two hundred point two

The other day I was at the market, and near the register they had this giant display of popcorn. A Carmel Corn/Cheddar Cheese mix.

Damn if those are not my two fave popcorn flava flaves!  Boyiiiiiiiieeee.

So I bought 2 bags. I thought for sure, someone will help me eat a bag of this while we watch the Steelers game.

But no one did. They sat in the cabinet, waiting.

Today, I was in a 90 minute webinar and bored. I'd already had breakfast, had lunch, and I was still hungry for something. So. I carried my laptop into the kitchen to forage. There they were, quietly waiting. 

I got a ramekin of popcorn. This'll do. 

Then a second, a third, and then I just finished the fucking bag. 

First, it was crunchy and delicious. Then, it was like, so delicious. And finally, it was delightfully crunchy delicious, amazing, and gone. And I'm listening to this webinar, off camera, stuffing my face with this magnificent popcorn. 

I feel shitty about that, considering I weighed myself this morning and I've been making slow and steady progress in dropping some weight. Stark raving pre- shower nakedness i was 200.2. Didn't believe it, stepped back on and remeasured, 200.2 Official I guess.

after the shower, 200.8 because I guess my hair weighs a lot when wet.

So okay, that's super close to the 199 goal. When then I reset the goal to 190. good on me?

But when you eat a giant bag of popcorn as a "snack." Well. At least popcorn doesn't weigh as much as say a pizza. The big impact was on my blood sugar when I took it this afternoon. I really need to get walking more.  So I was sure to squeeze in some form of walk. 

C and her sister sent me a gift. Recently in Pittsburgh, they got me shiny sparkly Steelers hats. 

Selfie for proof of life and sparkliness. 

Digits below.

digits

exercise: 12/12 hours. Indoor walk, 16 minutes, 0.7 miles, while dinner was cooking. 6k by bedtime.

blood glucose:

9:30am: 172
4:30pm: 250
9:30pm: 220 

food:
coffee/water
9:45am: English muffin w/pb
11:30am: bowl of chicken Salad. Metformin.
between 1:30-3pm: entire bag of popcorn
4:30pm: several slices of turkey, chicken salad
6pm: bowl of cheese tortellini w/sauce
7pm: metformin+jardiance
8pm: 8 ritz crackers w/pb

Fire Pit and Dog Fun

Almost forgot to do an entry. 

We had Toffee's best dog friend over tonight for a mad fun play date. Meg is taller than Toffee now, and they do not stop playing. Non-Freaking-Stop. Such a good time. 

We brought some rope toys out, and Meg chewed off a piece of rope and puked. Like you do. Her doggie mom was so embarrassed but we were like "dogs puke. it's outside. life is good." 

They also knocked over a table and pot (broke the pot) but it was a yard sale or free pot, or one we got from Doug's aunt's house. It was not a treasured family heirloom terra cotta pot. 

"Jane," I said, "you can see how fancy we are. It's okay." 

I also have to get all the pots put away, and figure out what needs fixed/glued, and this time, not keep them in the shed but put them in the basement so they won't crack like most of them did over the winter.

Jess came up, and we all got to hang out. I just got back from taking them to the train. 

It makes me a little sad knowing that on Saturday they head back to New England. I'm going to miss the easy access to my kid. 

"Hey, you wanna come up and watch some dogs act like the craziest things ever?"

"Yeah sure, I'll be up around 7." 

That isn't going to be the case. Not for a while. But, they'll be house sitting for someone near my mom starting this weekend, and I've got a list of "go look at this and tell me how broken it is. Take pictures." 

That's about it, I guess. No good pictures of dogs because it got hella dark really fast. We did have a fire in the pit, which was great. But yeah - they were so fast they were blurry. Sad. Sad. Sad. Picture evidence. and. Digits, below.  

digits

exercise: 12/12 hours.  no walk. 5k steps by bedtime.

blood glucose:

9:15am: 192
5pm: 138
10:15pm: 149 

food:
coffee/water
10:15am: english muffin w/pb
12pm: metformin
12:30pm: bowl of chicken salad w/ red onion & walnuts
5pm: last piece of banana bread
5:30pm: cod & shrimp baked in a casserole w/ritz cracker topping, butter, lemon

No Walkies

My mom called me at 4:30pm and blew up my ears for an hour. Doug came up to take Toffee for a walk and honest to God I would have gone with him if I wasn't on the phone with her. 

I worry about her mentally sometimes. I won't get into it, but she said some interesting things and I was slightly stunned by the bananapants things coming out of her mouth. She's so contrary (mom, why don't you just call them and ask, I say. No, I want to go and ask in person. Okay then fucking GO ASK IN PERSON, jesus lady why are you bitching to me about shit???) 

Doug left. I put dinner on the grill. I had plenty of time I could be doing steps but paid attention to the grillables, Dinner was delicious. 

I thought our neighbors were coming over with their puppy but we rescheduled for tomorrow. I'll have dinner done, ready, eaten by 5:30 so we can have good outside time. 

It's getting dark early, and friends, we know what happens on Sunday. Even Darker. 

After dinner, Geoff baked cookies, we kind of made up our own peanut butter cookie recipe, and it was wonderful. Hard not to eat 90 cookies, I swear. But I did have more than I should. 

I could have gone for a walk, but I cleaned up from Cookies, and got dishes going and laundry going. Before I knew it was after 9:30 and not willing to go for a walk. 

Good day all around otherwise. Digits below miss Toffee.

digits

exercise: 11/12 hours. Missed 1pm by probably a step or two. I was making a marinade in the kitchen and it was suddenly 2pm). No measurable walk. 5k steps by bedtime.

blood glucose:

9am: 183
4:30pm: 163
10:30pm: 208 

food:
coffee/water
10:45am: giant slab of banana bread
12:30pm: Metformin, grilled gouda & turkey on super seed bread (rather high carbs overall but ... super seeds). 
6pm: Grilled marinaded chicken thighs (yogurt, dill, oregano, olive oil, garlic, lemon juice), cuke/tomato/red onion salad w/tzatziki, grilled peppers
7pm: metformin+jardiance
3 beers
4 peanut butter/cocoa cookies from geoff 

The Weekend Update - Fire Pit and Long Walk

Saturday we went over to pick up a new fire pit we'd ordered at the local nice family hardware store. When we got home, I asked if Doug could fix the toilet seat with the hardware we bough last weekend. He said he didn't sign up for that. But it was needed. The hinge on one side of the seat had cracked (my fault) and was getting progressively worse and worse, finally coming all the way off the toilet seat... so he set to it and found out that "universal" hinge package is a lie. It was not universal. The screws did not line up with the toilet seat, it was all wrong and messed up. 

So the amount of swearing to express anger and dismay, and use of a power tool were epic. It got done, the toilet seat is secure, the lid is discarded. 

Last week when we were at the hardware store, he decided to buy the hinges and not a whole new toilet seat. I said "ya know... maybe we should just get a new toilet seat and not mess with this hinge dealie because this is going to end in tears." 

I didn't want to say "I told you so," while I sat on the couch chuckling at his rage, but. I ... told you so. 

Anyway, he got it fixed and then while the tool kit was out, he went out and set up the fire pit we just picked up. It took him longer than he'd expected but it worked out. It is beautiful.

Jess got here around 2 after a day trip to Baltimore, and we decided we'd head more into the city for beer and dinner. There is a brewery we don't get to much because it's a little hard to get to (I just realized last night how easy it is to get to if you take the metro, it's just a short, easy, less than a mile walk from the train station to the brewery, so note to self...) 

We brought the dog, and I didn't want to. Last time we took the dog to a brewery she was an absolute monster, and I didn't want to deal with that again. Both Jess and Doug insist she needs to learn, so we need to do this more often, and yes, she's not going to learn if I just keep her home whilst we go about our fun business. 

