from this past weekend. Digits below. 

I'll do better by you lads tomorrow.

digits:

exercise: 12/12 hours of 250 steps.  Dedicated 7, let's call it.

blood glucose:

7:45am: 165
5pm: 135
10:30pm: 185

food:

coffee, water
9:15: 2 egg omelet w/shredded mexican cheese, avocado spread, hot salsa
noon: metformin
12:30pm: giant salad w/can of tuna and mayo (romaine, cherry tomatoes, cucumber, red onion)
6pm: metformin+jardiance
6pm: bowl of Mac & Cheese with hamburger (dummy)
8:30pm: tex mex trail mix

Rainout and Return

Gotta say I'm super glad that we got some fun things done things on Saturday and Sunday because today is just a very very wet and rainy holiday Monday. 

I'm thinking of all the people who were probably at a beach vacation for Memorial day who packed it all in early to go home. 

On the way home from Front Royal last night, we discussed going into DC for the memorial day parade. Sounded like a good idea and all. At about noon, were too busy playing games on our phones and listening to Spotify through the TV and said a collective "meh." 

Glad we pulled a Meh because it really opened up at 2pm here. 

Our big task for the day was a trip to the market. 

We have needed dishwasher tabs for a couple days, and we don't really have a good spot to put hand washed dishes up to dry, so our sink and our dishwasher are full. Last night on the way home I pointed out to Doug that we should stop at Target and get some and he said "meh."

This would probably drive some people crazy, to have a lot of dishes in the sink, and it does drive me crazy a little because I don't like going to bed with dishes in the sink. But it doesn't make me super crazy. Just a little. So today it was a must do. 

The other thing I wanted that we didn't get to this weekend was to go get some other plants. We have a couple that were in pots and they didn't do well so they're done. I wanted some pansies or something since they do well in the pots. And I have a nice long rectangle planter that I wanted to fill up and put on the patio table. 

Maybe next weekend. 

Speaking of next weekend, it's the anniversary weekend. Our anniversary is during the week this year and we both dragged our feet on asking for the week off. I am short 3 coworkers next week, so there was no way I could take the whole week off too. Maybe Friday? But. Not sure. And I took time off for when Jess comes to visit two weeks from now, so that's more important. Usually we'd be on a trip right now but we didn't plan anything. 

We also decided that we kind of don't love the brand new bed we bought. 

I mean. 

It's okay. But it doesn't measure a full queen size, it's like 4 inches too narrow which is so weird. We keep kicking each other during the night. I had said to Doug when he was bed shopping that I kind of wanted a king size bed, especially when Phineas is in bed with us, it is a little crowded. 

I also was having a super hard time with the bed sheets that came with the bed. They were too big for the mattress, queen bed sheets that were too big for the bed. Which says something about the size of the mattress. The fitted sheet kept popping off during the night. I'd wake up with my corner over my shoulder, and I'd try to put it back in the dark, and my hand doesn't straighten out, so securing the fitted corner never really happened. I'd get mad, and I'd go to the guest room, using Phineas as my excuse that I didn't want to wake Doug up trying to put him back up in bed while he was sleeping but really, it was me being mad at the bed. 

What the hell, bed? Why do't your bed sheets FIT you. I washed them in super hot water to try and shrink them and it didn't help. 

The other day I put the old bed sheets on the bed, and they fit perfectly. Oh, so it is the sheets, not the bed. Okay. 

Since then, I've been more comfortable and less furious at the bed. And it was kind of starting to grow on me. A little. 

But mentioning it to Doug he agreed. We're going to trade it in.

 I was also reluctant to upgrade, even though it'll be nice, because what if a king bed does not fit in our next living space? I thought about the bedroom in our las house and said, wow. That master bedroom would not hold a king bed. This room will, easily. But. When we move? Whenever that is? Oh man what if it does not fit. Doug said we can worry about that later, because we are not planning to move anywhere just yet, our lease is until February 2025 and it could be extended even then. 

He went ahead and reached out to the company to make the exchange/upgrade. Memorial day sale we get a savings on the king bed. And with the queen-ish bed, you get up to 100 days to return the bed. 

I feel weird and guilty returning the bed for some reason. 

People do stuff like this all the time, right? And I feel like well, maybe we didn't give it a chance? Should we wait another couple weeks? Would I get used to it then? I'm almost getting used to it what with sheets that fit right.  

Like I feel like the bed will take it personally, I'm hurting its feelings. Or the company will be mad at us. 

Doug said "life is too short, let's get the king bed and be happy. We should be happy." 

So I think that is our anniversary gift to ourselves. A new bed in April. And a bed upgrade in May. 

Technically June, because the bed will arrive next weekend. 

The weekend that we would maybe go away if we were to go away. 

In the meantime, the progress I made in the bedroom kind of ground to a halt due to Doug's disinterest in managing his stuff. He was waiting for a rainy weekend (ahem. Hello? today?) and so I am going to make some more progress on some stuff on my side of the room to maybe peer pressure him into doing his stuff. Especially because a king bed is 16 inches wider than what we have. 

It's a split king, so we can sit up/raise a side, read, whatever. They had all kinds of pimped out bedframes with LED lighting and USB ports, fans underneath, weirdness. Too not my style to be honest, I just wanted a lower platform so my dog could jump into bed easily and safely. No two zone heating/cooling, nothing fancy. I didn't even really want the split mattress but Doug thought it was a good idea for him with his snoring. 

Life's too short, be happy, get a bed that if one of you wants to sit up a bit, y'all can do it, right? 

digits:

exercise: 11/12 hours of 250 steps.  Slept in this morning, missed the 9am steps. No dedicated 10. Pouring rain.

blood glucose:

10:30am: 193
5:30pm: 185
10:30pm: 175

food:

coffee, water
noon: metformin
3pm: some pork rinds (not a lot, just to get rid of the bag from yesterday)
4:30pm: cheese slices and a couple crackers
6pm: small bowl of spaghetti (I only ate 1/2) with store bought meatballs and vodka sauce, one slice of garlic bread 
7:30pm: metformin+jardiance

Skyline Drive

Last night, I didn't sleep well. I couldn't fall asleep, and I think it was close to 1 before I did. The dog came and woke me up (he slept in the guest room by himself!) at 5:30 which was probably the longest he'd ever gone. But I had barely fallen asleep. Doug got up at 6, and went in the living room, but let me sleep until 9. We got out of the house rather early, not as early as I thought we would but still. Doug wanted to try the new used Mini Cooper on the road and what better road than the famous Skyline Drive. 

Before we left I told Doug we should pack an overnight bag, you know, just in case. Like. If we're having too much fun out there and we want to stay over. Doug wanted to get home tonight to avoid the memorial day traffic coming back tomorrow. I felt I had a good point, he had a good point. 

We got out to the area after an uneventful ride with only a little traffic. Everyone probably went where they were going Friday or yesterday. We had intended to stop and get sandwiches on Rte 29 in Madison, but we missed the turn we wanted to take, and the next turn brought us through foothill homes and no food or gas. We stopped in Stanardsville for gas and a stretch, and went over to the pizza parlor to see about subs or slices or something, but they weren't open until 2pm. Over to the grocery store, where we hoped they'd have subs wrapped in plastic wrap or something but no. I suggested we could just get deli meat and cheeses, and bread and I could make sandwiches for us, but we opted to just get snacks and water. We entered the drive at Swift Run Gap to drive north. It was a beautiful day, great weather, the trailheads were all very crowded, but the overlooks were alright. We stopped frequently and soaked it in. 

