The other day I was driving to the gym in a T-shirt and yoga pants and roasting my butt off. Windows down, cranking Genesis "Land of Confusion" because it is so apt as of late.
I drove by people who were wearing winter parkas, snow hats, gloves.
It was 75 degrees.
That's Maryland for ya. I'm sweating balls. People are bundled up. There's a light breeze. They may die.
It was 75 degrees, then 60, then yesterday it was super weird, we were supposed to get storms and they didn't materialize (a little thunder at midnight but, nothing really). 70 degrees. And today, 50 and windy.
I did a little indoor walk when Doug took the car to the garage. 20 minutes was perfect, and I was on time for work! It was like a commute. Then Doug took Dahlia for a walk, and I tried to take Toffee but it was so windy and much colder than I thought, so we didn't go far. It was just enough for her too.
Because we didn't get a good solid complete walk, I found myself with 1300 steps to do before bed. Took little miss house arrest around the building 5 or 6 times, brought her in and then went up and down the street once. Wore my winter coat. Because it was appropriate. And I reached my goal. Yay!
This afternoon I had to loop a couple team members in on a message to a client who has not replied to any of my emails since February. They have to do what I need them to do, or we're shutting off their website when we turn the server off.
It's one of those things where I feel like sure, turn off the server? Let's just do it and see if they reply? But I figured I'd reach out to my boss and their account manager to get some extra power behind my shoulders.
Sometimes, you gotta.
Anyway. That's what I've got. Still need to pick our Saturday gathering before the Guster show. Got derailed this weekend.
Digits below!
digits
exercise: 12/12 hours. indoor walk. 20 min/.86 miles. outdoor walk but only 10 min due to the wind. .47 miles; 10k+ by bedtime
blood glucose:
8:30am: 137 4:30pm: 122 11pm: 106
food:
coffee/water 8:30am: phentermine 10:30am: met+glip 12:15pm: chicken salad and romaine on a low carb whole wheat wrap 5pm: met+glip 6pm: quiche & small roll 6:30pm: goat cheese+cherry preserves mixed on 1/2 a roll (yum) 7:30pm: ramekin of mixed nuts; white wine 9:30pm: jardiance
Dahlia isn't allowed outside without a leash now. Which makes her sad. Toffee runs laps around the house, and Dahlia just stands there looking at her. She gave me a little bit of stink eye this afternoon, but hey. If you didn't jump the fence, you could be living large.
She walks very nicely next to me when we stroll and I let the leash be slack so she can go far. I call "hey! no." when she gets a little too far or starts to get after something, like people on the sidewalk or the neighbor's little terror dog.
She settles down alright. I am truly hoping we don't have to live like this. I want her to be able to run run run!
We were supposed to get some nasty weather today. Doug and I talked about dog walkies, but at about 4pm he went to take a nap and no weather had come. So I took myself to the gym. Geoff took Dahlia for a walk, much to Toffee's sadness (and I'm sure Doug's annoyance). I had asked him if he wanted to walk the dogs and he said no - otherwise I would have taken one, and he the other.
Got in some good distance at the gym, minding the clock so I could grab a couple things for tomorrow's dinner and head home.
In the morning, Doug is taking the mini back to the mechanic. We have a fuel pump thingie thing that the guy had to order and it came in at the end of the week, so he's going to take care of that. No gym tomorrow I don't think, so if the weather that we were expecting doesn't just show up tomorrow, I'll try and get a walk in with a dog.
Or, I'll walk in the house while Doug takes the car to the shop. That seemed to work well for me last week.
Anyway. Again, no good pictures from today. Slacking!
Digits below!
digits
exercise: 12/12 hours. Gym, Treadmill and the market, woot. 41 min total (30 of that treadmill) / 1.87 miles. 10k+ steps by bedtime
blood glucose:
10am: 134 5pm: 154 10pm: 108
food:
coffee/water 10am: phentermine 11:30am: met+glip 2:30pm: english muffin w/tuna salad (mayo/celery) 5:15pm: met+glip 6pm: small chunk of pork loin, about 8 pierogis white wine 8:30pm: jardiance
Happy Guster Day. Or Happy JOTR Day. Whichever you choose. Behave accordingly.