She did pretty good. We sat outside and were away from the other tables, but she so very wanted to visit the other tables. People. Children. Oh CHILDREN she loves them so. 

Eventually a woman came over with her little girl, dressed in an alligator costume for Halloween. The little girl was very afraid of dogs but also so tempted. So mommy came with, and we gave her a cookie to give to Toffee, it was successful, and then they were best friends. BFFs. Lots of love. 

There was a BBQ vendor there, with a little mini-smoke house, wood burning, fragrant, very fall feeling. It was just comfortable enough outside to sit. There was a band inside and they were hella loud, so I would not have enjoyed being inside. They let dogs in, and she would have ... been crazy. 

Outside, we got sammitches and mac & cheese. A little too much on the carb level for me, especially after being so good recently. The beers were great, I've made friends with the brewer and his wife, and we had a great chat.  It was a good trip out. 

I need to get some good shots of Jess and Toffee. 

We dropped Jess off at where they are house sitting, Doug was worried about putting them on the metro (at 7:30pm, on a Sunday). Jess thought it ridiculous to be worried. They're a grown ass human. But he Dadded on it, and dropped at the house. It's a neighborhood I've never been in, DC is full of those. Not a bad place, close enough to shopping and foods but a nice residential side-street that was quiet and tidy. I had to pee so I met the cat. Delightful. 

We watched a really bad horror movie that left more questions about why than it answered. The whole time we're yelling "but why is she doing this!" 

The acting was great, and it was scary enough for spooky season. It is spooky season after all. 

Sunday I woke up organically way before 9am and had to go to the bathroom, so it just made sense to be up. Toffee got fed and let out, I played with my phone until Doug got up. He put on the news, I started baking banana bread. Like ya do. It came out great, and after it was tested Doug suggested we go for a walk. I had no real excuse so we went. 

Technically two walks, the first one was 1.38 miles, and then we rested and walked another .77 home. It was, according to the fitbit, just under a solid hour. I felt strong and sturdy, and a 2 mile walk, followed by big glasses of water and starting some football viewing was just great. 

Doug took a nap, I got Jess at the train and we went to the market for dinner things. Doug wanted french bread pizza so I got the fixin's and brought it all home. He cooked while I hung out with Jess.

After dinner, it was time to test drive the fire pit. It was perfect. I should measure our old one (which I'm hoping to get Geoff to put out on the side of the road tomorrow for the garbage) because I feel like this thing holds a lot more wood than the last. 

It was a perfect night. I feel good even after the longer than I usually walk kind of walk. And I didn't eat too much pizza. Win. 

Digits below.

Saturday digits

exercise: 11/12 hours. No walk. 6400+ steps by bedtime

blood glucose:

9am: 175
n/apm: not taken, we were on the way to the brewery
11pm: 200 

food:
coffee/water
noon: Metformin, Breakfast burrito, approx 2 eggs, 3 strips of bacon, cheese, guac, salsa
5pm: metformin+jardiance, some brisket & mac and cheese; 3 beers
9pm: 4 apple cookies (probably why my sugar was so high Sunday morning)

Sunday digits

exercise: 12/12 hours. 2 walks, 36 min/1.38 miles and then a break, 20 min/.77 miles home; 10,500+ steps by bedtime

blood glucose:

8:30am: 223
4pm: 167
10pm: 179 

food:
coffee/water
noon: Metformin; slice of banana bread hot out of the oven
6pm: metformin+jardiance; 2 chunks of french bread pizza, gave a large piece of the bread to Doug after the toppings all slid off and I ate just that. 1 beer

Delightful Phone Calls

Today I was spending time copying and pasting and coloring in on a spreadsheet after replying to messages and saying 'yes customer has received file' etc. Lots of progress in one day. This little project needed a day of just my face, and fingers, paying attention to it. 

My husband and I made plans to go to NYC to go see Swept Away for my birthday. (See my entry on the first viewing). He bought the tickets (2pm Matinee, with dinner to follow) for me, Ronnie, Linda. I mentioned it to friends in PA that we haven't seen in forever and they are also incredibly interested in seeing this so they may be joining us. That would be sweet as heck. 

We're going up on Friday of that weekend, and then coming home Monday, and then for good measure, I took the day off on my actual birthday because that's how you do it. 

I'm not sure what Doug was thinking he wanted to do for my birthday, but I'm sure it wasn't this. But that's the thing about your birthday - you get to pick. I am sure whatever he felt like doing would have been nice and just fine, but, I want to do this. And he's obliged. Three weeks baby.

While I was working on the project my phone rang and it was my bestie, at the airport, headed to Pennsylvania for her nephew's wedding. Near Doug's family's ancestral home. And I hope she and her sister truthfully have an amazing and fun time, AND get to drive through the magnificent Fort Pitt tunnel and they don't think I'm some sort of weirdo for loving the things I love. 

I'm a simple bean. I love the Fort Pitt Tunnel, I love the Mount Washington in Pittsburgh, and I just love it there. 

Anyway, I had a ton of fun chatting with her while she was waiting at the airport for her flight, and I was jealous of her travel. 

She had to board her flight and I continued to work, spreadsheet, helpdesk ticket, email, wash, rinse, repeat. I didn't get through all the things but yeah, put a big fat dent in them. 

Dinner was good except I had too many mashed potatoes, and then I didn't have zero carb snack options, so I made toast with PB on super multi grain seeded bread. 

No picture today, just vibes. 

More tomorrow.

digits

exercise: 12/12 hours.  21 min. walk/.89 miles in the house; 6500+ steps today 

blood glucose:

8:30am: 192
5pm: 168
10pm: 191 

food:
coffee/water
noon: metformin; bowl of mac & cheese w/hamburger
2:30pm: protein shake
6pm: piece of flounder w/coconut crust (Aldi frozen fish); multi colored carrots; big pile of mashed potato. 6:30pm: metformin+jardiance
8pm: pb toast on multi grain seeded bread
red wine

End of Garden

I spent some time today emptying some outdoor pots of their holdings.  The plants were long gone, time to let the summer growth go. One or two plants seem to be continuing their joy but for the most part, things are gone. Long leggy stems with dead flowers at the end. 

I spent my lunch time puttering around out there, and I noticed the trees. They are not in full throes of splendor yet. Kind of just getting started around here, to be honest. I walked around the street and took a couple of shots. Looking up the road first thing in the morning it is usually such a display so I'll try and catch that. It's hard because we've had no rain, and a very dry summer overall, so things are not as zing zang zowie as we'd like to see. 

Friends of mine are headed to Boston this weekend, their kids are looking at colleges so I hope the city puts on a display for them.

Good day overall for me. We went and picked the car up from the dealership after getting a bunch of work done. Traffic was a nightmare coming home, but the trees made it worth my while to leave the house and go look at them. 

So happy tomorrow is Friday. 

Digits below some pictures.

digits

exercise: 12/12 hours.  25 min, 1.09 mile walk in the house. 7600+steps by bedtime

blood glucose:

8:30am: 179
4:15pm: 146
10pm: 179 

food:
coffee/water
10am: English Muffin w/pb and dollop of high quality preserves
11:30am: Metformin
1:30pm: last piece of salmon (about 3 oz?) over a little left over salad, refreshed w/cherry tomatoes & bleu cheese dressing
6pm and onward, a lot of spicy crunchy trail mix from Aldi; metformin+jardiance
7pm: 2 cheeseburgers w/spinach & cherry tomato salad w/bleu cheese (more trail mix)
Vodka & diet tonic w/ lots of lemon

Snake Plant House Moving

I had a mini-panic attack today after a team meeting. I've been focused on my own project and there is something that usually I would have my fat hands in, testing and poking, and oh - it hasn't received a lot of attention. I won't go into much more than that but just say that come Monday we'll have a testing plan in place, and I hope the testing goes flawlessly. 