We ate "lunch snack" relatively early after getting on the drive. Why wait!

We've done the whole ride, but entering at Swift Gap is a good spot.  By the time we get to about 20 miles from the end I felt like it was more than enough Skyline Drive for me. 

Front Royal is the town at the northern terminus of the drive. We were last there in April 2019, I do believe, even though I didn't blog about it at the time. 

It's a cute town, they do a lot of Appalachian Trail stuff and people stay there when they get off the trail. My friend Kim told me about her time there when she hiked through twice. 

There is a brewery and restaurant there, we ate there in the past but they've since changed names. The beer was good and the food was great. Service was a little slow, but our waiter was incredibly friendly and gave us tips for things to see because we told him we were going for a little walk around town to play Pokemon. 

We made it a block or so away and found the Meadery. I didn't think we were going to go in, but we did. And of course we made instant friends. A guy who grew up in Rhode Island and his wife who grew up very close to where we live right now. They are regulars there, so they helped guide our choices because mead can be weird. I brought up another mead that is made in the area and they agreed with us that it is no good. This mead was exceptionally good. 

We had a great time, and the trip home was fast. Front Royal to Front Door in an hour and a quarter. Doug says it takes him that long to get home from Fairfax some evenings. 

I kind of wish we stayed out there and enjoyed some more Front Royal Area fun. We discussed a trip out there, without a Skyline Drive ride, in the future. 

Digits below, I didn't have my dinner time metformin with me so the digits are a little messed up post-dinner and mead and stuff. 

digits:

exercise: 11/12 hours of 250 steps. Missed 10am in the car. Little hikes and strolls around the overlooks and downtown Front Royal

blood glucose:

9am: 183
9pm: 234   

food:

coffee, water
10am: protein shake
1pm: metformin. Sliced cheese, pork rinds (carb free!) pepperoni slices, mixed nuts
5pm: burger, onion rings, 2 beers 
6pm: mead flight
9pm: metformin+jardiance
9:30pm: 2 good yogurt, 6 slices of snack cheese, mixed nuts, 2 good yogurt, another beer

A little but not a lot for Farmer Chris

Memorial Day weekend, and we made no plans. 

I asked him last night if he had any ideas for stuff he'd like to do. I mentioned a brewery that we're fond of is having their last hurrah this weekend and closing next week, he seemed disinterested. 

I am not sure what's up with him, he's a little out of sorts. 

This morning we sat around and did nothing and then he thought we ought to take the dog for a walk. We never take the dog for a walk. He is old and he has a hard time walking and getting up off the floor these days. 

The other day he was in the kitchen and he wiped out, and couldn't get back up. Triggered memories of Brodie in her last year where she'd just fall down in the kitchen and lay there and patiently await rescue. I would walk into the kitchen and see her there, just ... there. Looking at me like "oh. hello." 

But Phineas was not going to stay put, he was frantic and fighting to get up. I heard him and I was able to get him upright but he was horribly unsteady on his feet, until he got into the living room to the rug. This happens a couple times a week it seems. The poor bean. It's hard being almost 13.

I am reluctant anymore to take him anywhere other than a walk around the exterior of the house. He comes with me when I do my hourly steps and I go around (2x around the house is about 350 steps!). But today Doug felt he could use a stroll. 

The temperature was perfect, absolutely perfect, no humidity, just the best. We went up to the park, by the elementary school, and back up the street. Probably a 15 minute walk if you're just a human hoofing on your normal stroll, but it was closer to 45 minutes with two pokemon stops, a yard sale to scope out, and a couple of nice benches, and a very friendly old lady who wanted to stop and pat him and talk to him. 

We got home from our outing, and Doug went out to turn the last garden plot that he hadn't yet flipped. I went out and planted all of the sunflower seeds we had left from the past couple years. I am hoping for a jungle of sunflowers.

He left a lot of weeds and grass in the plot, which defeats the purpose because the weeds and grass are just going to grow up from where they've been flipped. I got in and got dirty. Digging in and pulling out the clay clumps, shaking out what soil I could get and flinging the grass and weeds at the fence. I got stung by something, felt like a finger stick for my testing kit. Ouch. Unexpected. But I never found what it was that stuck me. I was reluctant to walk barefoot in the plot so I was happy to have my flip flops to help.

I threw the seeds in, stomped them down as well as I could and then hosed the plot down, and stomped some more. My flip flops were caked and solid with the clay. It felt fun and I had a good time. 

Equally good time hosing off my footwear and my feet before coming in. 

All told, a very good day. No pictures but I should have taken a picture of the feet. 

Not sure what our plans are tomorrow. Doug hinted at a trip to Skyline Drive, if we can get up and out of our own way early enough. If not there is a pop up makers market at one of the DC breweries we like, so maybe we can go there. 

Hoping for good weather. Because today would have probably been the better day for Skyline Drive, but, we got the sunflowers in and that's good too.

digits:

exercise: 12/12 hours of 250 steps.  Doug and I took Phineas for a walk. Dedicated 10+ a lot, even with stopping and starting, good benches to play Pokemon on and let the dog rest!

blood glucose:

9:30am: 163
4:30pm: 174  
10pm: 187

food:

coffee, water
10:45am: one left over chicken thigh
noon: metformin (ha. i remembered!)
1:30pm: 2 good yogurt
4:30pm: 2 triscuits and 4 slices of cheddar cheese
6:30pm: bowl of baked ziti with meat sauce, 2 slices of garlic bread
7:30pm: protein shake

It's Not Covid

 I woke up yesterday morning with a cold. Geoff's had one for a couple weeks. It is either that or allergies, we've been sleeping with the windows open so pollen is probably coming to visit. 

This feels like a classic spring cold. Sore throat, runny nose, lots of sneezing. My hope is it doesn't make a progression into coughing, chest congestion, annoyance beyond this level of annoyance. 

Geoff and I both took Covid tests, they are negative. Because Doug got Covid a second time, we thought we should just check and be sure. After all, a week or so ago we were at that there graduation, we could have picked anything up. 

I am a little bummed because we are going into the holiday weekend and my head feels like a balloon, my eyes are itchy and watering, I am sneezing and coughing, and just want to cuddle under a blanket. 

Since we work at home, I didn't plan on taking a sick day but, I kind of did. I told my team I was going to take a nap and it turned into a 3 hour one. Out cold for three hours. The only reason I got up was because I had to pee very much. 

I reconnected with my team, did work, felt like a zombie. Didn't get a lot done but one or two things I absolutely HAD to get done and had been procrastinating on. To be honest I just wanted to get back in bed and play Cats & Soup on my phone.

Anyway, what a great way to start a holiday weekend. But hey, it's not Covid.

digits:

exercise: 3/12 hours of 250 steps.  no dedicated 10 or even hitting the benchmarks because, power nap

blood glucose:

9:30am: 213 (taken after I ate, and after cold medicine, so this number is elevated and not what it would have been in the 8 am range if I had remembered to take it)
4pm: 247 what happens when you don't eat and you forget your lunch time medication... 
10pm: 148

food:

coffee, water; iced coffee
9:00am: bowl of chicken salad
forgot to take metformin at lunch time because of a power nap
4:30pm: about 7 triscuits w/a ton of peanut butter
6pm: cheesesteak meat with mushrooms & onions, Metformin+Jardiance
wine
10pm: lunchtime metformin

In Vibrant Maturity

I had a whole other post written about having a bit of a cold. but today I was getting the dog food storage container filled up, and I cut the bottom of the bag open, pulling aside the name of the bag. 