5 a.m. March 16
Jesus on the radio, you took a photograph of me
On your yellow bucket seat
It's too high, it's too wide, you're so low, you don't know To get through to go around
So don't look back
there ain't nothing there to see
Was once like you, can't say I recognize that face
in that picture that you keep
t's too high, it's too wide, you're so low, you don't know To get through to go around, to get through to go around
I thought Doug may be going down for a nap around 3pm when Geoff left for the market. But he told me he wanted to take Dahlia for a walk and invited me. I kind of wasn't in the mood, but I realized how sad Toffee would be without getting a walk herself... so I went. And, to be honest, why go to the gym and walk if I can be with my family, right?
Doug usually goes much further than I want. He turns a left when I want to go straight, work back around, and head home. Today he didn't do that, but I was prepared for him to. I felt pretty good about our trip, and Toffee was being pretty good on the leash. We tightened her harness across her chest, and that seemed to help a lot for her pulling.
He did end up taking a nap after we got home, I made dinner. I was going to make a sausage and goat cheese quiche but when I cooked the sausage it was behaving weirdly and tasted a little gross even though it wasn't smelly... I thought better of it, and made french bread pizza. I used some of the leftover peppers and onions from the fajitas, and boy did that just taste great on the pizza.
The dogs are out cold. We need to do this more often with them. Toffee doesn't really need it as much but Dahlia does. Happy to see her having such a good time today.
Both dogs crashed all evening. Dahlia is on "house arrest," meaning she has to go out of the house on a leash, with a human, end of story. I took the dogs out before bed tonight, and she just stood there. Confused. I walked around the house a few times and she came with, but she didn't do her usual business.
I let her off the leash and she found a piece of charcoal and ate it.
Why, Dahlia.... why. Anyway, we'll be keeping the bedroom door closed tonight, so if she gets up, she can't just go to the corner behind the dog bed and poop. She's done that twice.
We have to monitor this little girl like a hawk, I guess.
Anyway, everyone is in bed. Waiting for me. Toffee just came out of the bedroom and looked at me like ... "Lady, what's up!"
No photo today. too busy walking! Digits below.
digits
exercise: 12/12 hours. Big dog walkies. 32 min/1.59 miles, then a rest and I turned off my fitbit tracking of the exercise while we rested. Walk home was 8 min/.42 so just a hair over 2 miles. And I didn't complain one bit. 11k+steps by bedtime.
blood glucose:
8am: 135 5pm: 103 11pm: 99
food:
coffee/water 9am: phentermine 10:30am: met+glip 11:30am: english muffin w/pb and cherry preserves 5pm: 6 girl scout cookies 5:30pm: met+jardiance (on accident) 6pm: white wine 6:30pm: one piece of french bread pizza (left over peppers + onions from fajitas, turkey pepperoni, fresh mushrooms, mozz, sauce) another glass of white wine 9pm: glip
The past couple days I've been taking a little extra time on my hourly steps to go outside and walk around the yard with the dogs. For some reason, they always go out the door and go counterclockwise. It's kind of funny. I then sing the song Counterclockwise by Roger Clyne and the Peacemakers. It puts a smile on my face to think of that song.
Today, our mailman's truck was outside so Toffee wanted to go out. She watched him walk up the street to the north. Patient. Spying. Waiting. Hoping. He came around to our side street and saw her, and laughed. She knows if she waits, she gets a treat.
Dahlia loses her mind, well, because of the treat but also because she's just barky at all humans. Dave the mailman is used to it.
I took these pictures right before treats. Look how lovely our mailman is.
Then, right after the treat, she ran around the yard, and jumped the fence. Cleared a 4 ft high fence like a steeplechase horse. Straight up and over.
