123123 - Happy New Year

If you're a long time reader of this blog, you know I don't make new years resolutions. If I set myself up for failure, and I will fail, it's overall disappointing and I don't like being disappointed in myself. So I basically say I'll just keep attempting to be awesome? Or maybe more awesome without a measurable percentage of success. 

When we used to do our goals and objectives at work, my former manager wanted us to have measurables against what we were saying. This year I did X amount of things so I'd like to achieve X plus 10%. I absolutely hated that. What if not enough things come your way that you can hit that plus 10% mark? So every year we'd kind of argue about these benchmarks based on numbers. 

But that's not fun. Don't make your goals about numbers, maybe make them about feelings, and tiny victories. 

I will say that even though I'm not interested in measuring against numbers, I do want to lose those last 7-ish pounds (some days it is 5 pounds, some it is 10, depending on that weight of the day). But breaking 200 and hitting 199 will bring me to a "measurable" goal from 2020 before the pandemic. I would like to up the walking totals. Those are measurable. I want to be more present for friends, either for fun or when they're "going through it," 

The only big news is Doug bought a bunch of toys for Toffee, she's got a bag of 6 balls wrapped in rope like monkeys fists, some sort of "indestructible" plastic turtle that squeaks, but I'm literally not strong enough to squeeze it hard enough to squeak it. She can, though. She's squeezing the heck out of it and it is singing the song of its people. Some ropes, a chewy "bacon" flavored super chew toy. And then next week there are several more things coming. 

It is so weird to have a dog that loves toys this much. I'll see if I can get a picture of her enjoying her bounty. I think she's already destroyed the turtle, from what it sounds like from across the room. 

Anyway. No matter what 2023 did to you, ignore the fact it is turning 2024 and just go get every day going forward. Do your best.  

And if you try and take a nap, when you're supposed to be doing work, may Toffee find you and keep you from wasting your time. 

Digits below. 

digits 

exercise: 12/12 hours of 250 steps.   Dedicated 10+16, took a walk even though my toe is killing me. 2k before noon; 5k before 3. 8300+ steps by bedtime

blood glucose:

9:45am: 190
5pm: 210
11:45pm: 190

food:
coffee, water
10am: 2 chocolate chip cookies
1:30pm: metformin, pretzels+sour cream onion dip
2:45pm: apple w/peanut butter
wine+ginger ale
7pm: burrito, ground beef, shedded cheddar, sour cream. Wine, Mead, and very fancy barrel aged saison beer. 
10pm: port wine cheese + pretzel crackers

Ending the year with meh

At times, I do lots and then there are days. Well. Nothing. Today was a nothing. Between my toes on my right foot hurting like hell from getting stubbed, I just didn't feel like doing a damn thing. 

Linda is headed home tomorrow from mom's and usually we'd probably do a video chat but ya boi has no energy. 

I realized the one thing Geoff wanted for Christmas was a couple more sets of scrubs. Today would have been the day to go but. Meh. 

The internet tells me they are open tomorrow but I'll call and double check before we drive out there. It's trafficky out there. 

We got new tires on the Dodge and the check engine light came on for the Mini. If it's not one thing, it's another. 

Bedtime, kids. Bedtime.

Digits down there... 

digits 

exercise: 12/12 hours of 250 steps.  Did extra stretches of steps but not a full 10 min at all. 5500+ by bedtime

blood glucose:

8am: 203
5pm: 140
10pm: 180

food:
coffee, water
12:30pm: pbj on 647 potato bread; metformin
5pm: 2 chocolate chip cookies
6:45: cheesesteak on roll; metformin+jardiance

In the land of more cookies

Sara and Hen came by to pick up cookies today. 

They took a little less than half, some custom to their team with a W on the shirts or hidden in the stars with scratching. And some just because. Hen doesn't like sprinkles so those all got left here, but he does love m&ms so he got a bunch. Sara forgot a plate and I am out of gallon sized ziploc bags so I found a cute christmas gift bag for them to take and crammed about 14-18 i lost track of cookies inside. 

After they left, things were quiet with work so I went ahead and decided to bake more cookies. Like ya do.

This time, your basic bitch cookie baker made toll house. I pulverized the walnuts though. Somehow we have a giant bag of full sized walnuts so, I sat and pulverized 2 cups of walnuts with a smasher hammer, and they're like slightly larger than dust and taste so good mixed in the batter. 

I wanted to make more of the thumbprint cookies, but I'm going to wait for more flour. I could make 12 or so,  but, nah. I want to really make them. Like crazy lots. And get more flavors of Bonnie Maman's preserves like marmalade and apricot. MMMMMMMM. 

When I make Toll house cookies, I use an extra stick of butter, so they are super crispy. They're perfect. I love them. 

It's nice to still have some cut out cookies but I feel like for sure I'm going to make some more. Maybe hearts and snowflakes. And I'll send those out to friends. Because this is a lot of cookies to have at my house when I can't eat them (even if I do). 

Henry deliberately broke this cookie the other night after he decorated it in Tribute to Guster's "This is how it feels to have a broken heart," which then made me sing it, and I made sure he brought it home. 

digits 

exercise: 12/12 hours of 250 steps.  no dedicated 10 due to rain and working; 6000+ steps by bedtime

blood glucose:

9:30am: 191
4:30pm: 221
10pm: 205

food:
coffee, water
12:30pm: Metformin
1:15pm: 647 potato bread toast w/pb and low sugar jelly
between 2 and 3: a couple small sugar cookies, handful of m&ms
6:30pm: a tater tot/ham/cheddar casserole of sorts. Red wine; Metformin+Jardiance 

It's a new tradition

It's cookie decorating time in these parts. 

Sara and Henry were definitely coming over, and Sean surprised us by joining. He usually likes to stay home when Sara and I do shenanigans. He's a lot like Doug. I bet if they spent more time together, they'd hit it off and be pals. 

Last year I sent cookies out to people so I had a need for extra sets of hands (or two extra sets) and we had two nights worth of decorating. This year was a bit more low-key. I baked about 1/3 than last year, and we just decorated for us. 

I set up a large bowl of white icing and a muffin tin filled with the same white icing for Henry to decide what colors were going in. He's obsessed with the science of color mixing, and so I wanted him to pick the shades. He made a beautiful turquoise, and our brown came out black until we added in much more white to lighten it up. The orange and pink were also perfect. Two shades of green. I think we spent a solid half hour at first mixing it all up before we even got into the decorating. 