I started to chuckle. 

The dog food we use is a Purina product called Vibrant Maturity. But in my head I started to sing Queensrÿche's "Silent Lucidity" to myself. 

Then I started making up words to the song, about Phineas and Phinnertime. Deep and humble apologies to the wonderful band of this masterful song, but .... "I'm smiling next to you, in vibrant maturity" just fits so wonderfully. 

I make myself laugh. Here's the label. You can sing along if you like.

digits:

exercise: 12/12 hours of 250 steps.   No dedicated 10 because I was making dinner and stuff.

blood glucose:

9am: 164
5:30pm: 163
9:30pm: 185

food:

coffee, water; iced coffee
9:30am: pbj, low sugar j on 647 bread
noon: metformin
12:30: giant bowl of salad (left over from dinner last night) w/can of tuna+mayo mixed in
6:45pm: 2 nice baked stuffed peppers with chorizo, onions, pepper. Wine. 
7:15pm: metformin+jardiance
8:30pm: tex mex trail mix (a little carby)

Hot

I am hot at night time. It's that time of year. 

Doug doesn't really like the windows open because "it is noisy out." He is right. Cars go down the street but it isn't like a highway. The lawn mowing is usually over by the time he gets home unless the Texan over there decides to do it after work. Oh yeah, and our neighbor across the street is CONSTANTLY working on projects in his yard that require grinding, cutting, metal power tools and he sometimes goes to 9pm, when the light is over. 

Doug wishes he'd "Just give it a rest already." Yeah. But I can put on the TV and turn it up loud, or, close the living room windows but keep the kitchen and bedroom windows open so it's cool for bed. 

The birds do start a ruckusing and fussing around 4am. So that can be disruptive.

Okay. Alright... so the AC is alright but to be honest. It doesn't really cool things down to my liking.

Last night we went to bed, and our bedroom is always colder in the winter and hotter in the summer because the vents or tubing or whatever the magic word is for AC thingies that travel all through your house go. Geoff watches tv in the living room and closes our door so as not to bother us. I managed to fall asleep, but didn't stay asleep, as I was roasting in bed. 

The dog wanted out at 1:30. I got up to let him out, and we went to the guest room and I flung open the window. The AC had kicked in, since our bedroom door was opened and the thermostat detected how warm it was so it blessed us with some stuff. But. I didn't care. The outside air was wicked cold and felt so good. I closed the bedroom door a bit (left it open enough that Phin could open it with his nose if he wanted) and we went back to sleep. 

Once Doug left for work, I watched him pull away and whipped all the windows open, turned the AC off. And around 5:30pm if the thermostat dictates it is too warm up in here, I'll close everything up again. 

Wash, rinse, repeat until it is in the 90s all day and 80s overnight and just hot as balls outside so we won't want the windows open again until October or whatever.

But I will say - the weather here lately has been very unlike what the last few Mays have been and I find it delightful and wonderful and don't want it to end. 

I really hate being hot. I can dress for the cold, I can get under blankets. But laying in my own bed, sweating, not wanting my legs to touch each other, waking up cause my hand touched my hot thigh, not wanting the nuclear furnace of the dog near my back/ass/thighs, I get so miserable. 

Hoping tonight is super comfortable. Over the weekend it will be 90 degrees so we can close up shop and deal with it.

Oh, By the way. Please watch this new release from Josh Ritter from the Non-Comm Music Alliance that I've been enjoying all day. 

And for my Christian College friends - Getting Ready to Get Down is quite the song, you may see/feel yourself in it. It puts a smile on my face. Except it wasn't a little Bible College in Missouri, you know where we were. There's a lot of words, so look up the lyrics and read along as he rips through them. Do it. You'll laugh and smile too.

digits below.

digits:

exercise: 12/12 hours of 250 steps.  dedicated 10 pokemon walk

blood glucose:

8am: 171
5:30pm: 178
10pm: 163 

food:

coffee, water; iced coffee
9:30am: protein shake
12:15pm: left over shrimp curry w/veggies
12:30: Metformin
12:45 still hungry. left over pork & garlic w/veggies
wine
7:15pm: metformin+jardiance 
7:45: one cheeseburger, big salad
8:30pm: cheese and crackers; tex mex trail mix

Potato Salad

Before my sister arrived, we went grocery shopping and I had suggested to Geoff to get potatoes for hash browns for brekkie. 

We never used them.

This nice bag of yellow spuds has been sitting in the pantry for a couple weeks. I figured ... even though carbs, we should use. 

Geoff made a great marinade for flank steak (this seems to be his new hobby?) and I decided to make potato salad. Mashed would have been nice too, and I could have used the marinade left over after the meat went on the grill to make a gravy (yes, you can. you heat it up enough that it's not going to give you food poisoning. Trust me, I've made some mad ass good crazy gravy off of some of his marinades!)

I had an idea of yes, potato salad, but also yes eggs, yes bacon. Geoff peeled 6 potatoes, I diced them into reasonable size and boiled them, checking them every 3 minutes to make sure they didn't overcook and become mashed potato candidates.  I boiled 6 eggs, 2 for the meal and 4 for Doug and Geoff to just eat whenever they wanted. I cooked up 12 pieces of bacon in the oven, nice and crispy. 

Peeling the eggs and dicing them was the biggest of the hassles, but we got through it. The bacon I cut into pieces with my scissors. 

Mayo, mustard, a dash of red wine vinegar, a spoon of splenda, salt, pepper, garlic powder, diced red onion (very tiny). Mixed that all up together and combined with the taters, eggs, and bacon. 

Best part was stepping out onto the back deck, cutting a bunch of parsley off my plant and a bunch of dill. I diced that up super small with some green onions that were in the fridge and got it all combined. Covered with a gentle sprinkle of paprika. To be served at room temperature, according to the recipe. 

I thought maybe I should make a warm bacon dressing or something, for salad, but meh. This was good.

And no I did not take a picture of it all. Sadly! I totally should have because it was beautiful.

To be honest, it was as tasty as it was beautiful. I'll make that again! Well. I shouldn't but. I will. 

Oh - and Geoff's marinade this time was outstanding. The recipe book called it a North African marinade, and he bought a giant flank steak for it. He went out to start the grill and I was still working. I heard a FOOMB sound, and him yell FUCK! 

So I went out to see what happened. 

Our grill has been coming on super hard lately and I do not know why. Today, it came on the hardest. Geoff said a fireball shot out of the top of it, and singed his arm.

"You.... had the lid open?" I asked

"Yeah," said he.

"Well, maybe never do that part again, but let's talk to your dad about this. Just. Always keep the top closed when starting the grill. 

The one picture I did take today is his right arm, singed hair scene! My camera wouldn't focus well on it, again, same issue as with the Guster show the other night but you can see the little stubbies of hair that look like he shaved over the weekend and now they are growing back in combined with the hair that wasn't singed off elsewhere on his arm. 