Dave and I were both shocked. He wasn't afraid and tried to grab her. I went out the gate and Toffee came with me right on my heels because DAVE!. Dahlia would not stop running around in circles. Dave threw a treat into the yard while I had the gate open and Toffee went in. So did Dahlia. Hooray! Victory! No.
She jumped again.
She ended up doing it four times, and I ran to get her leash, the poor guy needed to go finish his route!!! and he's holding her collar. Doug came out and we leashed her, he brought her inside. And Dave laughed as he walked away.
That should have counted as more exercise.
Busy day today. Had a couple good meetings and one where I just honestly wanted to tell the guy on the other end that I actually know what I'm talking about and to please just listen, or Monday is going to stink when we go to do the thing we need to do. Just.... please listen. I'm a subject matter expert on this thing. Trust me.
We'll see how Monday goes.
Looking forward to not thinking about the guy. Or the work. Or anything.
Here are some daffodils from our yard. They're on the side of the house where we never go unless we're walking a dog counterclockwise. I should replant them somewhere easier to enjoy. But for now, they're a lovely treat when coming around the bend. Digits below.
digits
exercise: 12/12 hours. walk outside around the house w/Dahlia, 15 min/.59 miles (slow and easy) 8500+ steps by bedtime (shoulda pushed it to 10k)
blood glucose:
9am: 148 4:30pm: 113 11pm: 135
food:
coffee/water 9am: phentermine 10am: met+glip 11:30am: English Muffin w/2 slices of cheddar cheese and turkey 5:30pm: met+glip 6:15pm: bowl of mac & cheese w/kielbasa 8pm: ramekin of cashews 9:30pm: jardiance
Over the last two days I didn't hit the 10k step goal that the fitbit likes. I've increased my daily steps to hit over 5k and hopefully up to 7k without taking a proper walk. I think 4 or 5 days a week for the past couple weeks I've hit the 10k. Walk/jogging on the treadmill at the gym has been a huge help in hitting the step count. Around here, if I don't push to do, it's hard to accomplish.
Doug wanted to take Dahlia for a walk after work, which made Toffee very sad. I wrapped some things up and grabbed her. She is horrible on the leash, but she does this cute thing when she sees another dog and she wants so desperately to run over to the dog... she sits down and looks at me.
I'm not sure when she learned that, but hell yes little girl, that's delightful. Here's a cookie. So I was asking her to sit at almost every corner, and she did. Wow. Now if she'd just heel and not walk in front of me zig zagging all around, and twisting to stop and sniff things. ugh.
Dahlia is perfect on the leash, next time I'm taking her!
At 5pm it is prime dog walking time in these parts, so there are a lot of dogs to see. Dahlia is not so cool when she sees other dogs, so that's something she needs worked on.
I pre-cooked some of the dinner ingredients for Geoff at around 4pm, and he was coming home as we were leaving. I wanted to grill a little chicken because his recipe had no protein to it. "There's protein in broccoli," he said. Not enough I replied. Not with the pasta being so much of the dish. So when I got home I sat quietly in the yard and grilled the chicken, marinated in lemon, dill, garlic, thyme. Perfection. I'm looking forward to eating the rest of it for lunch tomorrow.
We sat quietly all evening after dinner watching Ade in Britain, which is pretty much the same stuff on every episode so it is getting a little repetitive. But still fun. And I realized I wouldn't get 10k today if I didn't go for a second walk, so I decided to head out for a quick neighborhood walk. It is cold but not windy, and I should have tacked on another block because I was about 600 steps away from 10k. I finished that in the house, but could have been totally done with another couple minutes.
I put together one meet and greet for the Guster fans for 2 weeks from tomorrow and have to work on night 2. That gave me some fun and creativity time today and made me very happy.