I thought I took a picture of the table before they arrived but managed to miss out on that, sadly. So just imagine the perfect set up of icing, cookies piled carefully, drying trays, and then, how it turned into this by the end: 

All told, the chaos is so worth it. We had a blast. Sara gets very detailed and intricate, Henry just slaps color around and goes on to the next one. No two cookies were the same. We didn't use as many sprinkles as last year, and the m&ms were mostly getting eaten but that's okay. 

I had purchased eyes for making the reindeer or gingerbread men, I wanted the super small ones like I had from last year but they only had big ones. At one point I remember saying "Where's the bag of eyes? Oh that's a sentence I never imagined I'd be saying." 

We had a ton of laughs, and I ended up going to bed before I cleaned up, which was a good idea at the time for sure. 

I woke up to go to the bathroom around 5am and looked at the table, muttered "oh my actual fuck," and went back to bed to save the clean up for this morning. 

Like last year, I kind of want just a bunch more of the trees and some quiet time to sit and decorate them by myself quietly. Maybe I'll do one more round. I do have white icing left over that can easily be turned green. Perhaps this weekend. Maybe.

Here are the photos, and Sara said "if it happens twice, it's a tradition." 

So it's a tradition. For me, I've been doing this for years (I looked back at some of the previous years here in the blog and see several posts of us as a family, or just me getting the decorations done, so why not make it a tradition. 

Sara was going to come over and pick her choices but the day got away from her and I'm off to bed. She'll come over before lunch tomorrow to gather what she wants. I should whip up some chocolate chip ones for her to have too. 

Notes for next year:

• do 2 of the muffin tin setups, it was hard for people to reach across to the one container of colors, so make it easier on everyone and have a couple options
• maybe buy a whole set of ramekins. I only have two right now, when once upon a time, I had 12. Not sure where they all went but, maybe we're due for more
• don't bother with dying the dough any colors in advance, just go with all white/plain
• try a gingerbread recipe, an actual gingerbread recipe
• paint a bunch of things with colored icing a day in advance so they harden, then more color/decoration can be added, thus preventing spread of color, like gingerbread men pants/shirts/etc
• have dinner beforehand, stupid

Digits below. 

digits 

exercise: 12/12 hours of 250 steps.  I stubbed my toes on my right foot very badly this morning so hitting 2k before noon wasn't happening, 4500 steps by bedtime thanks to the injury.

blood glucose:

8:30am: 155
5pm: 230
9:30pm: 213

food:
coffee, water, diet ginger ale
11am: apple w/peanut butter; metformin
1:30pm: pbj sandwich on oat bread, w/low sugar jelly
2pm: pretzels and hummus
6:30pm: Ham and bean soup; potato roll; metformin+jardiance

2000 by 2pm to 2000 by noon

(This was Wednesday's Post that I didn't get to publish) 

Over the past year I've increased my step count a little bit. I don't hit the "10k" that the fitbit has me aim at almost all the time (I did one day last week!) But at this time last year I think I was lucky if I hit 3000 steps a day. Then I said at one point, well, let's go for 5k per day. Most days I get it. Once in a while, I fall short. I'm even proud of myself when I hit 5k and miss 2 or 3 hours of the minimum 250 steps. 

My goal the past few months was to hit 2000 steps daily by 2pm. I think I'm going to switch that to 2k by noon. I've been doing pretty well at that the past couple days, except when I sleep in on Sundays and miss 2 hours of the goal time, but this is something we can accomplish. Watch this space. Oh, and, if I were to hit 1000 steps EACH HOUR, that would be 12,000 steps which exceeds the fitbit goals. so. Maybe someday!

Tonight was cookie night. I'll write it up as its own entry because there are a lot of pictures. We had a stinking blast. 

We didn't eat dinner, our ham and bean soup had done a pretty deep boil-down and needed to be revived, and then Doug felt sick so he went to bed while we decorated cookies (thankfully whatever befell him doesn't seem to have impacted Geoff or me). I had three glasses of wine on an empty stomach, and a lot of frosting finger licking and a few cookies, and that was not a good combo so I was in bed by 9pm after our guests left. 

No photo for this entry but I'll put all the pics in the next! 

digits 

exercise: 11/12 hours of 250 steps. Missed 7pm because of sitting and decorating cookies.  Lots of action. approx 5500+ steps by bedtime (which came early)

blood glucose:

8am: 230
5pm: 270
N/A for night time

food:

coffee, water
11:30am: Metformin
1pm: Tuna Melt: 647 rye bread, tuna salad w/diced celery, sliced tomato, 2 slices of American cheese.
2pm: thumbprint cookie
-No dinner, lots of wine, in bed by 9

Christmas Continues

This is most likely going to be a very slow work week but so far I've had 2 "christmas miracles" with my products today and I couldn't be happier. I also am glad for the quiet because I have QA testing for a code push. My buddy usually does it but he's on FMLA until after the new year so I'm on my own. Must be done by tomorrow lunch time, got 5 of 7 tests done.

We had a busy fun morning playing and Toffee posed for an L. L. Bean style photo for me this morning before work, and in between zoomies.

I got some cookie baking mixed in this afternoon. The basic sugar cut out cookies for Sara, Hen, and me to decorate. 

And Doug mentioned thumbprint cookies, which I've never made before but I was willing to give it a shot. I wish I'd read the comments on the website for the recipe because a lot of people said it yielded about 12 cookies, not 24 and that was my experience. I couldn't figure out if I cut the cookie size down, maybe I'd get 5 more but for sure I was not getting 24. And the baking time was literally twice what they recommended. But. They were tasty even if imperfect. I had one and realized it was about the time I'd take my afternoon glucose reading so, oops. 

Doug was supposed to make ham and bean soup, so at 3:45 I asked him "what's up with the ham and bean soup there, buddy?" He oopsed that, and read the instructions to find it takes at least 2 hours for the beans themselves to boil, and another hour with the ham and whatnot. So. Tomorrow! Tonight it was chinese food. 