I'm glad he was not seriously hurt. Very glad!

Digits below. 

digits:

exercise: 12/12 hours of 250 steps.  Dedicated 10 pokemon walk.

blood glucose:

8:45am: 186
5:00pm: 156
10:30pm: 211 (thanks potato salad!)

food:

coffee, water; iced coffee
11:15 small ramekin mac&cheese and bacon
11:30: Metformin
1pm: bowl of chicken salad (chicken, cream cheese, mayo, grapes)
2pm: another bowl of chicken salad before putting it all away
6:30pm: Metformin+jardiance
7:15pm: flank steak marinade, too much potato salad (but it was good)

Guster and the HCYO

I didn't write a blog entry last night, I was super tired when we got home even though I wasn't out super late. The concert was over at 10. We were out of the parking lot by 10:20. Home in about 20 minutes. And after concerts I have a hard time falling asleep, last night was no different, but I didn't feel like sitting and doing a writeup of anything. I wanted to play phone games and zone out. 

My thoughts: First off, I can't believe we haven't been to this venue before. So close. So easy to get to. Second, it used to just be a shed in the woods, nothing else around it. Now, there are multi-use buildings, restaurants, condos, apartments, offices, a splash park! Doug said it gave him a total creepy feel like ... this is just here. Out here. Strangely. 

We did a fan meetup and about 20 people were there, which was super nice. We had a wonderful meal and fellowship at an Indian restaurant, and noted that there will soon be a BBQ joint opening up in the future. Probably less expensive, certainly less of a challenge for some people to be able to pick an entree! 

The show was sparsely attended, which was kind of a drag because it's a great big venue, and this was a great big deal. The youth orchestra played on EVERY song and they crushed it. I was so impressed with them. The band seemed to be completely enthralled, exceptionally happy. It was a fantastic night. 

I need weekly Guster concerts in my life.

Anyway, I took a lot of pictures but they are all blurry and horrible. Methinks I'd like a phone upgrade just to get a camera upgrade, ya know? Possibly before the trip in August. 

Here are a couple shots. 

To the right here is a picture with two Guster fan friends I've made. Laura (red hair) lives in Baltimore, she's super sweet and her husband took pictures for us. 

Oh and there's Doug who didn't want to be in pictures but he is anyway. 

Lisa is wearing the pretty top. She is from Tennessee. Yes. They came all the way from Tennessee. We got to hang out together in Florida too at two of the shows. 

So she's also, as my sister would say, a "crack monkey" for Guster!

The opening act was Kyshona. She hails from Nashville, and I really liked her a lot. AMAZING harmonies, would totally go see her again. 

And then I wanted pictures of the orchestra with Guster but they had this plexiglass divider, to "mute" the orchestra loudness and it made for not so good picture taking. It was actually too drastic - I really don't think they needed it. There were parts of songs where I couldn't hear them over the band, and I knew they were playing. Other people got great shots, so I can see them in the Fan group on Facebook.

Digits for Sunday and Today below the Gusters. 

Sunday digits:

exercise: 10/12 hours of 250 steps.  Missed an hour by being in the car and an hour by being at dinner

blood glucose:

9:30am: 163
4:30pm: 150
11pm: 180

food:

coffee, water
I don't remember most of what I ate during the day, but I did have something at like brunch-ish time, yogurt?
3pm: 3 left over chicken thighs. 
5:30pm: Indian restaurant pre-concert meetup: butter chicken, garlic scallops, small scoop of rice, 2 beers

Monday digits:

exercise: 12/12 hours of 250 steps.  Dedicated 10+10, interrupted a little bit by a stop to talk to a neighbor walking his dog, I haven't seen them in almost 2 years. I was getting worried about them!

blood glucose:

8:30am: 180
5:45pm: 180
10pm: 154

food:

coffee, water; iced coffee
10:30am: 2 left over kielbasa
noon: metformin
2:30pm: slice of 647 bread w/ peanutbutter
3:45pm: pink lady apple w/ peanutbutter
wine
7pm: metformin+Jardiance; 2 chicken thighs seasoned with spicy spices, 2 low carb fajita wraps, shredded cheese, avocado spread, sour cream.

Für Elise and the Victory Pizza

Woke up in plenty of time to get to Hen's recital. Had a heck of a time parking and was late. Luckily there were about 20 kids showing their mad skills, and he was in the last batch. 

He was incredibly happy to see me, and I settled in to watch kids I don't know play an assortment of songs, 30 seconds to 2 minutes. Most on piano, but two on guitar, a cello, the cello and a piano did a duet, and a trumpet player and I wanted to tell him to not aim his horn at his feet but sit up straight - and aim at us. My high school band teacher would have had at it! 

They had a distinct format. The child walked to the front, turned and bowed, everyone clapped. The child then placed their music where it needed to be, and they played their piece. They stood and bowed and everyone clapped. They walked away. Repeat. When it was Henry's turn he went up, announced who he was and that he'd be playing "Für Elise by Looodwig van Baytoveen."

I have to say it was very nice. His little hands are small and his fingers have to stretch across many keys to play the piece. He worked hard at it, and it was very slow, but he did it. 

The pep talk video from Brian was a success! 

When he was done, he got up and ran from the piano, forgetting his music, but the smile on his face was fantastic. 

Afterwards we went up to the pub and had "Victory Pizza" and a lovely time. 

That was my day. Doug and I intended on doing something fun after but we never got out the door. I folded an epic amount of laundry. That was my personal big success today. 

I didn't take any pictures or video, I regret it. I should have gotten at least one picture of Hen.

Anyway. Great day, lots of fun, impressive bunch of kids!

I was about to take a walk and noted that it looked like rain. And the sky opened right up. No wind, just straight down pouring rain. Outrageous. Well, doing my steps inside is the way to go, I guess!

digits below!

digits:

exercise: 12/12 hours of 250 steps.  

blood glucose:

8:30am: 188
5:30pm: 156
10pm: 155

food:

coffee, water
11am: cheese slices & pepperoni
12:30: 4 small square slices of bar pizza with hamburger and onion; metformin. 2 high noon seltzers
3:30pm: 2 sliced turkey and cheddar cheese roll ups
6:30pm - 2 bratwursts with sautéed onions
7:15: metformin+jardiance
wine

Support

This afternoon, I went to see Henry (and Sara & Sean) and listen to Hen practice with his music teacher for tomorrow morning's recital. 

I had a surprise for him. Brian from Guster made him a video to encourage him to do his best and that no matter what, he's amazing just for playing piano. 

I don't want to post the video, or Henry's reaction (Sara recorded it for us) but I just have to say we are so lucky to be fans of this band, and these musicians are so generous and kind to us. Suffice to say, I'd love to show it to you. But. I won't.

Overall I am just thinking how cool it is that I email a rock star, ask him to support an 8 year old who is freaking out over his recital, and the rock star sends back a video - not just an email, but a video. And includes dogs from the dog park at the end. 

How lucky are we to be fans of this band. I'm shaking my head over how kind they are, and the things they do for their fans and the world overall. What a gift it is to just know they are out there.

I'm looking forward to Henry's recital, and to be honest, I don't think I'd get out of bed on a Saturday morning for anyone else on earth right now. I'll let you know how it goes.