Not much else going on. Happy tomorrow is Friday. yay! No picture today.
digits
exercise: 12/12 hours. Two walks. One with Toffee for 25 min/1.17 miles; then at 9pm to cram in more steps, 15 min/.73 miles. 10k+ steps by bedtime
blood glucose:
9am: 109 4:20pm: 128 10:30pm: 127
food:
coffee/water 9am: phentermine 9am: Entenmann's chocolate donut 10:30am: met+glip 12:30pm: english muffin w/mayo, turkey, 2 slices of sharp cheddar 6:30pm: met+glip; pasta w/cream sauce, mushrooms and broccoli, 1/2 a chicken breast 9pm: jardiance
Our friend Amy from Phoenix is passing through town today. She recently decided she was going to take herself on a trip she's dreamed of for years and she's off to Denmark and many other countries.
The last time she came through the area it was a whirlwind. Her mom had died, and she flew to DC to connect with her sister so they could go to their hometown. We tried to connect but it just didn't work. So I was hugely excited that she wanted to be with us for a while here.
We headed to Loudon County VA and had dinner with her, her sister, and her nephew. We talked about her trip and itinerary, our jobs, a little bit of politics, how they envy my job. The waiter overheard us and chimed in how he loves where I work and I shared a couple amusing stories.
I do love my job and the work and the people. It was fun to sit and think about it and be reminded.
Amy and I did some mean muggin' pose here and Doug did not get the vibe. That's okay. We still had a great time. Wishing her a great vacation. First time in her adult life she's gone on a solo trip, no kids, no nothing. I hope it is everything she ever dreamed of.
digits
exercise: 12/12 hours. Mini-walk, a dedicated ten of .42 miles. 6700+ steps by bedtime
blood glucose:
9:15am: 168 5pm: 128 10:45pm: 120
food:
coffee/water 9:15am: phentermine 11am: met+glip 12:30pm: giant bowl of chicken salad made with left over chicken fajita strips, onions, peppers, mayo, cream cheese 2:30pm: apple w/pb 5pm: met+glip 7:30pm: nice salad, 4 chicken wings, some bacon flavored popcorn. 3 beers 10pm: jardiance
I scheduled a client meeting yesterday for 9am today, and immediately regretted it. I'm not good first hour (sometimes 2) of the day. But I'm having a difficult time getting this person to respond so he said he was free and I grabbed him.
He didn't join the zoom meeting. I gave my cel number to him, and he called me an hour after the meeting start time and realized he'd missed.
"Were you able to log in and make the changes?" he asked.
"No, I am blocked from that platform for trying too many times so that's why I needed you to come to the meeting, and you do it, and I guide you." Previously he'd just given me his username and password to access this platform, something I would not do normally. But there is a verification process, and he gets the texts. And he isn't quick to reply when he gets the code... and the time expires.
So we rescheduled, started a new meeting for 10am. He shared his screen, I walked him through the changes/updates. It was slow and painful. I hate watching other people copy paste, or try to scroll, and the platform we were working with infuriates me because it throws up 2 factor authentication every single time you try and make a change/adjustment.
I know things are trying to protect us from teh haxorz and everything but crap on a cracker is it annoying. We haven't changed who we are since the last time we verified identity a few minutes ago. It's the same login session. Everything is the same. Oops we missed a field go back add it, oh my GOD another text. They have absolutely buried where they hide how to turn it off (jerks) and it was exhausting.
But we got it done. Done!
I had another one scheduled for 2pm and that went perfectly, quick as lightning. Done. Three clients left need to be helped out with this, one of them finally replied to my requests to meet up so we may do that on Friday. The other two are being silent. Driving me nuts.
I was going to walk a dog but Doug went and took a nap. I was working and Geoff reminded me that he had class at 7pm so it was dinner cooking time. Shit. Okay. I whipped up the chicken and veggies and headed out to grill. Talked to my friend S who had to lay off a guy off at work, and she was sad. He's 24, and this is like his first real job. He was doing so well but they are under all this pressure because of the new administration. And she has to say goodbye to three of her 7 team members.