After the meeting, I thought Doug and I were going to pick our car up at the Mini dealership, where it has been for two whole weeks getting some needed repairs, but no. That didn't happen. 

So I decided it was plant watering day, and oh, while we're at it, let's repot these two snake plants. In May of 2023, I split up a snake plant, and did a big repotting. Today I did it with two. They needed bigger houses. Getting one of them out of the pot was a real challenge! 

I have five of these now. In the picture in that post linked above, that's 3. The one in the middle got put into a bigger pot, and it is huge. Like four feet tall huge. I didn't take a picture of it today but I should. 

I felt much better after doing this Farmer Chris stuff. The pot I used had been on the porch all summer, and that plant was finished, so I cleaned the pot up, and got the new house ready. The other one I repotted doesn't have a picture, but it moved into the freshly vacated pot, and now looks so happy. 

Because I have five, I think at least one will move to the guest room, but that means I have to clear off the bookcase or bureau and make a home. 

A task for another day.

I had a good chat with another teammate about my feelings and fears, and she is right there. She's been more in the middle of this process and I told her some stories about the past where she and I both decided we have to pull everyone up and have a meeting, and do some testing, because. I don't want our team caught holding the bag, again, we have knowledge and history. Let's make sure shit doesn't go down in a bad way, an unexpected way, if we can possibly prevent that from happening. 

Doug took Toffee for a walk while I was talking to my co-worker. I would have gone with him if I wasn't in the meeting. I wasn't going to make dinner tonight, I would leave that to the boy. I started my walk around in the house after the chat, and Geoff got home and made a good meal. I'm super thankful for him. 

Anyway. Here are some pictures of the roots of the snake plants. They're so healthy and strong! and really will thrive in a new bigger home, both of them. Super excited!

Digits below.

digits

exercise: 12/12 hours. 20 min. indoor walk (would have kept going but Doug and Toffee got home). 7k by bedtime

blood glucose:

8am: 155
5pm: 163
10:30pm: 146 

food:
coffee/water
9:45am: english muffin w/ slice of american cheese and 4 strips of bacon
11am: metformin
12:45pm: apple+pb
6pm: chorizo quesadilla w/ guac and sour cream; metformin+jardiance
red wine

Early

This morning, Doug had a 7am meeting. 

When you work in a hospital with a 24 hour staff, sometimes you have to have meetings when everyone can be available. Technically before you're supposed to start working, or an hour or so after you stop working. It's easier to do the early end of things, it's easier to get people up to start early-ish than to expect people to kick it and hang around after their shift. 

He woke up around 6 and went to the guest room. At 6:30, I heard his alarm go off, and he snoozed it a couple times. 

But I was up.  Well, I was awake. Not up but. Awake. 

We slept with the window open last night, and it was chilly and comfy in the bedroom this morning. Toffee got up and so he fed her, made coffee, did all the things. 7am meeting. 

I woke up at 7:30 and the dog wasn't back in bed with me, so I went looking for her. She was outside, and I brought her in, and yeah. We got back in bed. 

Normal people would just get up, right?  Doug at 6 when he woke up organically, me at 7:30 when I discovered no dog. But going back to bed is also nice. Toffee and I had extended cuddle time. And it was worth it. 

Started the workday off quiet and slowly, no meetings until the afternoon. I felt hungry all day, which isn't like me, and I did eat 2 donuts so I guess I was not normal hungry but ... weird hungry. I got a lot done, had a couple really fun meetings, caught up with a co-worker on another team who just went to see Joni Mitchell at the Hollywood Bowl and she said it was mindblowing. We had a lot of fun chatting and catching up. Making time for stuff like that during the day is important. 

Made dinner and did not take a walk, Doug took a nap (waking up early will do that to ya). And that's the exciting day. 

No picture, digits below.

digits

exercise: 12/12 hours. No walk, 4700+ steps by bedtime

blood glucose:

8:45am: 174
3:15pm: 182
10:30pm: 234 (thanks, dinner!) 

food:
coffee/water
10:45am: 2 egg omelet w/ wilted spinach & mexican cheddar cheese
11:30am: metformin
1pm: apple w/pb
3:30pm: 2 entenmann's chocolate donuts
6pm: metformin+jardiance
6:30pm: 2 giant bowls of tuna casserole

Lab Work

Good news, everyone! 

I found out the other day that our doctors' office/clinic/lab has returned to pre-pandemic hours, 7am-11pm. This means I can actually go get bloodwork done when I need to get it done, and not make the anti-coagulation nurses mad at me because I never get over there in time, nor do I want to drive to the 24/7 lab in Gaithersburg. Huzzah! 

I had planned to go over during the day today but things were busy, and there were meetings, and a client has been having a hard time with an email situation. This turned into a fully cross departmental discussion about how we should handle these situations. 

At 4:30, I had a meeting scheduled with a client who didn't show, thank goodness, so I emailed him to say let's pick a different time! And I finished a few other things, and got dinner started. 

Meatloaf takes like a full solid hour, so Doug took Toffee for a walk, I got everything ready for The Loaf and put it in the oven. Geoff came home and I asked him to peel the potatoes (contribute to the team, pal).  

After dinner, there I was. Knowing they're open until 11, I had no excuse. So I went. I was home in 20 minutes. Boom, done. Perfect. 

I thought about getting a hair cut but it was 8pm. The little salon is open until 9, but I didn't want to be that person, walking in that close to close. I put that on the back burner and came home in time for football. 

Here's a picture of me and Toffee, "working."

digits below.

digits

exercise: 12/12 hours. 16 min/.6 miles indoor walk while dinner was cooking, 6700+ steps by bedtime

blood glucose:

8:30am: 187
4:30pm: 137 
10pm: 163 

food:
coffee/water
9:45am: english muffin w/butter & pb, no jelly
11am: Metformin
1:15pm: big bowl of BLT salad
6:30pm: 2 big slices of meatloaf, some mashed potatoes, steamed carrots
7pm: metformin+jardiance

Lazy Sunday

For the things we got done yesterday, today was a big do almost nothing day. We both slept in, Toffee didn't fuss that she needed to go our or want fed. 

I actually got up before Doug, which is wild. That never happens. I got coffee going, and Geoff came up and said he was going to mow the lawn but I asked him to wait until after Doug was up. 

I thought about asking Jess if they wanted to come up and spend the day, but I figure even if close, they don't want to have mom up in their face. They did text me that they went to the market and the upstairs neighbor eyeballed the canvas Market Basket bag and asked if they were from up north. Turns out, they're from Bolton and told Jess "I miss Market Basket!"

Dude, don't all of us from the north know this truth... 

I sort of napped, but not really. Toffee came into the bedroom with me and we just kind of lazed around. Pictures of her below. Because, of course.

Oh the big exciting thing is last night my cookie scoop tool broke, sadly, so today I ordered a set of three, small, medium, large. I think I had a medium sized one. I am not sure how big/how many ounces an extra large one would be but I'd love to make supersized cookies sometime. We'll see how these do. Maybe an ice cream scoop? that may be the tool for me. 

Geoff mowed the lawn and went to the market, and started dinner at about 5:30. It's so nice that he loves to cook and try new recipes. Tonight, he made pork medallions with apple slices in an apple cider reduction. He didn't reduce the apple cider enough, and he should have bought thicker pork medallions. These were wafer thin. But he did an amazing job. I put the reduction sauce into a container and tomorrow I think I'll poach a couple apples in the reduction left overs and some more cider. He's going to buy some sugar free ice cream tomorrow. It'll be a nice treat after dinner.