Oh and I just wanted to add that I have 900 pounds of laundry to fold, so I couldn't find the capris I wanted to throw on to walk out the door this afternoon. So I put on the pants I bought at Kohls a couple weeks ago. 

The size 16 pants. 

Now, for some of you you'd laugh at 16 like "OMG THAT IS HUGE!" but, I wore size 22, then 20, then 18. My size 18 pants are so big they fall off. So tonight was the maiden voyage of the size 16 jeans. And they fit and look fantastic. 

Ha. There ya go. 

Anyway.

Work was so busy this week but I feel like I got nothing done today, and I still have things to do. It is 10pm and I just answered some emails and had a great back and forth with a colleague in Utah, Maybe after the recital tomorrow. If we don't go do more fun things. 

Anyway. Doug went to bed at 9, he was super tired. The dog is snoring here beside me, I think I'll head to the guest room and read. 

digits:

exercise: 12/12 hours of 250 steps. No dedicated 10, kind of a busy day!

blood glucose:

9am: 168
5:30pm: 150
10pm: 181

food:

coffee, water
9am: PBJ w/ low sugar J on 647 bread
10:45am: bowl of mac & cheese with tons of hamburger
12pm: Metformin
1pm: bowl of salad, can of tuna, bunch of mayo, mixed
6pm: grilled chicken thighs in Mediterranean marinade: Mayo (I was out of plain yogurt), lime juice, garlic, ginger, spicy hot sesame oil, paprika, scallions, parsley. Salad of romaine, tomato, cucumber, chipotle ranch dressing
7pm: metformin+jardiance
wine
8/9pm: a couple ramekins of Asian Mix snack mix from Target (a bit more carb heavy than I thought, but, cashews, almonds, wasabi peas) 
10pm: protein shake (to balance out those snacky carbs)

Loving the Short Week

Monday on a Wednesday is kind of nice. 

Today went really fast, and I have to say I'm looking forward to the weekend and a Guster concert on Sunday. 

I was looking through my pictures from last night and they didn't come out good even though we were super close. i kind of feel like I want a phone upgrade just for a better camera. 

I'm that person. 

So I hope I get some good shots on Sunday at the show.

Anyway, Crammed a lot of work into today after yesterday being an epic fail. Had a long talk with a colleague who found out she is not having her contract renewed but someone is trying to recruit her for a job in Andover MA. I told her I'm jealous and will be her Auntie and guide her in where to go.  

Tomorrow afternoon I'm going to go up and visit my friend Henry, and give him a pep talk. 

He has a recital on Saturday morning, and he's super anxious and scared that he's going to fail. No matter how much encouragement his mom and dad are giving him, he is still not sure. So I'm going to go talk to him. 

I also asked the drummer from Guster to maybe send him a little video as a pep talk about how he should be brave or something and boy did he come through. I'm so happy I asked. He sent me a video and I got it last night, sent it to Sara to share with Hen.

How lucky are we to know this band and how kind they are to their fans. He didn't have to do that, he could just ignore my email. But he really did a solid. 

Oh I did want to mention my everloving thanks to the Lincoln Theater in Washington DC and their absolute lack of a "bag policy."

They're doing it right. 

We had our purses looked into, with flashlights and little sticks to move everything around. There was not some sort of horrible mini-sized "clutch" only policy of 6" x 4". 

There were people there with BACKPACKS, and purses big enough to carry small dogs in. There was a woman with a suitcase. 

Thank you I.M.P. and the Lincoln. Thank you. 

Anyway, here are two acceptable pictures from last night. I'll go through them more carefully on the laptop instead of the phone. Easier to see. I also think I need new glasses. most everything is blurry all the time anymore, and I can still read and "see" things but it isn't as sharp for pictures as I'd like. 

These aren't super clear but I did like the lights on the ceiling, and caught this moment, and Josh is very earnest when singing, his eyes are always closed.

Digits below!

digits:

exercise: 12/12 hours of 250 steps. no dedicated 10 and kind of a minimal effort kinda day from me.

blood glucose:

8am: 171
5:30pm: 134
10pm: 138

food:

coffee, water 
10:45am: 4pc bacon in a low-carb wrap with 4 strips of sliced turkey and mayo
noon: Left over beef stroganoff (there were a few noodles mixed in but not a lot). Metformin
6pm: 1 cheeseburger over a big salad, chipotle ranch salad dressing
7:30pm: metformin+jardiance
vodka tonic
10pm: ritz wheat crackers+peanut butter

I will hold your drink a thousand times over - Sara and Chris go see Josh Ritter

It's too late at night to do a full write up of anything but tonight we went to see Amythyst Kiah open for Josh Ritter and his band. 

It was an amazing night. 

First we had dinner at the same restaurant we went to a while back when we saw the Punch Brothers, and it was nowhere near as good as it was when we were there last. Meh. But. We got a meal, and a drink, and were all set to get in line early for GA admission to the seated show. 

Then, while waiting in line, Amythyst Kiah was walking down the alley near the venue. Sara was shy but I am not. We got a selfie with her and were total derps about it.

We got great seats, total score. 

Amythyst performed solo and shook the place to the core. So much truth and passion from her. A new song called Empire Love (I think) was just stunning. 

Josh and his band were freakishly good. I mean. The man is such a performer, a good and lovely soul, and funny as hell. And I was kind of disappointed in how dead the crowd was, but, he got everyone up and rocking towards the end. It took a long time. But he succeeded. 

Sara and I had to keep asking each other to "hold my drink" while we fished around in bags, or moved merch around or did whatever. She asked me if I was annoying her by asking so many times to hold her drink. 

I told her that "I will hold your drink a thousand times over." 

Josh has a song where the lyrics talk about how it feels like we've known each other forever. Pleaase watch this song. Indulge me.

"I know there was a time before but I cannot bring it to mind  
And I can't believe that we were ever strangers"

I feel this way with a lot of friends, but Sara said that this song really spoke of both of us tonight. We've only known each other since 2019, but it feels like we've known each other for quite some time. 

So I'll hold her drink a thousand times. I'll hold your drink a thousand times. 

Here's our selfie with a super duper awesome rock star. At least she looks amazing. I look like a total dork. 

Digits below.

digits:

exercise: 12/12 hours of 250 steps. And a lot of dancing!

blood glucose:

8am: 143
4:30pm: 140
11:45pm: 163

food:

coffee, water 
11am: small bowl of mac & cheese with hamburger
12:15: Protein shake + metformin
1pm: left over chinese boneless pork strips
2:30pm: some ritz crackers and peanut butter
4:45pm: 4 slices of turkey, 2 baby bell cheeses, berry 2 good yogurt
6pm: small plates, egg roll, pickles, a little bit of sausage rice, and a half-smoke sausage with no bun. 1 beer. 
6:30pm: metformin+jardiance
through the evening - a couple diet cokes w/vodka
popcorn

First Generation but not really

Linda just left and I already miss her. We had a lot of fun this visit. 

I took today off because I thought she was leaving tomorrow. She has a work thing that cropped up late last week that she needs to be in early for. I was trying to convince her to just stay here one more night, play phone games, eat take out food, and day drink. But that didn't work. 

"You can stay here, and get up at 6am and drive straight to the office! C'mon."

She wasn't buying it. Sadly.

I'm looking forward to seeing her in August. 