Not much else to report except between cookies and chinese food, my blood sugar is dumb. So I'm off to bed with a protein shake in my belly. Here are a couple pictures. Cut out stars with blue food coloring, and the thumbprint cookies before they went in the oven, too dark to take a picture of them after they came out so I'll make more tomorrow. 

digits 

exercise: 12/12 hours of 250 steps.  no dedicated 10 but lots of steps. approx 5800+ steps by bedtime

blood glucose:

8:30am: 172
no afternoon reading. Doug was napping and I was busy
10pm: 272

food:
coffee, water
10:30am: garlic bagel w/plain cream cheese
11am: metformin
6pm: thumbprint cookie; metformin+jardiance
7pm: chinese food - general tso's chicken, fried rice, beef lo mein, fried dumplings, 1 egg roll; white wine
10pm: protein shake

Christmas Morning, Christmas Evening

When you don't have little kids, Christmas morning rings different. 

I can go back through this blog to every December 22-26 and find all assortment of stories of staying up late, last minute shopping, and making Christmas Magic happen as late as 2am, with wine, cartoons, tape, paper, and cookies. 

This morning the dog was the first one up, she wanted to get out of the bedroom at 5am and I said "wow, you do have the heart and soul of a toddler, don't you?" I convinced her to get back in bed and cuddle. Unlike Phineas, when she's up and goes outside, we're up for the day and she likes a solid hour of fetching, running, chasing, and chewing. Then she can go back to sleep and normal routine is I'm working and life is good but. Not this morning, kid.

I convinced her to get back in bed and cuddle, not wrestle. She likes to wrestle and is really too strong for me to allow that play. 

She slept again until 8 and I woke up and had to pee. So. Once I'm up, we're up. 

No children sitting on the couch waiting quietly for mom and dad, or tearing corners off wrapping paper to see what they got. Geoff even slept until 9ish, and I heard the shower instead of him coming straight up. 

It is bright and sunny - the Southeast exposure of the house just flooded with sunlight. Feels so different here. Christmas feels different in some places. Like, I can imagine a house in the mountains of Colorado in all the snow, or a lanai in Florida, or the desert southwest in a cabin in the mountains above Tucson. 

We drank coffee, Doug put on a Brian Setzer Orchestra holiday mix (3 hours of that and I don't need to hear it again until next year, I tell you what) and got the ham in the oven. 

I cleaned the tables in the living room and found millions of beads around the side table and laughed at what a mess I made this year. I'd vacuumed but not like, under things. I had not moved the couch. Happiness is a table where you can put boxes of shit you've had on the top of the dining table for weeks to hide it all when company is coming over. 

Ignore that chair with boxes on it.
Boxes were hidden shortly after this shot.

We tag teamed the scalloped potatoes and got them in the oven after the ham came out, and waited to glaze that with a homemade mix that Doug whipped up. 

Doug's aunt called at 1 (when they were supposed to arrive) and said they were running late. Cool cool cool, I'm just now getting in the shower, so I approve of your tardiness. Thank you very much! I poured a glass of Vinho Verde, lit candles in the bathroom, and just went... "aaaahhhhhh."

The ham was glazed and in the oven when I got out, all the other food was all just about ready when they arrived. I took the carrots and tossed them in blackberry preserves and butter, and we loaded up the table while Toffee was introduced. 

Aaaah. Dinner is served.

I had a lot more carbs than I should have, and I skipped dessert. Be proud of me. Neither Doug nor his Aunt made a jello salad and to be completely honest, I was a little relieved. Although the cherry one with the whipped cream layers that Doug has made in the past, well, I'd have that happily. Maybe he'll make that for me for New Years.

Doug's cousin didn't want to come but Doug had him rally. I kind of wish we'd just waved them off because he was coughing and sick - I kept me as far away from him as possible because I literally just got over a nasty 2 week ick that set my ass back for decorating and fun. And I don't want to postpone Cookie Decorating Day any longer.

As God is my witness, if I catch his plague, I'll drive to Virginia and punch him. 

Anyway. 

Dinner was great, everything came out perfect, the potatoes could have used more salt, but, all told with the salty ham it worked out alright. No overall complaints. This actually felt low-key and relaxed compared to other Christmas Dinners 

They even left while it was still actually light out, instead of taking a tandem nap on my couch while I cleaned up. I sent them home with dessert and a 2 litre bottle of coke that we probably won't drink (well, Geoff might, but, we have another one). Whew.

And the good news is that Toffee was freaking delightful. She was so very polite, didn't beg at the table or get underfoot while we were cooking. She laid on the dining room floor and just watched us. She even got under the table and took a nap. She got a little too kissy kissy with them on the couch but when we told her to knock it off and get down she did, and was redirected with a toy.  

Because the house was free of guests at a relatively early hour, everything was cleaned up and put away and my ass was on the couch watching football. Doug and Toff had a big snooze, and life was good. 

Wherever you are, and I know some of you reading this are not having good days or good seasons, or any merry and bright feelings, or holiday joy, I at least hope you found one or two things to take away from today that were nice things. It doesn't have to be a gushingly beautiful thing. But just one or two small things. Share them in the comments if you want. I'd love to hear your story.

Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good night.

Digits below the sleepy snorers. 

digits 

exercise: 12/12 hours of 250 steps. With all the moving and doing, I'll count many "dedicated 10s" today. 7200+ steps today by bedtime.

blood glucose:

8am: 180
5pm: 219
10:45pm: 172

food:
coffee, water
10am: oatmeal craisin cookie 
12:30pm: Metformin
2pm: Ham dinner w/ glazed carrots, au gratin/scalloped potatoes, 2 rolls, beets, wine
4pm: 2 oatmeal craisin cookies
6:30pm: metformin+jardiance
9:30pm: protein shake (took my blood sugar at 9:30 and it was 280) 

Cookie and Cleaning day

Not lost on me is the fact I spent the day cleaning my house for someone... who cannot clean their house. That's all I'll say. 

Doug went to the market and I did house cleaning. I did quite a lot of cookie baking as well. I whipped up a batch of oatmeal craisin cookies, and they've pretty much disappeared. I put a lot of craisins in, and should have doubled the batter part and gotten more cookies out of this batch but no matter, it's all good. I'm very glad Doug and Geoff enjoyed them. 

There are very few things to do for tomorrow. One is finish the livingroom. I vacuumed today and Toffee was incredibly curious about the vacuum. I wish someone was here to video her reaction. She sat here and tilted her head side to side to watch it move around. 

Bathroom is clean, some christmas lights are up, dining table is set up, and cookie business can take place before the ham goes into the oven tomorrow.

I'd like a large stack of sugar cookies and some christmas trees with Dots in the dough for ornaments. I meant to make those last year and didn't get around to it, so this is the year, kids. 