All told, Football, an inside walk while Doug walked Toffee outside (I wanted to stay near the bathroom, for ... reasons), dinner by Geoff, Steelers game, etc.... Life is good. 

Digits below, some Toffee views while we were lazy on the guest bed. Sugar is a little high from dinner and cookies. Understandable.

digits

exercise: 12/12 hours. 25 min/1.11 mile walk inside (my fitbit has a feature I didn't know about that tells me the distance too.) 6700+ steps by bedtime.

blood glucose:

10am: 193
4:30pm: 167 
11pm: 194 

food:
coffee/water
12:30pm: metformin; grilled cheese w/bacon and tomato on sourdough bread
red wine
6:30pm: 3 small pork medallions w/apples in a cider reduction sauce; 5 pierogis
8pm: the last 4 oatmeal cookies
9pm: some crackers & cheese while watching football

Got some things done

Today we got out the upholstery shampooer/cleaner to clean up the loveseat where Toffee puked the other night. Ugh it was a smelly spot, and I was happy to hit at it with the machine. Doug took Toffee for a walk while I cleaned up. I also got a 20 minute walk in, which was good! 

Now we ust have to wait for the fabric to fully dry. The machine does a really great job, it has powerful suction, or, as the box says, Puissance D'aspiration for you Canadians. 

After he got back, we went out to the hardware store to get a new fire pit. I'd been trying to connect with a local woman on FB to get hers, that she didn't want, but Doug found one online at the local ACE so we thought we'd just go grab it. 

Oh well, it was on back order and they could get one for us for Wednesday. We thought that was fine, and did more shopping. Geoff's bathroom needs a new chain on the toilet dealie, and I broke our toilet seat the other day when I was cleaning. Doug got new hardware for the hinges, and we got a nice little "wok" for the grill for veggies. 

We had a lot of fun poking around the hardware store, and went to Aldi to pick something up for dinner. Geoff is going to do a big grocery shop tomorrow, so we just needed something tonight for dinner. 

Going to pickup up the new fire pit on Wednesday gives me a reason to leave the house then. Ha. Looking forward to it already. 

After dinner, I finally got around to baking cookies, Geoff was slightly disappointed that it was oatmeal, but, we are out of peanut butter (oh no) and only had a half bag of chocolate chips, so .... I went with what I had. And they are spectacular. My reading for the glucose was lower than I expected after eating ..... 4 of them. We'll see what tomorrow morning brings?

Digits, below.

digits

exercise: 12/12 hours. 20 min. indoor walk. 8k steps by bedtime

blood glucose:

10am: 178
5pm: 205 
10:30pm: 146 

food:
coffee/water
noon: metformin
2pm: turkey & colby jack cheese grilled cheese sandwich on 647 italian bread
6:30pm: big piece of salmon on caesar salad; metformin+jardiance
red wine
oatmeal cookies (homemade by me!)

Therapy at Work

Today I went into the office to give a tour, we had a great time. My colleague from Utah was delightful. Her parents live north of me by a few towns, and so she brought them, her partner, and her 17 yr old son. 

I was worried he hated it. He seemed straight faced and kind of meh, but I did good Boy Scout Mom jokes and he laughed. And her father thought I was a riot. 

We sat in the lobby for an extra 20 minutes after I was done touring them and chatted. The son was engaged in the talk, and told me he really loved the visit. 

I went back to my desk, realized it was just about time for lunch and I could have put it off, but I had a 1pm meeting, so, it was important to go get lunch. Lunch was amazing. I had made the chair massage appointment for after the meeting with some buffer time for doing a little work and we got a message from HR that Wellness Week continues with... therapy dogs! In the lobby! 2pm. 

OMG yes. Yes please. 

This did not suck. I hung out with dogs until massage time, and went and had a great chair massage. It never feels like enough, in the chair, but the therapist did a great job. All told, no complaints for a nice free massage. 

Back to my desk, on my floor, where absolutely NO ONE was there. I got a lot done from 2:30 - 5 and then decided to head home. 

To my own therapy dog. Who herself maybe uses me as a therapy human. 

Doug picked me up at the metro and we went to Aldis to get something for dinner for us. I could have walked home but knowing that picking me up would be his impetus for getting something for dinner, I didn't want to squash that. 

And I was happy to return home to the dog who I think I'm her emotional support therapy human. Digits below.

digits

exercise: 12/12 hours. Three walks; 22 min, 13 min, 12 min. Crushed the 10k goal with 12,500 steps by bedtime.  

blood glucose:

7am: 183
6pm: 130 
10:45pm: 179 

food:
coffee/water
9am: 2 sausage patties, 2 strips of bacon
12:15pm: Metformin; bowl of chicken curry w/root veggies & brussels sprouts, pinch of jasmine rice
6:30pm: metformin+jardiance; 2 chicken patties w/ sauce & cheese
vodka tonic w/splash of cran (not low sugar) 
8:30pm: pbj on 647 bread

Barf

Toffee has been puking a lot this week, we're calling the vet tomorrow. 

She hasn't had a change in diet except we've scaled her back a half cup per meal per vet's orders. But that shouldn't make someone puke. She is on a new medication for what may be skin allergies, but she took those for a week without incident. 

Wondering if she got into something in the yard. But it's gross. It is really gross when a nearly 70 pound dog horks. 

I'm going into the office again tomorrow because a client asked for me specifically to give them a tour. 

And it is Wellness Week so we get to get massages! Huzzah. Can't wait for mine! 

Doug and Geoff both just yelled at an Old Navy Christmas commercial because it isn't even halloween yet. The fact they both unleashed the boo birds at the same time was hilarious. 

That's my entry. Not much else to say. Wish Toffee luck at feeling better. She's very quiet when she throws up. There's no heaving and gagging. She makes some licking noises with her mouth and goes to the front door. Only she puked in her sleep just now on the couch so. Honestly. Wish her luck (and me, too!)

My poor bean.

digits

exercise: 12/12 hours. No walks today. 5k+ steps by bedtime.

blood glucose:

8am: 153
3:30pm: 143 
10:15pm: 188 

food:
coffee/water
11am: pb&j on 647 bread; metformin
3:30pm: apple w/pb
6:45pm: metformin+jardiance; mac & cheese topped with chili (leftovers night!) 
white wine

Wine Smoothie Prescription

While Jess is in town, I figured I'd invite them to the office to see a band they like that does the concert series. Today was one of those bands. I've heard of them, but never really listened to them. My manager is friends with the lead singer. Real life friends. So he came in too.

 I made it to the office by 9:30 and settled in. After a little while it turned out there was a surprise party for one of the office support staff, an "EA" which stands for Executive Assistant. Her name is Lori, and she's been here for 20+ years. Retirement. Retirement! Congratulations Lori!

The last time I was here, she told me she was retiring and I was happy for her. She had the date circled on her calendar. She didn't want a party or anything but the EA staff and the C suite people she supports insisted on surprising her with one. 

I'm so happy I went in today because I would have missed it. A couple other EAs who don't work here any longer were there, and it was a joyous time. 

The concert was outstanding. Just simply wonderful. 

Jess and I left my office at about 2:45 because I had a dentist appointment up by home. I'd rescheduled having some fillings replaced that were on the verge of failing. "I think these were put in," my dentist said, "in the ... 70s?" 

Probably. Most of them. Yes. 

He replaced 2 of 3 on the bottom left. I have to go back for the third. I was starting to feel what he was doing, even though he had given me some major league novocaine to numb the hell out of my mouth. Pretty good decision on his part to stop and wait to do the third there. I have some on the upper left that are silver and probably my first fillings, and on the upper right that were done in High School. He'll replace all of them this year. 

When he was finishing up, he said "you are more numbed up than I think you'll realize, so don't eat dinner until much later tonight, You will bite the hell out of your lower lip and not realize it," (it was 5pm at the time). "You can have .... a smoothie. You can have a glass of wine. Hey, you can have a wine smoothie. I'll write you a prescription for it."