She was super sad, and we had a good talk. But I felt deeply for her. We were going to go out so she could cry in her hard seltzer, but she forgot she had a board meeting for another project and needed to call into it. So we rain checked.
Contemplated a walk after dinner, but had beer instead.
Here are some pictures. Some from around the yard, and some of some sleeping doggos.
Hilariously - Toffee just put her legs around Dahlia's head while they were both asleep on the couch last night (left) on the right is my lap and 2 super snuggly dogs. So snuggly there was hardly any room for my body on the couch.
I am not sure what is growing here. I noticed some sprouting coming up through the base of the deck umbrella that was sitting in the yard, so I moved it. Everything yellow hopefully will rebound?
Enjoy your bird seed, dogs. Once the bag is empty, no more seed for you!
digits
exercise: 12/12 hours. No dedicated walk today. too busy. 7k+ steps by bedtime
blood glucose:
9am: 134 4:30pm: 113 11pm: 139
food:
coffee/water 9am: phentermine 11am: met+glip 12:30pm: giant bowl of BLT salad w/goat cheese 3:30pm: slice of multigrain bread toasted w/pb 7pm: 1 chicken fajita w/whole grain low carb fajita, cheese, sour cream, peppers, onion 8:30pm: met+glip (forgot to take before dinner) a few beers while grilling & eating 10pm: 2 celery stalks w/pb jardiance
Daylight Saving always messes with all our heads. I think previously I'd posted that "dogs, kids, and software do not like daylight saving."
First thing I do in the morning every day is pick up my phone, check the time. An hour until my alarm goes off? yeah, try and go back to sleep. Yesterday the dogs woke me up, I saw it was 7:45am and I'd just get up because they were needy.
I realized my ringer and notifications were off. Which is okay - I have not been on call for work since we reorganized our team. But I had a missed call, from my mom, at 5:30am.
5:30am. Jesus. What's she calling me for at 5:30am?
No voicemail was left so I called her back. it was a little before 8am. She answered immediately and I asked if she was okay, what's up. She laughed.
"I was trying to change the time on my phone, and accidentally called you. I hung up immediately because I didn't want it ringing and waking you up, and making you worry at 5 in the morning."
"Better than 4 in the morning," I answered and she laughed. She wakes up most mornings at 4 am, and she had changed her other clocks that needed changed before she went to bed but couldn't figure out the phone. So. At 4am, there she is, trying to figure out her phone.
"I read the instructions and there's all this shit about bluetooth and I don't know what that is, and I was pressing things and called you accidentally."
At 4 in the morning, you wake up and choose violence. And by violence I mean messing with your phone settings without knowing what you're doing.
I told her she should just leave it and it'll be right in November when we change back. "You don't use your phone to tell time, you've got so many other devices to look at, just leave it. It'll be right in a couple months."
Of course that's not something she can live with, so she'll obsess until she either figures it out or until someone comes over to help her. One of the people who helps her the most is going to Florida on vacation, so she may just have to sit and stew for like 10 days.
It's funny because a couple days ago I was looking at the clock in our mini cooper and it was an hour ahead of the actual real time, and I knew it was, so I was unbothered. Look at me, living and surviving with a clock that is off by an hour.
And now, today, it's right again. Hallelujah.
So we had a nice early morning catch up session. I heard all about who is sick, someone had a car accident by hitting a deer but she will soon be traveling, someone mysteriously brought up her trash barrel.
"So how about those fires on Long Island?" "That's something about those kids in Texas (ie: Measles)." She keeps up with the current events and has opinions.
She also wants us to get rid of Daylight Saving... I gotta say I'm with her for the most part.
Doug went up to the garage yesterday morning to get all our stuff out of the car that died. He arranged to have it picked up, we had to wait to get a copy of the title from the registry and it finally came this past week. While he was up there, I asked Geoff if he wanted to walk a dog and I'd walk the other. He said he wasn't in the mood. okay.
Did an indoor walk because I wasn't sure what our afternoon was going to be like. I finished right as Doug got home.