Here's Toffee watching TV. She intently watches, and football (and commercials) are very interesting. Digits below. 

digits 

exercise: 9/12 hours of 250 steps.   Missed 9am and 10am from sleeping in (could have done 10 but. Meh). Somehow missed 7 and not sure how because I was walking all over and making cookies and stuff. huh. 5600+ steps by bedtime

blood glucose:

10am: 183
5pm: 160
10pm: 176

food:

coffee, water 
12:30pm: Metformin
1:30pm: Mad Science Beers
2:30pm: low sugar P and low sugar J on Keto Friendly bread
6:30: battered shrimp (9) and a mess of tater tots; beer; metformin+jardiance
beer

Last Call at Mad Science Brewing

I have been negligent in writing up a review for Mad Science Brewing in the Shenanigans with Dave Beer Blog. I sometimes forget it is there, and it's been over a year since a proper review of a local spot. 

I want to talk about Mad Science Brewing today, though, in the Non-Beer focused blog, because this is important. 

Below is an unflattering picture of me that Doug took of my Sawbelly Brewing shirt, because it speaks volumes to all that our beer hunting adventures lead to. It was also hot AF this day in 2022. 

Back in 2022 (according to Untappd) we had been looking for breweries further out from where we live, having hit so many locals over and over again down here in South Montgomery County and the DC area. We wanted to spread our wings, stretch our legs, but not go too far afield so we could enjoy some beers and make it home safe. 

We made a trip up to Adamstown, Frederick County. It's about an hour from us, but well worth the trip. Small batch brewing, a few beers on tap in a tasting room at the back side of a lovely farm stand. 

First time we were there it was hot hot hot Maryland farm summer hot. A live band was playing, and we sat outside sweating our asses off enjoying beer after beer. The brewer, Brian Roberts, was on the taps and fun to talk to. I knew right then I should write this visit up. 

Brian's got a full time job as a for-real scientist, so building a hobby of brewing into a fantastic offerings at their own location was a brilliant move. We enjoyed coming and sitting in the tasting room and chatting with Brian about the craft, and the post-apocalyptic milieu that the can art and names all had compared to the bright and sunny, Live Laugh Love style offerings in the farm store. 

We went up there two weeks ago, Doug and I were wanting a taste before they closed for the season right before Christmas, and he needed some gifts for his yankee swap and a baby shower at work. A win-win. 

We got a couple pints and sat outside, it's easy to do in December around here. We toasted Carrie for her birthday and watched the sun set over the farm fields across the street. All 3 of us had the Special Relativity, Marzen (Oktoberfest) and it was delightful. We did our shopping, got the gifts Doug needed, and we picked up some poinsettias (since we don't put up a big tree we still want to have SOME festive live plants and color), freshly baked bread, and apples.

We chatted with Brian during this visit after reading some not so good news on their Facebook page. Brian had cancer a few years back and things were looking good, but, he'd recently he learned that the cancer was back and he was undergoing regular treatments. He looked great for someone who was aggressively fighting a demon inside his body. 

I told him we'd probably be back again before the end of season on December 22nd and heck, if not, let's look forward to the spring. 

Then they announced there would be no spring. 

Brian's cancer has not been responding to treatment and has spread. So they decided to do a whole huge blowout end of year, end of business, celebration. 

The local news outlets picked up the story, and we knew a lot of people would be there. Video below.

But we couldn't not go. Ya know? We had to go and support. 

We got there around 2pm because we couldn't get out of our own way all day. We opted to avoid 270 and take the back roads, the Scenic Route if you will. Ironically since in this article his wife Louisa says they're hoping to take the scenic route to Heaven's Gate together through the next few months. It's a beautiful ride up through Montgomery County into Frederick, even in late December with everything brown and sleeping, waiting for spring. Big beautiful homes through Boyds, Urbana, and towns we've actually never been in. Sugarloaf Mountain looming to the right, I knew where we were but everything was a little different and mysterious on the way up until we crossed the little bridge over the Monocacy, and hit Buckeyestown Pike for the homestretch.

The line from the bar to the end and victory was through the entire farm stand and not moving very quickly. Doug and the dog waited outside, and Geoff and I took up our place in line. People started peeling off, not wanting to wait, and we rejoiced inside a little bit. Two people closer to the crowlers. Yesssss.

It took two hours to get to the bar, and I'll be honest, I was ready to go after an hour. But no. This was for Brian, to help deplete the inventory, and help them go out with a huge bang and celebration. 

We got to the bar, finally, and I talked to Brian's youngest, who was there every single time we ever visited. I always commented on how fun their new hair color was (I thought about asking for a picture but wasn't sure they wanted to do that because it was so busy). Two weeks ago we talked about how they were going to go purple very soon, and they indeed did. Someone mentioned "you should do green and red for Christmas," and they disagreed - Christmas will be over and they'd have green and red hair. No thanks. 

I also got to pat the brewery dog Sinnamon, spelled that way and not a mistake, and she seemed a little overwhelmed and huddling under the table. There were so many people in her space, where she would always come visit you if you had a snack or one of the dishes from the food trucks. I love this dog. Always the welcoming committee, good for tail wags and pats. 

I got Brian's attention after he hefted in another keg since they were going through so many, and told him that I'd never ever wait this long for anyone, except him. He laughed. I asked one of his other sons "Is there a limit to how much I can buy?" and he laughed as well, and said "uh, no?" Giving me permission to get as much as I could carry. I had a fairly large tote bag.

We got 9 crowlers, one each of the three brews they had left, Helles Bells, Special Relativity, and Newton's First. 

A guy behind me said "you're a fan, eh?" and I nodded. Yes. If I could carry more, and not look like a damn pig, I would. I was amazed by how many people stood in line for One Crowler. He asked which one he should get, and said he likes Oktoberfest style beers so I pointed to the Marzen and said "get more than one. You'll want it."

Geoff and I also each ordered a pint of Helles, after all, we were thirsty after the long wait. We settled up and bagged up our haul and got out of the way. We stood outside to enjoy our beer, and  I thought a bit before telling Geoff to hold up. I ran back in and asked Brian for a selfie. 

I have no idea when I'll see this man again. My hope is the Valentines Day opening that they usually do will happen. We'll see. We'll see. In the meantime. 

This is fucking tragic. 