"Don't worry about that, I know a guy who can make it."

We laughed. Of course we did. Oh, and he was right. I did eat dinner at about 7:30pm, and I did bite the hell out of my lower lip. 

As of 10pm, my face is still numb. I can feel where I bit my lip though. Ouch. 

I didn't get a wine smoothie, but did get wine. 

The other big news thing is walking today basically doubled what I do most days. I walked to the train from the house, to the office from the train. I walked around the office a bunch. I walked from the office to the train, from the train to the dentist. Then from the dentist to my house. In the pre-pandemic days, this would have probably killed me. There are no benches or rest rooms along the way. But I did a great job. Over 5 miles today kids. Doesn't sound like a lot for people who regularly walk a ton and a half, but for me, hell yeah. I actually wish I knew what the most steps I'd done in a day is, since starting with a fitbit back in like 2014. 

Today was a good day. 

Here's a shot of The Magnetic Fields. Digits below.

digits

exercise: 11/12 hours. Missed 4pm due to dentist chair. A multi-walk kind of day. Tons of walking. 13,700+ steps by bedtime. 

blood glucose:

7:30am: 160
5:15pm: 143 
10:30pm: 130 

food:
coffee/water
11:45am: metformin; ginger glazed pork w/salad and brussels sprouts
7:30pm: bowl of chili w/fritos, cheese, sour cream; metformin+jardiance; ice cream sandwich
white wine not-smoothie

Weekend Fun

I decided to not blog over the weekend with all that we had going on. Quick and dirty update: Fun stuff happened. 

More detailed update....

Jess got here very late on Friday night. They left around 9am, and traffic just kept getting worse and worse as they headed south. The GPS ended up routing through Scranton PA, down 81, which is way out of the way, but it was that bad. That bad that not going through NJ but going to Harrisburg was a better option. 

Friday of a holiday weekend. Of course. 

After arriving, we had wine and snacks and chatted until 1am. 

Saturday, they headed to DC in the afternoon to connect with the person they're house sitting for. Meet the cat. Easy trip in from here on the Metro. We were going to connect in DC and head over to a brewery but Doug took a nap and it was kind of too late for schlepping into town. We had Jess come back here (they were staying here Saturday night anyway). We ordered a big lamb dinner from the greek restaurant the next town over. 

After dinner, we remained seated at the dining table drinking mead and wine and commenting on them.

We had several "special occasion" bottles and just kept cracking them open.

Because this was a special occasion. Both of our kids, fancy little dainty glasses, and exotic little concoctions.

We found that a spicy pepper mead that we'd picked up in Pennsylvania this summer mixed really well with this ginger wine, so that was the winner of the night.

The worst one was a tomato wine that Doug and I picked up in Canada several years ago when we were there for our anniversary. 

I remember it being really good when we sampled it, but hey.... I guess it just did not age well. Ooooof this was nasty. We felt bad for the tomatoes that gave their lives for this. Sorry, tomatoes. 

On Sunday, Doug and I left to go to the Eastern Shore. We had planned this as a full leave Friday or Saturday kind of thing but with Jess visiting we dropped it to just Sunday night. I had Monday off, he took it off. Let's go.

In theory, this should be an easy zippy trip but it never ever is. Does not matter at what time you leave, something is always a problem. Once you get there it's great. Super happy fun times. But yeah. Such a schlep. 

We stopped in Salisbury to have late lunch at Evolution Brewing. 

The waitress didn't even ask us if we wanted inside or outside, which was weird. Seeing as it was so incredibly beautiful, it would have been nice to be out. But. She planted us inside, and Doug didn't argue or suggest otherwise. At least we got to watch football. Our waiter was super sweet, I really liked talking to him. 

The food wasn't as good as the last time we were there. We both got crab soup and Doug thinks his was off. Mine was fine, but he got a wicked stomach ache and was sick the rest of the trip. Because I didn't get the same impact, I don't think he got food poisoning, but I also don't know what he did get. 

I ordered a salad with steak on it, which came with 3 measly pieces of steak that were cold, overcooked, and rubbery. Way too much salad for one human to eat. 

The beer was good though. 

Off to Assateague, to gawk at horses. 

We got there late in the day and I guess that's not prime horse gawking time. We only saw a few right by where you take the bridge onto the island. 

We drove to the ranger station, paid to get into the Fee Use area, and drove to the end of the regular car road parking lot. 

We sat on the beach for a while - it was crazy windy, and it felt like thousands of little needles. Children were crying. No horses were around. We opted to get back in the car and drive back north, pulling off to the bay side of the island to take little walks and look at para gliders and birds. 

I think I took 100 pictures of these birds that were just hanging out by the boardwalk where we parked. There were ponies but they were super far out there on the islands. 

After some time, we left and headed to our hotel. Doug picked this one because it was right on the beach with a balcony looking out at the ocean. Doug can be notoriously "thrifty" with hotels, as we do know, but I was willing to let this one be a thing for one night. 

The Dunes Suites is at the very north end of the OC Boardwalk, seemingly so far away from everything. For an October date, that's fine and great. 

The hotel itself is a little confusing because there are two hotels - Dunes Suites and Dunes Court. You check in at Dunes Court, and then park in between the buildings. Shotgun shack style - you enter the room on the West side with the stairs and the elevator, and you walk through to the balcony on the East. 

It was nice. Under $100 and not a murder hotel. Well then. Wow. Okay! Doug took a nap and I sat out on the balcony. It was getting a little chilly, but the exhaust from the air conditioning unit was rather nice. I felt like taking a walk, or going over to 7-11 to get a bottle of wine for myself but a friend called me on the phone and we had a good long talk. 

Doug woke up still feeling horrible, and he sat with me for a while. As it got to dark, I said I really would like to have a walk and get the sitting in the car blues out of my body. He agreed, and I'm glad he did. We walked 11 minutes down the boardwalk, enjoying the night and the lack of humans. There were some, but it wasn't shoulder to shoulder packed. This was very nice. We stopped and sat for a while, and Doug encouraged me to get dinner but the only thing open was a pasta and pizza joint. I was tempted but I passed on it. I was still full from Giant Salad, so meh. No. 

I did have a headache though, so we walked back up the boardwalk, and crossed the busy street to get to the 7-11. The nearest CVS was closed. Doug wanted some ginger ale, so we got what we needed, and headed back to the room. We watched football for a little while, and I fell asleep at halftime. 

Aren't we exciting? 

I got up to go to the bathroom around 5:30, Doug also woke up and he looked out at the ocean. He thought sunrise would be any second now... but I looked it up and it was 7:09. He was astonished... but I said well, until the clocks change, and then it'll jump backwards an hour. Then you get a 6 something sunrise. 

He asked me to set an alarm, so I did. I also opened the blinds a little so the light would start to peep through and maybe wake me up some. 

It did just that. Around 6:30, before the alarm would be going off, the sky was changing. I was worried about all the clouds on the horizon, that we wouldn't be able to see the sun coming out, but she did not disappoint. 

We saw the sliver of coral orange out there, and watched her rise up. Great show. And then she went behind the clouds but this wasn't bad. It caused some dramatic light ray effects up into the sky. 

I maybe took 2000 pictures of the sunrise.

We went back to bed, and Doug woke back up around 9. I woke up at 9:30. He made hotel room coffee, and since there was no milk, I didn't have any. I cannot drink black coffee for the life of me. We got ready and by 10:30am we were checked out and on our way back to Pony Gawk. After a stop at Dunkin Donuts for some coffee!

I will say, I'll stay at the Dunes Suites again. For sure. Additionally, there is a Steelers Football Bar a block away from the hotel. Had Doug not felt like shit, we probably would have landed there for a dinner or drinks or something. As was, he needed to rest, drink ginger ale, and not do anything else.