I'm trying to figure out what to do with myself today because I am not giving back my day off. I thought about it, but no. I did read my email, and answered a couple of quick questions. But didn't spend a lot of time letting work take up space in my brain. I just know what I'm being prepared for. 

Maybe I can take my own advice, just sit here, play phone games, eat take out food, and day drink. 

I kind of want to go to the store and get more plants for this long rectangle planter I have. Pansies or impatiens maybe. 

The plants in the little pots on the table are not doing well, I think they are designed for ground cover, not pots. I may find a new happy place to replant them. I also want to get a big ass watering can because our hose is just monstrously powerful, and keeps clobbering the fragile herbs. 

There is also the pile of awesome crafty things I have for bracelets and I can get started with that. Hmmmm! 

I had ordered red mardi gras beads from some outfit on Amazon and the order was "returned" due to "inability to deliver," which is crap because I ordered 100 other things in the past week and nothing was unable to be delivered. Whatever. 

I ended up going onto Oriental Trading (every Sunday school and elementary school teacher's go-to for fun inexpensive supplies) and ordered red metallic beads from there instead. They should arrive this weekend. I can get started on my lobster hole-punching, see how that goes. If it is a no-go, well, plan b is to tie little strings to the bottom of the lobsters and then attach the hoops to the strings. I'm hoping the hole punching is a success.

Of course, I'll keep you updated.

I have a funny addendum to yesterday's post. 

When Geoff picked up his graduation regalia, they asked him "Are you a first generation graduate?" And he said yes. 

So they handed him a First Generation white stole. 

He thought they meant "from this institution," not, "from college in general." 

To the school's credit, not assuming a white male would of course be part of an academic lineage that included multiple graduates is a credit to them. But also, phrasing is sometimes confusing for the boy. 

I'm first generation, neither of my parents went to college, neither of their parents... etc. On Doug's side, his grandfather went to college on the GI bill after WWII, Doug's mom and dad both went to college, and Doug went to college (that's where we met!). So Geoff is fourth generation, not first.  

I think he realized during the ceremony that this was a bit of a misunderstanding and he took the stole off. He explained this to us when I asked him where the stole went. 

A lovely, misunderstanding and one we can giggle about. 

I also sat here last night thinking about this victory. I took his photo and emailed it to his academic counselor, the one person at the last school who I felt had a good head AND a good heart and was very understanding with Geoff. Like, a real guidance counselor. I wanted him to see how far Geoff had come since October 2021, when the school broke his heart. Look. 

This smile could have been yours. And you can tell his academic program head that. If you want. I don't want to stir the pot, basically, but I do want someone at your institution to know this. 

My friend Sara works with a lot of the colleges in the system, and she was so incredibly upset by how all this went down, and she wasn't in a position to intervene, but, wanted to. To say how thrilled and overjoyed she was to see Geoff's pictures, well. 

Digits below. 

digits:

exercise: 11/12 hours of 250 steps. I have no idea how i missed 2pm?

blood glucose:

9am: 198
4:30pm: 166
10:15pm: 160

food:

coffee, water, iced coffee
11:45: mixed chinese food plate; shrimp curry; chicken fingers, garlic pork;
12:30: metformin
4:30: tex mex trail mix
6:30pm: metformin+jardiance
7pm: 2 chicken cutlet "cluck pucks" topped with american cheese, on top of a scoop of potato salad and tomato cubes
wine

Certified

In October 2021, Geoff lost out on his dream academic program after some unfortunate twists and turns. (click the link if you want to read about it). 

He recovered from that disappointment and enrolled in another program at a different school. He could have enrolled in the same program at this different school, but he'd have to start over, start from scratch. And he didn't want to do two solid years and possibly have the wheels fall off the cart again 3 months before completion of the program. So he picked something different, on purpose. 

Doug helped him navigate the options and he entered into a Medical Lab Technology program in April 2022. He had to take phlebotomy first, and pass it, and then moved ahead with the medical lab tech stuff. 

Today, he graduated with the certificate. 

After what he went through with the last community college, I feel like sending his picture to the program director and letting her know how thankful we are that she felt he was unworthy. He wasn't unworthy. He needed some extra help and guidance, and this program didn't provide it to him, so we found one that did. 

He loved his instructors and his program head. I really hope he doesn't stop here and he enrolls in the continuing academic program and gets his associates. After he gets his associates, he can go on to any Virginia state college/university (George Mason, UVA, VCU, etc...) without going through application processes - you just continue the journey. 

Right now, he's happy to be done with this and have certification in something, it will make him valuable to an employer to have this in line. 

The only thing he has left to do is to complete his phlebotomy license exam. That's it. Technically, every job out there requires it. So he would not get hired, or, would get hired and told he had X amount of time to get the certification. 

There was some drama on the way here. Last night he asked who all was coming to the graduation. I said "us. We're your squad," gesturing to Linda, Doug and myself. I think he was mad. He knew Jess couldn't make it, but I think he thought Doug's mom and sister were still coming. And we invited Sara (she works in an academic success program through University of Maryland for first generation college students), or M&M. But it was a Monday. A graduation on a Monday. And asking people to take time off to come to this is a touch unrealistic. Linda at least is working right now to get some things done before she leaves tomorrow. 

But I could see he was actually disappointed. And that made me sad. He went up the deck stairs, and went to bed.

This morning, I got up before 6 when the dog came to the living room to ask me for breakfast. I made coffee and got in the shower. Geoff came upstairs, got coffee, and we didn't see each other. But once I came out into the kitchen and we crossed paths, I noted he had on cargo shorts and white socks and sneakers with kind of a golf shirt. 

"What are you doing?" I asked him, "we just went and bought you all new shirts and pants and dress socks and stuff. The whole thing. What are you thinking. No. You are not wearing cargo shorts."

He pushed back saying everyone said it is hot under the robe, and I said "yes it is. Of course it is. But you'll survive. You'll get through it, butter cup. You can keep that shirt on, but go get your dress pants." 

He also didn't shave and didn't think it was a big deal. So we argued about that (I won the pants argument, not the shaving one). Doug came out and started on him and he yelled that mom already got "up in my face about this shit and can we please stop!" 

I went and got dressed, Doug and Linda were dressed, and we said "we're dressed better than you are for your graduation." He went and put on dress pants. At least. And he was surly as fuck. 

I thought the arena was by Tysons Corner but it was at George Mason University, twice as far away. So Doug was annoyed with me for getting it wrong. I was just rolling my eyes at this point at everyone. We got there at 8:40, 10 minutes "late" but based on the amount of graduates who came in long after the ceremony began well, we were just fine. Geoff was able to pick up his cap and gown, and we were good to go. 

It was a good ceremony, but I have notes. 

I was kind of surprised they do the certificate and associates together at the same time. I was disappointed because they split the students up, A-M at 10am, N-Z at 3pm. Geoff didn't actually graduate with anyone in his program. There were a couple of people who were getting their Associates in his program but no one getting their certification, and he didn't know any of the people getting their MLT Associates. No one. Everyone from his program was going to be in the 3pm session. Weird, huh? But that's the way the alphabet works. 

I really think they should have kept the programs together, and done certificates in the morning, associates in the afternoon? Or, all the criminal justice and IT programs, and all the Allied health programs, and Liberal Arts/General studies in the afternoon. I don't know. Just ... It could have been better managed. 

And their parking/traffic management was an absolute shit show.