I honestly am shook just thinking about how this could befall another human, another wife, another family. And a wonderful business. I think about all the not so good or "meh" breweries out there in the DMV, and of the magic that this Mad Scientist has whipped up for us all. I think about how I went to a very popular brewery in our county, had a not very good experience and tweeted about it, and the owner went for my throat and told me I was welcome to "never fucking come back." How they are still in business, and growing and thriving is mysterious to me. The beer is mediocre, the food was horrible, the service was dismissive and unfriendly. 

And then we find a place like Mad Science and they're just the complete opposite. Absolutely the best of the craft, kind and friendly brewer who runs the whole place himself with a smile and lots of time to talk about the brews. 

When our friends M&M moved here we knew this had to be the place to take them because Mike is a scientist too. He knows the craft, he brews beer himself, and he reverse engineers different brews to get the mix for himself at home. I knew they'd hit it off and they did. 

This is a loss. Such a loss for the entire brewing community. Everyone who waited in line knows they got a little bit of magic in a big ass can. And I treasure every drop I walked away with. 

Brian, you're a gem.  I remember shaking your hand at our first visit and thinking to myself "hell yeah, I'm writing this one up." And then I didn't. 

So my review is that you caught lightning in a bottle, screamed "IT'S ALIVE!!!!" and shared your delicious creations with anyone and everyone willing to travel near and far to imbibe and we are forever changed for you being here. You are loved. Enjoy the time you have, do all the good wonderful things, be strong and courageous. 

Thank you, very much, for what you gave us and for the short period of time our orbits aligned. May the scenic road be beautiful.

Vigilant

 Last night Doug went to bed very early and so Toffee and I went in the guest room. At about 3 am, she was awake and growling at something outside. I had to pee, so I went and came back and sat with her, but I couldn't see anything. My neighbor's back yard flood light turned on and off, so something was out there, maybe something small. She could see it, and her hackles were up and she hummed deep down inside. 

Eventually she stopped and went back to sleep, and got back on her grind at 7. 

I felt very well protected. 

Today was a slow day at work but also very busy. I started making sugar cookie dough at about 4:30 to get ready for actual baking and cookie doing. I'm sure that'll be coming up soonly. 

Doug had me email his aunt to invite her and his cousin over for Christmas dinner, so, I have to be vigilant myself and tidy up and not just have the table covered with cookie doings like last year. Well at least I can get a ton baked and decorate right after Christmas.  It'll all be fine.

Digits below the patrol dog.

digits 

exercise: 11/12 hours of 250 steps.  Somehow missed 8pm because Doug and I were watching a very stupid show and I lost track of time. No dedicated 10. 5200+steps by bedtime

blood glucose:

9:30am: 134
5pm: 142
9:15pm: 180

food:

coffee, water, hot tea
10:30am: 2 slices of 647 bread w/pb
11am: Metformin
6pm: baked stuffed chicken breast w/stove top stuffing, and asparagus; white wine
7:30pm: Metformin+jardiance
several handfuls of m&ms 

Now it's really Thursday

We hit the ground running this morning. One of my colleagues slacked me before 8am to ask for help with an emergency call. I thought I was the one on call but lo and behold, not until next week. Whew! I thought I'd done something to my phone like disabled all the audio and made it so no calls can come in. But he was on call and needed me, and we worked the problem and yay. Problem solved. 

I tried to rest a bit longer, and Toffee had other plans for the back of my head, my ear, my blanket. So I got up and it was full blown playtime off the charts. That woke up Geoff. Doug was already up and working but heard her running around like a complete tornado. 

Within an hour she was out cold. 

I made chicken stock. Forgot to put the onions and celery in, so they got added in after the chicken was sifted out. Thought about adding another whole roasted chicken breast but didn't want to cook it. I oversalted the stock, but it was still tasty, and found a box of chicken and a box of beef stock in the fridge so I added it to thin it out and make it tasty for tomorrow or whenever.

All this before noon.

I didn't take time off, and I'm happy for that. My colleagues can have time off, and I'm here answering tickets. I'll be taking time tomorrow to bake cookies and begin being festive. It's time. 

It's Thursday after all.

Be sure to think lovingly on my sister Linda as today's her birthday. Our solstice gift she is. On the longest night of the year, she comes to remind us that it's only going to get brighter and more lovely from here. 

Happy Birthday Linda! 

And here's a picture I just grabbed because I didn't have one specifically for today, but I set the wee tree up and put the angels under it, and have more lights to put up and cleaning to do, and that'll all happen tomorrow. In time for Christmas. 

Alright. 

Digits below. 

 

digits 

exercise: 12/12 hours of 250 steps. no dedicated 10. 5200+ steps by bedtime

blood glucose:

8:30am: 159
5:30pm: 177
10pm: 189

food:

coffee, water, hot tea
10am: Bagel with cream cheese
10:30: Metformin
2:30: Apple w/peanut butter
3pm: handful of m&ms while walking past the bowl
6pm: chicken soup w/ crusty toasted garlic bread; metformin+jardiance
wine+diet ginger ale

It Isn't Thursday After All

I felt like today was Thursday all day. 

I messaged my sister and told her to do her football picks before the 8pm game. Nope, that's tomorrow. My boss and I had our WEDNESDAY check in, and I wished him a happy christmas and great vacation since he is taking Friday off. But nope, no Chris. He's working tomorrow. I can wish him a happy vacation tomorrow in our team meeting. 

The extra good news is that I now have two whole days to do my QA work, which I thought I was going to cram into one day. Huh. Hooray. 

You ever have a day like that where you're disconnected from the calendar, day, date, time? 

No picture today, I realized it is super late and the dog is fast asleep and there are no cookies or anything yet because of my cold. 

Off to bed. Digits below.

digits 

exercise: 12/12 hours of 250 steps. No dedicated 10, 5400+ steps by bedtime

blood glucose:

8:45am: 202
5pm: 162
10pm: 180

food:

coffee, water, hot tea
10am: pbj sandwich on 647 wheat, and I just realized the PB is low sugar too. no wonder it tastes crummy.
12noon: metformin
1:30pm: last slice of tomato basil sourdough w/butter
2:30pm: several slices of ham
3pm: slices of pepperoni
6pm: chicken parm and some pasta
8pm: ramekin of mixed nuts

Back on my bullshit, part 2

Last year at this time I was in the midst of enjoying 2 weeks of no Doug and Geoff in the house, as you may recall. They were on their Boys' Trip and I was cleaning, decorating, and baking cookies. 