The ponies must really like mornings. They were everywhere. And people were pulled over all over the place to take pictures and check them out. And this one little pull out, there were maybe 6 or 7 horses, they were not shy about walking wherever they wanted. You're not supposed to get close  to them, but they'll get close to you. So you need to back away. 

We went back to the boardwalk where I took the millions of bird photos and horses were literally right there next to the boardwalk with the paparazzi all around them. We sat on a bench and watched from a ways off. Doug thinks they enjoy the attention, they're completely unbothered it seems. I did go up and take a couple more pictures of them, especially this one guy with the hairdo. 

Next, we walked a boardwalk trail called Life of the Forest. It wasn't a very long boardwalk, so Doug enjoyed some distant gazing and I did steps to get 16 minutes of something so it would register on the fitbit as exercise. We drove further south, back to the parking area from the day before and we did the Life of the Dunes trail (the only one we didn't do was Life of the Marsh). 

This was a good challenge. I had on sneakers because I'd left my hiking sandals home on accident. The sand was hard to walk on, but there's a section of this trail that used to be paved road. Back in 1962, a storm wiped out the progress of paving this area, and they abandoned their plans to make this section of the island like Ocean City (thank goodness). But the road is still there. Baltimore Boulevard in several sections is there for walking and climbing on. It made the walk a little easier except for the getting up and down off of it. 

I'm not as young as I once was. 

It is a loop trail, and at the top of the loop (or bottom, since we're walking south) there's a platform but no benches. It was a good place to rest. A trio of women came from the opposite direction, and they asked how far the trail was to go back to the car. We told them they were basically at the halfway point, and showed them on the Pokemon Go map (we didn't have a paper map) where we were. They were from Boston, and we had a nice chat about the park and the ponies. 

They continued counter clockwise and we continued clockwise. This stretch of trail was further west and in, so the trees were bigger and there was some really nice shade. It was still a bit of a challenge for me but your girl did it. 

So yesterday's exercise was notable, not just a walk around the living room. My favorite thing about the fitbit is it tracks my pulse too, so a GOOD walk gets you up out of the moderate to vigorous range. Yesterday's 2 half mile+ jaunts got me from vigorous to peak. 

Walking on sand will do that. 

We were happy to get back to the car, and I was thankful that I packed water. I think that's why I had a headache on Sunday, I didn't have enough water. Several swigs later, we headed back out to the highway and into Berlin. 

Doug wanted to stop at Burley Oak Brewing and get some take home beers. I have a friend who lives close by, so I told her we were headed there for a quick stop, and wanted to see if she was up for a drive by hug. 

I thought we'd just do that drive by hug but Doug encouraged me to have a beer with my friend. He passed on having some because he knew he would be sleepy on the way home if he did, so D and I each had some beer and we got caught up. 

I missed our 40th high school reunion back in August because of On The Ocean (well, did I really miss it? I mean. I keep in touch with people I want to keep in touch with, and I didn't really see the point in spending over 100 bucks to ... go to this). She was one of the coordinators, and to be honest, to support her would have been the only reason for me to go. 

But .... Guster and visiting my mom will win every time. 

Traffic was fantastic until we got within five miles of our house. Happy to be home but would have liked one more October day and night in Ocean City. 

I tracked digits and foods but won't report them from Friday to Monday. Suffice to say, they were all pretty good. Today's are below me and D at the brewery. 

Oh, and I got 2 days of 10k+ steps on Sunday and Monday. Whew!

digits

exercise: 12/12 hours.  didn't get a dedicated walk. 5700+ steps by bedtime

blood glucose:

8:30am: 168
4:15pm: 141 
10:30pm: 191 

food:
coffee/water
11:30am: Metformin
12:30pm: left over greek salad w/bacon thrown in, mayo
4:15pm: apple w/pb
6:30pm: metformin+jardiance
7:15pm: plate of pasta shells w/ meat sauce (heavy on the meat) and slice of garlic bread

Getting ready

Jess arrives tomorrow, so I need to slip out of work mode and into mom mode for a little bit. Strip the bed, wash the sheets in the guest room and get the blanket out. We had two sets of queen sheets but the fitted sheet on one set tore, so right now one - until flannel time. Which will come sooner than later!  It was super cold in here last night! I guess it is mid October, eh? 70s in the day, 40s in the night. I even woke up around 4am and was chilly so I got a blankie off the couch. 

I don't do a big deep clean before they come, just make the bathroom presentable, vacuum which I already did, oh, and clean the top of the stove. Our poor stove. We cook every day at least once a day, something is always getting made in there. So she suffers our messes and it's often too hot to clean her immediately so, we let it go a bit. Geoff is usually on top of that. He cleans the top of the stove all the time. But he's been lax. 

We'll get that done. 

Things look good. It looks like nice responsible adults live in this house, oh except my bedroom still. Haven't gotten there. And we shan't speak of the basement.

I had a slice of banana bread today and boy does that shoot my blood sugar up. I took it a full 2 hours after eating the banana bread and it was still stupid high. Oh, banana bread. I do love you but. I guess ... not frequently. Thankfully a really heavy protein dinner and some time brought it down to something slightly more reasonable. 

Anyway.  No picture tonight either. Watching football, and going to bed very shortly. So thankful for a three day weekend coming up. 

Digits below. 

digits

exercise: 12/12 hours. 12 min indoor walk while dinner was cooking (stopped because I needed to be at the stove and didn't think recording the pause for 4 min. was worth it). 5600+ steps by bedtime

blood glucose:

8:30am: 187
4:30pm: 245 
10:30pm: 158 

food:
coffee/water
10:15am: pbj sandwich on 647 italian bread
noon: metformin
2:30pm: slice of banana bread
4pm: a bunch of slices of pepperoni
6:30pm: beef stroganoff w/ a few egg noodles but not a lot

Vet Visit

Today we took the Toffinator to the vet for her shots. She is so loved there. They absolutely lose their minds over how sweet she is. Always a fun time at the vet!

She's got some sort of rash from allergies, and they gave us a cool mousse that we need to squirt on her and massage in, and then take her for a walk so she won't lick it all off. We got some hyper super duper dog benadryl to hopefully knock this rash out. And the usual flea/tick/heartworm meds of course. 

The vet said she needs to lose some weight. She weighs about 67 points, up from 59 when we brought her in for her first visit. So the recommendation is to cut back a half cup of food in the morning and the evening, and bring her back for a weigh in six months from now. And fewer treats. Okay. I think we can do that. 

For her health! 

Anyway. Busy day at work, per usual. No pic today, I tried to get one at the vet but not in the cards. 

Digits, per usual.

digits

exercise: 12/12 hours. no walk today. 5k by bedtime

blood glucose:

8:30am: 211
n/a afternoon reading skipped
9:45pm: 213 (not sure why so incredibly high this evening?) 

food:
coffee/water
10am: protein shake
11:30am: metformin
noon: tuna melt w/bacon on 647 italian bread
6pm: popeye's chicken; 4 pieces + coleslaw, one biscuit
6:15pm: metformin+jardiance

Fury Baking

We have a client who was having some huge problems today, and our third party partner says it is "their fault," but ... as the support person for the client, I'm also a tenacious beast. 

I troubleshot this, I went over EVERYthing. I brought in colleagues on another team to look at it and they said everything looked good to them. I talked to another client who has the exact same set up as this client, and his shit works. So look here, look at this other guy, why's his not working! And the other client said for sure I am in the right, the third party partner has a configuration problem. He gave me a suggestion to jump over a flaming barn (not even a flaming red hoop) that got us to about 90% solution. 