I will say it was a great scene, so much diversity, so many families. A dad sat behind us with his 3 little ones, three under 5, I'd say. They were noisy, raucous, and there he is, trying to take pictures but also include them and let them know how important it is.

It is important. 

Their mommy probably started on this journey right after the little boy was born, and here she is, graduating. There was a young woman behind us sitting near them who kind of stepped in to keep them entertained, so he could set up the camera, and get pictures and take 1/3 of them to the bathroom, over and over, in rotation. He really could have used an auntie, or a grandma, or something. 

Luckily this young woman was just good. She was lovely. And the kids ended up being very good through the whole ceremony. When it came time for mommy to go up on the stage, he had them come to the rail. When they cheered for her, we cheered for her.

After it was all over, we decided to put distance between us and the arena. We figured the one or two restaurants near the venue were going to be mobbed. So we drove to Bethesda, ate at a little place that we didn't intend to eat at, but it worked out fantastically. 

We all took big naps. 

Anyway, Geoff actually smiled a bunch, there's video evidence of it on Instagram (let me know if you want to see it. But we got some good pictures, and here they are. 

digits:

exercise: 5 hours of 250 steps. lots of stadium sitting, a big nap that covered 2 hours and a bit of a lazy non-effort for the evening

blood glucose:

6am: 178
6:30pm: 177
10:15pm: 202

food:

coffee, water
8am: protein shake
3pm: buffalo wings, salad w/ goat cheese, mixed greens, sliced red apple and walnuts; 1/2 my turkey, brie, avocado sandwich (the salad was much bigger than anticipated), 2 small beers
4:30pm: lunchtime metformin (should have taken it with me to the graduation but forgot)
6:45pm: Chinese food: red curry shrimp, general gao's chicken, garlic pork, egg roll, 3 peking ravioli. No rice. 

My happy place

This morning we brunch skunked ourselves and also watched the Bob's Burgers episode of Brunch Skunks. Hilarious. I love how Linda Belcher calls them Momosas. Perfect for Mother's Day. 

I made egg mcmuffins for everyone and had mine without the mcmuffin even though I desperately wanted one. I didn't need people making ME breakfast, I'm a little picky about all the process so I wanted to be the one to do it. 

Over the course of the morning, we drank 3 bottles of champagne/mimosas, or, Momosas. We would have moved on to four, but, Linda and I had planned on errands today. I was rather sober, she was not really safe for driving. That's quite alright, I'll drive Miss Daisy to the mall. 

First we went to the the salon to get her haircut at the place I get my hair cut at, but the two girls who are good with "white girl hair" were not in. I thought that may be the case on a Sunday. We went to the salon I go to for pedicures, I'd been calling for an appointment for two days and there was never an answer, so we figured maybe they were closed? No. They were open, they were booked for the day though. 

I knew we'd want more champagne, so we drove over to the county store, and right next door there was a haircutting joint. They weren't super busy so we got her right in. Boom. Haircut. She hasn't had a for real haircut since the pandemic started. She has had her husband cut some hair, and her friend Lisa cut some hair, but ... she needed a full do. Bout time. Success.

I googled nail salons near us, and there was a place open not too far away who could take us. We went to the county store and got what we needed and headed over to the salon. Got the pedicures, boom. Done. Awesome. 

Oh and look, there's a craft store and I have no idea what I need for bracelets but I know I probably need tools and shit, so, we bought tools and shit. 

We came home and Geoff was waiting for us so we could make dinner. He and I cheffed up Beef Stroganoff, I always get to make the sauce part, and he watches each time the way I do it. We opened champagne, and Doug went out to start the camp fire. 

I think Doug went in to bed around 10:30. Linda and I sat outside singing to Simon & Garfunkel, and then listened to Peter Gabriel, and talked about how in 1983 she would wait for me to leave the house once I got some friends, and she'd listen to my albums. 

We saw some wild and crazy streak of light go across the sky to the north of us - it was solid and then broke up into gaps, and finally disappeared. I have no idea what we saw. The internet and the Twitters have no details. Hmm. So we went back to singing.

It was an absolute shame to put the fire out, the coals were perfect, glowing, wonderful. If we didn't have to get up at 6am to get ready for Geoff's graduation, well. I'd say we'd keep going! 

At one point while we were singing, Linda said to me "I'm in my happy place." 11:30pm, singing and talking about music, gorgeous fire, and my neighbors not coming out to yell at us for being loud or stupid. I decided we had to pack it up at midnight.

I'm absolutely wide awake, the dog is hogging up my entire side of the bed so I came out to sleep in the living room. Linda told me I should sleep with her but to be honest, I know for a fact if I go in there, we'll end up talking more and maybe laughing/giggling/acting stupid until all hours. It's already almost 1am and we have to be up at 6, as mentioned. Good gravy.

That's what happens when you're in your happy place.

Here's a before and after picture of Cousin It, I mean, Linda.

digits:

exercise: 11 hours of 250 steps. Missed 7pm by a hair, sitting at the camp fire and yakking. Dedicated 10? lots of store walking

blood glucose:

9am: 174
5pm: 163
11pm: 183

food:

coffee, water 
11:45am: egg on top of bacon with shredded cheddar (egg mcmuffin without the muffin)
12:30: metformin
6pm: beef stroganoff on top of some egg noodles (not a lot!) Metformin+jardiance 

A lot of mimosas. A. Lot. 

JOTR Too!!!

I've procrastinated cleaning up the guest room so today's the day. 

Doug found an awesome overstuffed wood and leather chair on the side of the road a week or so ago, we thought it'd fit well in there. 

There was already a beat up chair from an old living room set in there, I decided, today was the day. Clean and rearrange instead of just make the bed up. Get that old beat up chair out, and put it in our bedroom where he can drape his pants/shirts on, instead of the pile on the floor. Slightly classier, ya know?

Doug left for his aunt at about 11:45. I baked banana bread. I continued cleaning the living room. And then the bathroom. And loading the dishwasher. And then back to the guest room. 

Not sure if other people are this way but when I have to do a thing, it is usually on a list of multiple things, and I sometimes do not get everything 100% done. Happy to report the living room is clean, dog beds are washed, guest room just needs sheets, bathroom is clean, and three loads of dishes are done.

In the middle of everything I was doing, boxes arrived for me, and I had forgotten what I bought on Amazon this week. 

Ah yes. The assorted surprise pack of candle votives, Mrs. Meyers Hand Soap in the radish scent, since they never have it at the store and I found some online, oh... Yes. 

.... beads and lobsters.

Yes. You read that right.Beads and lobsters. 

I was shopping for beads to make friendship bracelets with, while drinking wine. They landed in my cart. Boom. Then saw some mardi gras style necklaces with crawdads on them that look enough like lobsters. They were bad ass! Shit yeah. Well. A dozen of them is like 30 bucks, so I thought better of it. Maybe for the "inner circle" I'd treat my friends but. Not 100 of them for the rando friends I've made here and there that I'd love to bestow a souvenir upon.

Then I saw these wee, cute rubber lobsters, 100 in a pack, 10 bucks. Hell yes! I'll figure out some action on that. Oh and then 100 red beaded mardi gras necklaces without any lobsters or crawdads on them ... I put those in my cart. 100 for like 10 bucks. 

Now I just have to figure out how to pierce the lobsters, put a wee hoop in there, and affix them to the mardi gras necklaces. 