This year, I've done none of those things. Doug and Geoff are always here, well, Doug is mostly. Geoff is at work and he leaves to walk down the mile and a half to the hospital at noon daily. Good for him. If he wore a fitbit... And I feel like they are perpetually in my way.

Anyway, I'm delayed in my production line of cookies this year, and Sara and Henry want to come over and decorate cookies with me. Last year, if you recall, we had two nights solid of us decorating cookies, and those were good fun times, filled with immense joy. 

I'm not feeling up to it really this year not because of any "real" reasons other than malaise. I am full of "meh" and just want to lay on the couch, cuddle the beast, play with my phone. 

But I'm going to rally. And started with step one. Organizing the m&ms. You gotta have red ones and yellow ones separated out. Red for Rudolph's nose, remembering straight from last year when Henry yelled "If his nose wasn't red he wouldn't have PURPOSE!" Still kills me. And yellow for stars on trees.

I only got as far as organizing m&ms and having ideas and aspirations. Tomorrow is a new day. I feel like I'll mix dough and start rolling in between meetings and work things. 

Time to make the cookies.

Digits, below. 

digits 

exercise: 12/12 hours of 250 steps.   no dedicated 10. 5500+steps by bedtime

blood glucose:

8:30am: 177
5pm: 165
10pm: 241

food:

coffee, water, hot tea
9:45am: 2 slices of mike's sourdough, toasted w/butter
noon: tiny container of left over tuna casserole, metformin
6pm: chili, with fritos, cheese, and sour cream. Metformin+jardiance
through the evening: tempted by handfuls of m&ms, 3 beers

Comfy Cozy

Doug was taking a nap the other day and Toffee jumped up behind him for a snuggle. That's it. That's the blog entry for the day. Digits below. 

digits 

exercise: 11/12 hours of 250 steps.   Somehow missed 7pm, distracted by something. approx 5200+ steps by bedtime

blood glucose:

8:30am: 143
4:30pm: 174
9:30pm: 195

food:

coffee, water, hot tea
9:30am: pbj on 647 bread
10:45am: small ramekin of mac & cheese w/hamburger; metformin
12:45pm: big ass BLT salad with special guest, cucumber
6pm: 2 big bowls of tuna casserole
6:30pm: metformin+Jardiance

Play Date!!!

 Last night we went to our friends M&M for dinner. It's been a while since we've seen each other. Doug and Geoff had some time with them at a brewery when I was up in Massachusetts, but I think it was super hot, summer time, when we last got to hang out. Mike had a motorcycle accident Labor Day weekend, and he's making progress. He worked super hard to do the food and cook (and bake!) and I'm sure he's gotta be sore today. Ouch.

Michelle was willing to have Toffee come up and visit, to see how well she'd do with their dog. His name is Watch, and he's 11, and has been an only child for years but he has opportunities when he's with other dogs, so she thought it might be a good visit. And she was willing for us to just try it, and sequester them if need be. 

We got to the house and Doug and I had decided a great FIRST opportunity to meet would be out on a walk. Neutral territory, not inside Watch's house, just out for a walk. I went inside to drop off some of the food I brought, and Geoff brought up the beer. 

Mike smoked chicken wings and made sauce for toss. The dogs came back from the walk, came inside, came upstairs, got treats, and Doug and Michelle both reported it was a good experience. Toffee wanted to play, but Watch kind of snipped at her and barked, and she got the message. They had one snappy exchange in the house because, again, miss thing wanted to play. But she did so well with taking the hint and didn't fight back horribly. 

Dinner was fantastic, and we had a wonderful visit. It's a long ride back home so we got back here just before midnight. And the dog was wiped OUT. 

A very experience, and I'm hoping to find someone more her age/size who may be a willing wrastler and chaser because she could use that. 

Anyway. Today I'm feeling absolutely blah. I'm wondering if I picked up a cold in DC the other night, because I thought my sore throat was for me cheering for Karina but, I now feel a little fevery and my eyes are heavy and stingy. Like the start of a cold. Upping my vitamins and heading to bed at a decent hour. 

Here's a couple pictures of Toffee and her new (only) friend, Watch.

digits 

exercise: 12/12 hours of 250 steps.   no dedicated 10. approx 4500 steps by bedtime. Pouring rain out. blah.

blood glucose:

9:30am: 143
4pm: 174
9:30pm: 163

food:

coffee, water, hot tea
11am: 2 small slices of homemade sourdough bread w/butter; Metformin
4pm: ramekin mixed nuts
6:30pm: bowl of cheese steak meat/cheese/mushrooms; Metformin+jardiance

The Rhode Island Angel

Jess called me today from Rhode Island. They left their wallet at grandma's house when they went over for a little side quest there. 

Doing so, they realized gas was needed for the car, and stopped to fill'er up. No biggie, we live in the future where you tap your phone on shit and stuff gets paid for. No wallet, no problem.

But their google pay/phone tappy dealie wouldn't work at all. They went to another gas station and same. Again elsewhere. Called me to see if they could put my Cap1 card on their google pay thingie, in case the problem was their account somehow, and it wouldn't go through - just was spinning into oblivion. The girl at the cashier said they couldn't punch in a credit card number manually into the system, they weren't allowed to do that, so if you try to pay with any sort of method other than cash at this point, you wouldn't be able to pay. And see first paragraph. 

A lady at the gas station found a scratch ticket with 5 bucks on it in her car and gave it to Jess, which managed to get about 20 miles worth of gas into the tank, and they were over 50 miles away from home base at Old Folks Land. Super kind gesture but according to the gas prediction thingie on the dashboard, they only got up to 30 miles out of this kindness. 

Knowing they were on the brink of freaking out, I called my friend Alex who lives in Rhode Island, about a half hour away from the place where technology fails to work. Alex was actually at his office, even closer, and immediately said he'd go rescue the stranded traveler. Within 20 minutes he was there and the car was gassed up. 

Jess was exceptionally pissed because the future, where we live, sucks when technology will not work and we are so tied into it. Trying to get ahold of Google to find out what was going on with Google Pay absolutely impossible. Was the problem in Rhode Island, in the interwebz, was it Jess' phone, her bank. Why would none of this work?  They've never ever had a problem with this. And then to find out that the cashier couldn't even manually run my card was an extra level of frustration. 