Because Daylight Saving makes a mess of my brain, I tried to take a nap at 2pm. That did not work. I have not been able to fall asleep during the day lately. Doug took a nap with the dogs, and when he woke up he suggested we walk them and try to do it together. The last couple of times didn't go well. Whoever is in the back (dogs wise) is always upset. I tried to allow Toffee some extra leash so she could get up next to Dahlia but she only almost tripped Doug and their leashes got tangled. So we abandoned that plan.
Doug wanted to go further but my right shoulder hurt from her pulling on the leash and me trying to keep her at heel. I was ready to turn home. I will say, compared to a couple trips ago, they did better. Add to the fact that it was super nice out, it was a good walk. Not quite a mile and a half. Another block and we would have had close to 2. I need to sometimes convince myself that I can actually do more.
When we got back, we sat out in the yard and had a beer. We talked about the yard and gardening.
Today Doug went to trade in the dead Dodge, and then he went up to the registry of motor vehicles to drop off the license plates. I did a walk when he went up to get the car towed and another one when he went to the registry. I was going to walk a dog but leaving one alone means she'll lose her mind. And Geoff didn't want to take one. Tomorrow. I promise.
We walked around the yard a lot today, me and the dogs. Dahlia is a little better behaved when she has adult supervision.
Doug finished our taxes and submitted them. Done and dusted.
A big busy Monday in these parts, I guess.
I took pictures but they are on my phone, forgot to transfer them. I'll save them for tomorrow!
Digits below.
digits
exercise: 12/12 hours. 30 min/1.48 miles and then 20 min/.5 miles. 11k+ steps by bedtime
blood glucose:
8am: 151 5pm: 150 10pm: 89
food:
coffee/water 8am: phentermine 10am: met+glip 12:30pm: 2 low carb small wraps done quesadilla style w/shredded cheddar, bacon, turkey, mayo 5:30pm: met+glip 6:30pm: chese burger without a bun 8:45pm: jardiance 10pm: 2 stalks of celery w/pb
I have an actual entry I can write but I'll save it for tomorrow. Highlights for today:
Dahlia slept until 7:45 which I thought she would. good girl
Doug went to empty stuff out of our Dead Dodge, and I did an indoor walk for 20 min, unsure of what the day would bring.
We ended up taking a good walk together, not too much pulling (I had Toffee, and she wants to walk with Doug). We could have gone longer but I was ready to head back
It was gorgeous out today. 60 degrees, sunny, we sat outside before dinner and had a beer, and talked about the patio. It is too early to plan plants and flowers, but I felt enlivened and ready
That's about it. More tomorrow. Here are the dogs. I had a treat in my right hand and wanted them to sit nice. Toffee got impatient. Ha.
digits
exercise: 12/12 hours. 2 walks. One inside while Doug went to run an errand. 1 mile/20 min. Then we walked the dogs together, 25 min/1.19 miles. 11k+ by bedtime
blood glucose:
7:45am: 125 5pm: 134 10pm: 144
food:
coffee/water 8am: phentermine 10:30am: met+glip 11:30am: english muffin w/pb& full sugar preserves 3pm: 2 good yogurt 5pm: met+glip 6:30pm: 2 cluck pucks w/american cheese, no buns. A few french fries 1 beer small bowl of cashews w/ a lil' trail mix that had raisins and m&ms in it. 10pm: jardiance
Doug did our taxes. We owe the state, we are getting from the feds. It all evens out nicely.
Geoff went to the market, and took Toffee for a walk. Doug went to take a nap because taxes are hard so Dahlia very much needed a walk. I wanted him to take her, but he was in nap mode so, I took her because she was losing her shit at Geoff being out of the house with Toffee.
To be honest, she is a joy to walk on the leash when it is just us. I put on the playlist, we went a certain route, I added an extra block but should have added another. This was a good walk.