Christine, crafting party of one! I can see me at the dining table, futzing with these until they're all set. But wish me luck. 

I was telling Doug about the bead bracelets, and showed him the ones my Taylor Swift friend gave me. When I told him my plan to make these for the Guster fans, I said "I can make LAGF for lost and gone forever, Big Friend for ... Big Friend (the bear in the picture above), CDASH for Come Downstairs and say Hello." 

He yelled out "JOTR!" for Jesus on the Radio. 

Yes, Doug. Yes. You betcha. 

I am very glad my kits did not come with little claspy dealies I would have become distracted and played with the bead set. 

On the list of things to do tomorrow, Linz wants a pedicure, and so do I and we are going to see if my hair salon is open. 

More later. Bed time!

Pictures, beads, lobsters. Oh Yes. then digits.

digits:

exercise: 12 hours of 250 steps. no "dedicated 10" but non-stop work today!

blood glucose:

10am: 200
5pm: 200
9:45pm: 178

food:

coffee, water 
12pm: 2 slices of homemade banana bread; metformin
3:30pm: realized I had skipped lunch. Protein shake, baby bell cheese, ramekin mixed nuts
6:45pm: metformin+jardiance
7:30pm: marinaded top round steak by Geoff, peas, gravy
10pm: the last of the banana bread

Aloe Aloe Aloe!

Doug had a doctor's appointment today, and my only task personally has been to vacuum before Linda gets here tomorrow. I have a lot to do tomorrow, but it is supposed to rain so I figure the morning will be awesome, filled with tasks like washing bed sheets and cleaning the bathroom. 

After Doug got back from his appointment, I took 2 potted aloe plants outside, to repot them. One was way too big for the pot it was in, and was falling out and over. It was so heavy/big that the entire thing fell off the window sill a couple weeks ago, so I figured today would be good to sit out, and do plant care. It was hot out but not brutal, so it was a perfect day to go out and do this task! 

I noticed the too big for its pot aloe was having a baby, so I put that in its own pot and now I have three aloe plants. I also noticed the garden needs to be watered, but I refrained because on the overnight it's supposed to start happening, so, I didn't want to overwater the things. 

Tomorrow Doug's going to his aunt's. She called tonight to say that she needs help with a bunch of things, so he is reluctantly going since we're expecting company and he had plans to do some things here. But the next time he'll be able to go over to help her would maybe possibly be next weekend and she sounded like she really needed a lot of help with a couple things. So. Off he goes in the morning. I can get done the things I want to get done before Linz comes, the things I needed him to do have to do with his clothes in the bedroom and getting organized. It can wait, honestly.

Pictures of the aloe action below. On the left, the two plants before I did the work, on the right, the new family of 3. Didn't realize I'd semi-cropped out the middle sized plant on accident, trying to get that big one in frame and looking good. And feature the babyeeee.

digits:

exercise: 11 hours of 250 steps. Missed 1pm because I was playing a game on my phone and lost track of time at the end of the hour... tried to make it but fell just short. No dedicated 10 but I did vacuum, moved furniture around. Kind of a workout!

blood glucose:

9am: 165
4:30pm: 160
10pm: 133

food:

coffee, water 
11:30: turkey & swiss on 647 wheat w/mayo. Metformin
6:30pm: grilled chicken thighs in 2 low-carb wheat wraps w/ shredded cheddar, avocado spread, sour cream; metformin+jardiance
8pm: last 1/2 chicken thigh
9pm: bowl of tex mex trail mix
gin & tonics

The New Car

Doug and Geoff were talking this morning about their plans for the day. My plan was to stay here and house clean, they're off to shop for a car. 

Doug said that before they left he needed to go to the lab for some blood work, and drop off his colon cancer poop sample dealie. 

I called out from the bedroom "you can't go to Kensington, you know. You have to go to Gaithersburg." Doug asked why was that? 

"Kensington is closed on weekends," I told him.

"Chris, it's Thursday."

"Oh yeah. It is, isn't it?" 

Taking time off from work does a little something to my brain, I guess. Totally feels like a Saturday up in here. 

I got out of bed so we could talk money. He refuses to buy anything that needs to be financed but thank God we've got money in the bank to buy something decent and he's stopped buying thousand dollar cars. 

We checked our bank accounts, our available credit, he has had a specific car in mind, and if he can pay cash for it, boom. He'll pay cash for it. 

Thing is, if they'll let him use his debit or credit card without some horrible 10% fee for it he'll pay cash for it. Otherwise, he has to come home, go to the bank in person and pay a 20 dollar fee for a bank check and go back to the dealership. This is what we went through when he bought the Dodge. 

(By the way, if he puts something this big on a credit card, I pay the balance off immediately. That's the way I roll. No leisurely slow payment plan over a year. Payment, done. Boom). 

Doug is notoriously cheap when it comes to banking. Fees? Surcharges? What kind of banking is this! Fuck your bank! He got ripping angry at our bank three years ago when he had to pay a $20 fee for the bank check, but it was less than the charge to pay for the car on our debit card at the dealership (that would have been 500 bucks). 

I told him it is the "cost of doing business," and that if he didn't like it, he could take cash out of the bank without a fee and hand it to the dealer. But the dealer doesn't take CASH of course, because of safety. 

So the customer is left getting fucked on fees. It's how banks make money, yo. Sad but true. Go buy a car already. 

And he did. Meet his new Mini Cooper S Countryman named Domino. He had a personal check in his wallet, and the guy accepted it. No fees.

The mini has 129k miles on it, the price was right, the dealership in Maryland is responsible for making sure it passes inspection and it did (he almost bought one in Virginia but I reminded him it needed to pass inspection in MD and VA has much much lower standards!) 

For some reason the satellite radio is on and working. It has an AUX and USB cord and it plays CDs. It doesn't exactly know what technology year it is supposed to be in, to be honest. 

Welcome to the garage, little zippy car.

An Interstitial Plant Post

After I got back from the dentist yesterday, Doug called at about 6 to say he was stuck in traffic and wouldn't be home until about 7. I asked him to swing by the market to get buns for bratwurst, maybe some potato salad or something. I'd grill if he shopped.

I decided to use the waiting time to doctor up some snake plants.

A year ago I split up a snake plant into two pots. This year, I've been struggling with gnats on all of the plants, and I think the culprit was the soil and the snakes. I bought little bug traps to stick in each of the plants and to be honest, the snakes were always full of bugs! 

I took the two pots outside to fully clear out all the potted soil, rinse the plants fully, put new soil in the pots after washing them down with soapy spray, and hoping for the best. 

Enjoy some photos of my process. Two became Three!

Here they are before I started the process.
I should have taken a picture of the bug catchers from these plants. They were impressive!

After taking the snake plant out of the pot, I washed it thoroughly in a bucket, cleaned the pot, and got the plant sprayed down. 

The second pot was amazing. Look at the ROOTS on this guy! 
I've never seen such bright roots all wrapped around the inside of the pot.
I ended up splitting some of this one off for a new pot!

And I am not sure if I need deeper pots for how tall some of these are, but, now I have three wonderful pots for the snake plants. I also have another pot inside the house of some that broke off a year ago, and one leaf/snake that I planted that I'm waiting to see if it "pups." 

I am going to end up with five snake plant containers!