It took all day. All. Day. Tomorrow morning we're going to iron out the last bit. At one point I walked away from a furiously detailed slack discussion, and just went to the kitchen. It was time to bake banana bread and just be "AFK" as they say. Away from keyboard. 

I'd been looking at these three big beautiful very ready bananas since Saturday when I got back from my trip. Doug had picked them up at Aldi while I was away hoping I'd volunteer to bake. Well hell yeah. You bet.

I used to do anxiety baking. Today it was fury baking. After spending so much time pleading my case, not hearing back from anyone, just basically continuing to troubleshoot, and get nowhere. I finally get someone to pay attention and get dismissed, but I wasn't going to stop fighting because I had backup. I had a posse with my other client and my evidence. But I was still very mad. Grrrrrrrr. Baking.

After mixing up the batter and getting it into the oven, I contemplated making oatmeal cookies too. But I just used my most favorite mixing bowl, and I didn't feel like washing it and all that stuff, so it went into the dishwasher and I went back to work. I at least got some banana bread going.

Maybe tomorrow. I also have 3 more bananas and may just have to bake another loaf, if Geoff doesn't want to eat them. Maybe muffins. I can make muffins. 

After the I had two big pieces of the banana bread, I really should not have because it was too close to when I'd be taking my reading for the afternoon. But it was delicious and I wanted it hot out of the oven, not later on at room temperature. Gotta have that melting of the butter on the hot tasty bread.

Toffee has a doctor's appointment tomorrow. It'll be one year since she was found on the street in DC, and rescued. This is the time to get the shots renewed, not from when we adopted her in December. Hard to imagine it's been 10 months already that she's been with us. A national treasure she is. 

Digits below this awesome slice. Damn, that was good.

digits

exercise: 12/12 hours.  20 min. inside walk. 7k steps by bedtime

blood glucose:

8:30am: 177
4:15pm: 217 (argh, banana bread!) 
9:45pm: 211

food:
coffee/water
11:30am: english muffin w/pb & sugar free jam
noon: metformin
3pm: 2 really really tasty tasty slices of banana bread w/butter
6:30pm: chinese food: some combo fried rice, general tso's chicken, sesame beef, dumplings, spring roll. vodka tonic
7pm: metformin+jardiance
9:45pm: pepperoni snack 

Beach Balls

This morning when I let Toffee out there was this big, huge, giant beach ball just sitting next to my car. I have no idea why, or where it came from. We have a ton of kids in the neighborhood so it could have been from anywhere. Anywhere.

So I took a picture of it. Pondering it.

I thought about bringing it into the yard for safety but I thought Toffee would pop it or something. I left it alone and went to get my coffee and looked outside a few minutes later and it was gone. I looked up and down the street and didn't see it anymore. 

Gone to another house to bless the inhabitants with its whimsy, I guess. I hope they loved it.

So. A weird welcome to the Monday morning. May the beach ball bless your eyes today. 

I got nothin' else. ha. 

Digits below. Look at that big assed happy beach ball, yo.

digits

exercise: 12/12 hours.  18 minute walk inside while dinner was cooking. 6500+ steps by bedtime

blood glucose:

8:30am: 178
4pm: 151  
10:30pm: 185

food:
coffee/water
12:30pm: Metformin. pb&j (low sugar j, 647 italian bread)
4pm: very small apple w/pn
6pm: bowl of pasta w/meat sauce; metformin+jardiance

Out And About

When I was in New Jersey, Saturday morning, my plan was to take a river walk along the Hudson while my friends went out to breakfast with their friend. I didn't want to glom on them, even though waffles at iHop I wanted them to enjoy their time together. Picking this particular hotel gave me the option for a wonderful stroll. 

I had set up late check out, thinking I could sleep in and still get out for a walk. But, I just did not. I didn't. I was tired. The day before was a lot, a lot of travel, a lot of walking, a lot of subway, some me being scared to go up to 177th street to get the uber instead of getting one from say Penn Station or something. I followed Ben's thinking and it all worked out, but I would not have done that if I was alone or with my sister. It helps Ben is a quadrippleton black belt in Kung Fu. If anyone would mess with us, heck. Ben. 

We probably saved 50 bucks, but it was so far to travel that night. And when I did get up, and eat my breakfast, and shower, then I started in on looking at youtube videos on the internet, it ended up at 1pm, and it was time to head to the lobby instead of the river. Time to go. No good walk and no real enjoyment of the Edgewater scene. Next time, New Jersey. I know more about how to work this, to avoid 500 dollar hotels, and not spend a butt ton of money on ubers. 

I slept in incredibly late today. I so very rarely sleep past 11 but conditions were right. Geoff was very quiet and left for work without making a racket. Doug was in the guest room with Toffee, and I think he even slept late. I heard her food hit the dish at some point and had brief awareness of toffee time. It may have been 10 or so. But I rolled over and continued to sleep.

11:15. Wow. 

Anyway, missing the first 2 hours of the daily step count, I figure today was to be just a take it easy day. Around 2pm we left to take the mini to the dealership for some work (it is running like absolute shit and that needs addressed). We drove up and the dealership is around the corner from one of our health care labs so I asked if we could go in, and I could do the blood draw they've been nagging me to do for weeks. 

It is so annoying that I have a lab an hour from my house, but they are only open 7-5. I'm not a morning person so going at 7am is not going to happen. And I work past 5. Unless I do something gracious for myself, and actually stop working and go take care of me (imagine that) I am not going to make it over there in time. 

There were three phlebotomists on duty. Two were playing cards and I joked around with them that I didn't want to interrupt their flow, so the other one could help me. No other patients were there. I was in and out in about 4 minutes. Doug was irritated that I wanted to do this, he told me to just go to the one by our house and make time for it, but I don't just have the walk away and do that flexibility he thinks I do. 

He thought I'd be in there forever, so he irritatedly took the dog for a walk around the building to get some steps in for himself. I walked around the parking lot solo for 8 minutes waiting for him, since I was only in there for 4. My fitbit didn't register as "exercise" at all because I think it doesn't unless your heart rate is over 110 and 10 minutes go by?

He came back and we got ready to leave for our next errand. I got email while I was in the parking lot with the test results. The benefits of going and doing this on a Sunday afternoon! Not only the phlebotomists are bored, but the lab was probably just sitting there waiting for something to do... 

My reading for PT/INR is a little high, so tomorrow I anticipate a call from the anti-coagulation unit to change my dosage for a week and go back and retest next week. Note to self, eat more leafy greens. And my A1C is 7.5, down from 7.7 in March. Barely a nudge. But, a nudge. Better than nothing, right?

We stopped at the auto parts store and he got bulbs for the headlights (turns out he got the wrong ones, so he has to go out again to get the right ones). And new windshield wipers, wiper fluid, a bunch of other things to help get the cars ready for the fall and whatnot. I have a hard time seeing at night anymore so having a headlight out in the better of our two cars is not an option. 

On the way home we thought it would be fun to stop at the brewery near us that we like. Turns out everyone in America thought it would also be fun to do. We couldn't even turn down the street. It's a gorgeous day, so I guess I cannot blame people for getting out and enjoying it. The ten day forecast for this week is also looking so good. I'm rather excited. Will I finally get to sit out on the patio and work! Man, I hope so! 

The other news is Jess is coming to house sit for someone that I work with, who I've never met. I guess one of the folks they house sit for up north recommended them, and so yeah. That's happening. They get here next Friday and will be around for three weeks while my mystery co-worker that I don't know goes on a trip. Maybe her honeymoon? Maybe a work trip? I have no idea! Jess gave me the address and it is so super easy to get to and from on the Metro. I think we'll keep their car here, and then they can metro up and we can metro down and we can see each other and yay. 