So thank you RI Angel, dear heart. And thank you to all the friends in the world I have who can and will help my family. I've been rescued before while stranded (oy, Blizzard, Rte 1, something blew up in our car and it flooded with smoke... Amy M came to get us IN A BLIZZARD!!!!) and I'll never forget C taking my brand new, not yet fully vaccinated puppy when I had to make an emergency trip to Western Pennsylvania for a funeral. There are dozens more examples of me picking up the phone or texting someone and saying "hey, so there's a problem and I could use some help if you're free."

I'm a lucky person, and I know it. 

I asked for photographic evidence of the rescue and they obliged.

Digits below.

digits 

exercise: 11/12 hours of 250 steps.  Somehow missed 8pm but thought I was totally there... 6000+ steps by bedtime

blood glucose:

8:30am: 167
4:15pm: 171
11:30pm: 174

food:

coffee, water, hot tea
11am: ham and cheese sandwich on Keto bread
1pm: Metformin
2pm: BLT salad
6pm: grilled wings with buffalo sauce and hot spicy korean sauce, potato salad, chex mix, tater tots (only about 6), 3 beers 
7pm: Metformin
9pm: hot peppermint tea w/lemon

Always show up for the opener - Karina Rykman and Coyote Island at the Atlantis DC

Last night I went out, on a school night, to go see Karina Rykman at the Atlantis in DC. Worth it.

My friend Dave asked me "Does Guster know you're cheating on them," and he pretty much has asked me this every time I've gone to see a non-Guster show. Like Amythyst Kiah, Counting Crows, Ben Folds, and others. 

And to be honest I would hope they'd be super happy that I went to see someone who has opened for them. 

The chain of custody is: 

• Barenaked Ladies introduced me to Guster (officially)
• Guster introduced me to Marco Benevento, Karina is in his band
• Karina started playing out with her band, and now she's introduced me to her opener on this round, Coyote Island 

The Atlantis opened last year, in the same spot as the original 9:30 Club. And the 9:30 Club's current location is right in front of this spot. The capacity is about 450 people, so it is a super small venue. 

My friend Tim and I met for dinner, and we were waiting for another friend to join us but he was stuck in traffic. Tim and I got there right after the doors opened, knowing we'd have about 45 minutes until the opener would hit the stage. Hardly anyone was there and I was a little concerned. But, have a beer, check out the crowd coming in, and eventually the hearty hardy souls would arrive 

Coyote Island was a lot of fun. I mean, what a joy to watch these guys play. They're from Maine, of all places, and while I personally am not into a lot of the white-boy-reggae island jam kinds of groups, I really felt the vibe here and thought they were a perfect opening act for Karina. And remember, you should always show up for the opener. You never know who you're going to see! 

Karina and her band (Adam November on guitar, Chris Corsico on drums) took the stage. It is kind of funny to seem them rather spread out until you watch Karina at work. She's everywhere. She's bouncing, hair dancing, bending backwards, her bass is about as tall as she is, probably weighs more too. And they just do not stop. They do not stop. I wanted to leave the rail and go upstairs and look at the show from above but didn't want to lose my prime viewing spot. 

Her sister was standing next to me (I found her on Facebook and verified her existence and their relationship so that was kind of cool). The two of us just cheered and laughed, arms in the air, and big sister yelling at the little sister about all the things, and Karina hearing every word. Just watching her perform is outstanding. I always say to people I'd like to be as happy at work as Karina is. Oh and when they did Song 2 by Blur, the place exploded. Absolute roof blowing moment, and she seemed absolutely overjoyed. Also Genius of Love is a favorite of mine from the Tom Tom Club so standing right in front of her singing my ass off as she's channeling the Mother Goddess of Rock and Roll Bass players, Tina Weymouth, such a vibe. Thanks to the rando dude who took the picture of the set list and texted it to me so I can relive all the tunes. Goin' up, Goin' up, Elevator.

I took a ton of pictures, here are just a couple. Digits for today below. And please know, I got my "dedicated 10" last night plus a couple solid hours. Whew!

digits 

exercise: 12/12 hours of 250 steps.  No dedicated 10, ended day with 5200+ steps

blood glucose:

8:30am: 155
4:30pm: 162
10:30pm: 174

food:

coffee, water, hot tea
9:45: pbj sandwich on 647 bread
11am: bowl of mac&cheese w/bacon; metformin
7pm: roast chicken dinner w/ roasted potatoes, stuffing, carrots; metformin+jardiance

Back on my bullshit

I met with my friend Matt tonight to finish rolling a character for a D&D campaign. 

He had about 5 of us who wanted to play, with him being the storyteller/game master, and they did episode 1 a couple weeks ago but I had not finished rolling my character. I started, but wanted his guidance.  Tonight we buttoned her up, and she's ready to go for episode 2. 

There were 2 of us who could not play when they first ran the game, I was at my mom's and it just was not going to work out for me to spend a couple hours uninterrupted with her there. 

Now we can play. I'm looking forward to it. Greatly.

Today was a very busy day, I wanted to go to the market at some point and also get some headphones, but didn't get out of the house to go to Target or Best Buy. When my dog ate my headphones I really should just have ordered some online that day because they'd be here now. Such is life.

Doug is going into the office tomorrow, so it isn't necessarily mandatory for me to work with my headphones on, and I really should run out before Geoff goes to work at noon. 

Speaking of Geoff's work, he said things are going very well so far and he's happy. It is a part time job, but I am hopeful he'll work his way, no pun intended, to a full time job there. I asked him if he's going to get his Associates next year and he said he'd like to, but wants to keep going here for a while. 

I wanted to get some things cleaned and ready and organized for cookie baking, but today just was too busy to fit that in. I should have just made some dough and got that started but again, too busy. Tomorrow's a new day.

I don't think I'm going to do the big cookie mailing like I did last year. That was a lot. I think I'll do a limited shipment of cookies, and my friend Sara and her son Henry can come help me decorate them any time between now and next weekend. A few people will get cookies but not the 20 or so who got last year. 

Anyway, I ate a lot of oreo cookies tonight and regret that. 

On that note, off to bed. Tomorrow's a new day. And you can enjoy that picture of Doug and Toffee relaxing on the couch tonight as I go to bed.