I got home and Geoff started cooking dinner, not much more exciting happening. We watched a comedian named Andrew Schultz' new special on Netflix. Parts of it were hilariously funny, especially as he talked about the entire IVF process he and his wife went through. A mix of ribald and ridiculous, and touching and human. Just how one would like comedy.
I thought of friends who just welcomed a baby they had to fight to get made. They had IVF and twins, a couple years ago but a genetic problem resulting in the fact that the babies would not make it to delivery resulted in them deciding to let them go.
Walking through all of this with her, talking about it, the heartbreak and the pain they experienced. Oh my goodness.
So tonight I've spent a lot of time thinking about babies and how hard it is to do babies. And sometimes it is very easy, and sometimes not so much.
Anyway. My heart was heavy after watching his special. Not sure he'd expect that from a viewer but. Yeah.
Well, after our walks, both dogs were wiped out. I thought Toffee looked sweet in the one sunbeam in the house.
coffee/water 8am: phentermine 10:30am: metformin+glipizide 11:30am: bowl of mac & cheese w/bacon 3pm: several Thin Mint cookies 5pm: Metformin+glipizide 6pm: chili w/shredded cheese, fritos, sour cream White wine w/diet ginger ale 8:30pm: jardiance
Before anyone is worried, I feel better today. Much better.
Dahlia woke up at 6:45am, per usual, like on the nose. She's amazing with that. On Sunday morning, that 6:45 will be 7:45 and I hope that her body rides the leap forward.
I somehow made it the whole way through the night without waking up to pee. That's a miracle.
She stood in front of me, staring at me, and she has this lil'whistle whimper so I opened my eyes and she saw me. Sigh. I got up with them, went to pee and they stood by the door. I fed them, let them out, went outside with them.
I think we need an 8ft training lead for her, tie it off under the rhododendrons and she won't have enough length to make it to the fence. She barked at everyone, everyone, everyone. 7am is prime dog walking, people going to the metro, and kids going to the bus stop time. And I couldn't wait to get her back inside. I need a dog whisperer.
There is a lovely couple who live up the street and they have a young black lab. He's a very good boy. He doesn't bark or jump, but he does get very excited when he sees her. They walk a couple times every day. They have a baby in a stroller. They walk fast. I worry about the baby being cold. They seem unbothered. They say hello very nicely to Dahlia while she loses her mind. I really like them. And to say hi at 7am... good morning. I'm so sorry she's so loud.
We came back in and Doug was dressed and ready to drive the car up to the shop. While he was gone I did a solid 30 min walk in the house. Geoff came upstairs and seemed surprised that I'd be listening to System of a Down, "I didn't think you liked these guys," he said.
Au contraire. I sang along. "You! What do you owe the world! How do you own disorder, disorder!!!" and he laughed.
I pointed out the speed of the song, told him that the playlist is so random but everything is good for either walking fast or jogging. This is a good jogging song (Toxicity) but it shifts tempo a lot. Next song, Square Hammer by Ghost. Followed by Pleasant Valley Sunday by the Monkees, which actually is a good jog. Geoff was entertained by the whole no format playlist. It made me smile.
Gotta say this up early in the morning nonsense pays off. I had nearly 6k steps by noon. My goal most days is to have 2k by noon. I usually fall short and achieve the 2k during the noon hour. But fuck yeah getting all these steps before starting to work.
Why can't I be this way all the time?
Work was good. I reached out to a number of slackers who still have not done what we need them to do. I found out there was a meeting I didn't get an invitation to and I probably should have. My manager didn't get an invite either so we griped about being left out. And when something breaks, he's on call and we jokingly said he won't respond to when he gets asked to provide ER support. I told him my phone would be turned off all day Sunday and I'll be hiding.
We had a good laugh.
Doug went to get the car around 6pm, stopped to get me milk, and picked up cheesesteaks and a dozen spicy korean wings from a place near the garage. So we ate on the late side. Dogs out for their pee, and bedtime for us.