Doug and I had planned on going away for the weekend, leaving Friday, since next Monday I have the day off, and he took it off. But with Jess arriving (I thought it was the following weekend, oops) we'll just take off on Sunday and stay one night away. This will be good on Geoff so he can just go to work at noon, kennel the dog, and one of us will be back in time to rescue her. 

That's about it for a lazy Sunday that wasn't 100% devoid of action, but definitely not a thrillah. No picture today, maybe tomorrow from working on the patio!

digits

exercise: 10/12 hours.  Missed 9 and 10am. No exercise/walk that was measurable. 5k by bedtime

blood glucose:

11:15am: 174
4:15pm: 168  
10:30pm: 190 (170 in another finger. I hate monitoring my blood sugar)

food:
coffee/water
11:30am: slice of cheese danish
noon: Metformin
1:30pm: turkey & muenster on 647 toasted italian bread w/mayo
4:30pm: more danish; glass of red wine
6pm: 2 cheeseburgers, no buns, a little potato salad
7:30pm: small slice of pumpkin pie w/ whipped cream. Didn't finish it because it was ... too sweet. Yes. you read that right. I did not like it.

Safety Not Guaranteed

Friday:
Linda had purchased tickets to see the musical "Safety Not Guaranteed" at the BAM Strong theatre in Brooklyn NY. She bought a lot of tickets, thinking they would sell out because Guster announced they'd be doing a little campfire set/dumpster show style thing at the end. 

Well. There were a lot of tickets still for sale, but she had eight. Doug didn't want to go, Ronnie had to have his arm twisted to come, Our friends Angela and Eric had dragged their feet on buying tickets and they didn't want to sit up in the balcony so they were thrilled to join us. And our other friend V took the other one that would have been my pair.

I didn't want to go. I'm not motivated on a school night to go places other than bed. But I rallied. My friends Robin and Ben took her up on 2 of the tickets, and I hitched a ride. They were staying at a friend's place in Fort Lee, so I got a hotel just south of where they were staying (I'm there now, enjoying some alone time while they're out to breakfast with their friend). 

The ride up yesterday was flawless. Perfect. Low traffic, stellar weather. Once we were settled in the spots where we'd be spending the night, I got my blouse ironed and hair curled (I need a haircut soonly!) 

Ben used to live in several towns in the area from Hackensack to Teaneck, to NYC, to Brooklyn so he's kind of good with how to get from one place to another. One of the challenges for me mentally is getting from NJ to NYC or Brooklyn by mass transit. I used to be good at this. 

We opted on the way over to the city to take an Uber because we were short on time to actually grab a bus. And the next bus would take us out of the way further south to go back north and take an extra hour ... we could have made it, but we opted to not. 

Ben and Robin love this little yakitori restaurant near Madison Square Garden, so they really wanted to go there and I was flexible. Linda and Ronnie weren't going to make it into the city until after 6, but had found a german restaurant near the venue and other folks were aiming for going there to meet up. We were having meat on stick. It was a lovely sampler of foods, Ben had a giant bowl of Ramen, they serve their cocktails in a ziplock style bag, which is super cool. 

I love this picture of them, because it looks almost like an ice cream soda shop from the 1950s or something. Only they each have their own cocktails. 

After dinner we took the subway over to Brooklyn. From where we were, it was literally 4 or 5 stops to get to the Barclays Center stop and walk to where Linda had invited folks to come for dinner. Since we'd already eaten, a beer and company with many of our pals was in order and we had about a half hour to spare to catch up and chat. 

It was a short walk to the theater, more friends in the lobby including musician friends we love. Guster fans were out in force for this show. I'm sure if anyone was there who didn't know who they were, they knew by the end. 

The musical itself was lovely. I have chills thinking about some of the scenes. I'd suggest watching the movie (with Aubrey Plaza and Mark Duplass) if you're interested in learning more about the story. Then, imagine amazing poignant songs mixed in about chocolate milk, time travel, wanting to change the past to save the future. 

One of the super interesting things they did was take One Man Wrecking Machine and change one line, to really fit the story's main subject Kenneth. Video of that song is here in the trailer. 

And another one of Ryan's new original songs called Gaming Laptop is pretty great. 

Throughout the show we all were saying "oh this song is about XYZ situation or person in the play but wow. You can hear it is a Guster song." Ryan's songwriting and style ride through it all so perfectly. Some of this is just sitting on me today, how wonderful the acting and singing was. The stage production was so minimal, but they did so much. So much with the space and the set. Just outstanding. 

I didn't expect to burst into tears, twice. Maybe three times. Thank God Linda was next to me with tissues at the ready.

They use "Do You Love Me" in one of the scenes with Kenneth and the love of his life are singing together in a coffee shop. Soaring harmonies, and perfect musical accompaniment. Kenneth sings "Two Points for Honesty," which just FIT so hard with who he is, and how he feels about himself, and life. And the chocolate milk song sent me. I wish that one was on youtube.

After the show, Ryan came down from the audience (he was sitting 2 rows behind us with Adam) and the crowd went wild for him. These are his people, and hopefully others who didn't know him yet were learning about how great he is with this kind of stuff. He talked about the genesis of the project back when the movie was made and how the musical idea was pitched to him and he ran with it. 

Adam and Brian came down, and they treated us to a couple songs. The cast all came out to sing One Man Wrecking Machine. Everyone in the audience sang the original line that they changed for the musical as it is written (maybe then I'll get in her pants, whatever...")  they all laughed and smiled and Ryan laughed too. It was so cool to hear the audience singing along with them, and singing harmony parts and little interstitial things back at the band. Adam looked authentically entertained by it all. 

I have got to figure the camera out on my new phone. The pictures should not look this crummy from the second row. But I think you get the idea. 

By the way - that's the time machine Kenneth builds, and Kenneth is sitting in it on the left. I thought it would be a riot if Guster sat in it to perform but no.

We went back to the German restaurant because Linda's car was parked right in front. We had a quick sit and chat until the place closed, and people had to start heading home, to Boston, to out East. Or to a hotel in New Jersey. 

Once again, Ben proved fruitful and wise. We weren't sure about getting an Uber from Brooklyn to NJ, it would probably be 100 dollars, so we took the A line on the subway up to 177th street, right by the GWB. We got an Uber from there and that was pretty awesome. 

I think it was well after 2am when I went to sleep. Thinking of time travel, this show, the music. 

I'm glad I didn't refuse to go. I'm glad I went. 

After sleeping in, and getting a breakfast burrito from the lobby restaurant, I fell down a rabbit hole of reading and watching videos about this musical. 

Robin and Ben picked me up at 1. We got to their house around 5 and it took me 90 minutes to get home. Pretty good timing, I must say. 

Whirlwind tour, I would have liked an extra day but I was super happy to come home to the family, and the doggo. Digits below.

Saturday digits

exercise: 9/12 hours.  slept through 9am. 4700+ steps by bedtime. Spent a lot of time in the car.

blood glucose:

10:30am: 174
xpm: no reading in the afternoon
10:30pm: 134  

food:

coffee/water
11am: breakfast burrito from lobby restaurant; metformin
6:30pm: Metformin+jardiance; cheese and pepperoni off of a french bread pizza slice. The bread was really doughy and I didn't like it. 

Friday digits

exercise: 11/12 hours.  29 min walking in rest area while my friend dealt with a work disaster. 18 min walk from somewhere to somewhere. 13,200+ steps by midnight (more by bedtime)

blood glucose:

7:30am: 143
3:30pm: 155  
2am Saturday: 202 (pretzels and beer after the show)  

food:
coffee/water
11am: metformin, pepperoni & cheese snack at rest stop
4pm: Yakatori ... lots of beef and chicken, veggies, gyoza, 2 beers
7pm: metformin+jardiance, 1 small beer 
11 something pm: some pretzels, some french fries at the german bar on Fulton St.