Digits further down below. 

digits 

exercise: 11/12 hours of 250 steps. No dedicated 10. 5100+ steps by bedtime

blood glucose:

8am: 162
5pm: 165
10pm: 180

food:

coffee, water 
9:15am: 2 egg omelet w/ left over sausage, mushrooms, 1 slice of gouda cheese
12:30: pb&j; metformin
5pm: vodka tonic
6:30pm: metformin+jardiance; 2 bowls of pot roast
8pm: several oreo cookies

A little snow and a lot of toys

This morning we woke up to a dusting of snow. I heard pellets of something hitting my bedroom window around 4am, but I figured it was just the pouring rain mixing with a little sleet, since it was obviously cold enough for it. 

I didn't expect actual snow to be on the ground! Doug took Toffee out and she did a pee and came right back in. I missed it, probably not a "baby's first" moment since she's about 18 months old but I wanted to see if she'd run like a bullet train at 900 miles an hour around the yard in it the way she does. Nope. She noped right back into the house. Southern Dog! 

Early morning dog is a very active dog. She's very busy. She loves to play, tries to wrestle but puts teeth on you and you have to stop her from doing it and kick her off the couch, and give her a toy she can actually bite. She then loves when you throw that toy down towards the bathroom and she'll fetch it, bring it back, wash-rinse-repeat for quite a while. Eventually she'll settle down to not wanting to run and chase, and she'll just hang out chewing on things. 

Today she ripped apart the llama, and alligator, and a dinosaur that has a tennis ball inside it, all of which were left over in the Phin box. Soft stuffies stand no chance with her. Her Kong Fox and "Chewbaru" car both are lasting, so those may be her only close to stuffy things she gets. Everything else is hard or a rope. She came to us with a monkey who's face is pretty much torn apart. Her foster mom said "yeah this isn't a good look but it's her favorite," when she gave it to us. We totally got it from having previous dogs, and we get it with her. 

Every day, all over the livingroom there are toys and chewy things. C sent a set of teething keys (which she's slowly demolishing, slowly) and an elk horn, which is tough and not being demolished. I bought a bag of bully sticks at target last night, and she worked on it all morning, happily on her dog bed, in a sun beam, like a little princess. 

Every night I swoop through the living room and gather up all the toys, and put them in a box. It reminds me of having a toddler and having all the toys all over everywhere all the time. Only a toddler will learn to help you put them away in the box or basket. Toffee has no interest in helping clean up.

After my first morning meeting, I took her out again. She did a pee and then turned on the jets. She ran all over the yard but not as much as usual because of the snow, but enough to make me laugh. I made a snowball, and she can't catch at all, unlike all the other dogs we've had in life. I handed it to her and she ate it. Phineas did not like ice cubes or snow balls, but Toffee seems to be a big fan. When we make a drink with ice cubes, she's right there standing by our side when we take the ice out of the fridge. 

One really amazing thing about her is how gentle she is when you hand her a snack or food or treat... she just so gingerly and gently takes it from your fingers or your palm. It's rather sweet. 

Digits below the sunbeam princess.

digits 

exercise: 12/12 hours of 250 steps. No dedicated 10. 5400+ steps for the day.

blood glucose:

8:30am: 223
4:45pm: 149
10pm: 229

food:

coffee, water 
10am: protein shake
12:45pm: tuna on 647 wheat; metformin
5pm: trail mix ramekin
7pm: piece of french bread pizza w/ sausage and mushrooms; metformin+jardiance, vodka w/low carb cranberry

Well Baby Checkup

This'll be a double post day. Aren't you just so lucky. 

We took Toffee in for her first visit with our vet today. Hard to imagine this is Dog #3 for us since being here. Came with Brodie, got Phineas, and now Toffee.  I feel like dogs last a long time but these 5 years have had some shortened dog longeivity. Not true really, I mean Brodie was like 13 when we let her go, and Phineas was almost 13, but only ours for 2 years. 

Toffee is 18 months, so she should be with us for a good run. Long may she be. Long may we be.

The vets at this office rotate shifts, so the vet that saw us through saving Brodie's life that Thanksgiving wasn't in, and the doctor who saw us through Phineas' tenure with us is a Tuesday/Thursday doc. We met a new to us doctor working with the adorable vet tech who helped a lot with Phineas. We had a lovely visit. She was super sweet and showed off her excellent sitting skills and puppy-rugging much to everyone's joy. 

She weighs 60 pounds (her paperwork says 57) and the doc said she should weigh in the low 50s, so, she should get on a good frequent walking regimen and get weighed again in 6 months to see how she's doing. 

We're not giving her people food, and she eats 2 cups of kibble a day and the food bag says she can have up to 4. She gets lots of reward treats, so I'm happy just giving her a cup in the morning and a cup in the evening. She doesn't seem to complain. 

So far, aside from being MUCH stronger than I am, she's a pretty delightful friend, and a very healthy delightful friend.

Lunch and Errands

It was absolutely pouring today, and I knew Doug wouldn't want to do anything. A colleague of mine was in town and asked if I was free for lunch today so yes. Yes. Yes, I am. 

We met at a brewery near me where I could take the metro in, and not have to worry about trying to park near where she's staying. We sat, sipped, chatted, and since we've never met in person before, it was really wonderful to have this time together. 

After lunch, I had to go to Target. We were out of basics and essentials like dog food and paper towel. I've been out of shampoo for a while, and had been rummaging through the closet to find hotel shampoos that we've stolen over time (I always steal a handful of hotel shampoo, especially when it is very good smelling). 

Target was a shit show, so crowded, such a mess, and I lost my list when I was walking around so I know I forgot a few things that would have been clutch to come home with. But we have dog food and we have shampoo. And that's pretty sweet. Tomorrow Toffee has her first vet appointment, I have no medical records yet from the humane society so I'll reach out to them (again) in the morning to see if we can't get them. And I do have to get a new set of headphones, since mine were a good meal. 

Here's a picture of me and my coworker. Such a nice time to spend together today. Here's a picture of us. 

digits 

exercise: 10/12 hours of 250 steps. Missed 9 am for sleeping in and 1pm due to being in discussion at lunch. no dedicated 10 but I did walk a shit ton in Target. 7000+ steps for the day

blood glucose:

10am: 194
6pm: 243
10:15pm: 251

food:

coffee, water
11am: small ramekin of mac and cheese, metformin
1:30pm: beer; small caesar salad and broccoli & cheese soup in a breadbowl
6pm: metformin+jardiance
6:30: 2 cluck pucks w/melted american cheese; tater tots; vodka tonic