Goodnight.
digits
exercise: 11/12 hours. Somehow missed noon? Not sure how that happened. Huh. Started the day with an indoor walk. 30 min/1.47 miles. 10k+ steps by bedtime
blood glucose:
8am: 154 4:15pm: 109 10:30pm: 164
food:
coffee/water 8am: phentermine 8:30am: protein shake 10am: metformin+glipizide 10:30am: egg mcmuffin w/2 sausage patties, 2 slices of cheese, one perfect egg. 4:30pm: two ramekins of trail mix 6pm: metformin+glipizide 7:30pm: 1/2 a cheesesteak, 4 spicy wings
I can't remember if I mentioned that our Dodge Avenger died. Doug got the title mailed to us (when we bought it, our address was listed at the old house, so we never got the title), and we're having it towed away on Monday from the garage where she sits. I appreciate our mechanic very much.
Now the mini is doing horrible things. Bucking, not accelerating, check engine light. Tomorrow morning Doug is taking it up to a different mechanic (our shop doesn't service Mini). The last time we needed work done it was the computer, which this shop we use can't work on, so it ended up at the dealership.
Hopefully, we can get her fixed up at the local mechanic, and not have to go back to the dealership.
Tomorrow, we'll have no car. And right now we need groceries. Which is sad. We have a lot of things that don't go together. I could make a nice quiche if I had pie crust OR the skills to make a pie crust from scratch. Maybe I'll learn how to do that tomorrow morning.
We're almost out of milk, but Geoff needed half and half for a recipe last week and we do have some left over.
I could walk to Aldi. It is 2 miles. I could take an uber back, because I wouldn't want to carry any groceries 2 miles.
I feel kind of like, I can't make decisions to do things, and I can't motivate myself to do things. My brain isn't kicking into "Do It" gear the way I am used to it ... and I feel stuck.
Today, I let the dogs out before a 4pm meeting. Usually that's not a problem. I was doing my steps for the hour, and I happened to be standing in the livingroom when a young hight-school aged girl came running up my walkway to the door, I'd never seen her before, she looked anxious. I went to the door, and whipped it open. She apologized, and said "your dog jumped over the fence."
I thanked her, profusely, and told her I was getting my boots on. She ran back down the walk and I got my shit together. Sweatshirt, boots, out the door. Toffee was losing her mind, and the girl had Dahlia by the collar on the other side of the fence.
I thanked her again, profusely. I asked her name, she told me, and she pointed to where she lived. Thanking her again, profusely, as Doug took Dahlia back to the house.
Dahlia is now on house arrest.
She's not allowed out without supervision. Busted. And also. Fuck. It is so easy to let these jerks out to do their business, while I'm working and now I'm going to go out with them. I took them out at 10:30. Soon it will be warm enough for flip flops but right now it is winter boots and coat time, still. I supervised while they both did what they had to do, and ushered them back into the house. No shenanigans. None.
We had a team meeting today and my boss' boss, our Senior VP, asked how we're doing at the end of the meeting. I kind of opened up and shared that I'm not doing very well. I hate everyone and everything, and I am barely holding it together. I can't focus, I can't get anything done, I start tasks, get distracted, and fall onto something else and then get mad because I didn't do the other thing that was more important.
Confessing to my 4 coworkers and to her, that I am not my usual self.
As always, I go to music, and lately it has been a lot of Frank Turner, especially this Haven't Been Doing So Well tune. Among others.
It's a day with a Y in it so obviously I'm over it.
I said I'm not used to feeling like this. This isn't how I am. I'm the pollyanna. I'm the one who says "okay lads, let's just pull together and get through the day, shall we?"
My work bestie told me when we met this week (we meet weekly to talk work and talk shit) "This is not very Christine of you," and she's right. One of my colleagues in the meeting recommended I might try and make use of some of the mental health resources our office provides, and he's right. He's absolutely right.
He said, "I know you have friends to talk to, and co-workers who know you so well like [work wife] but sometimes the perspective of someone outside of your immediate cuddle circle is the person you should be talking to. I know this helps me."
I think the nature of the universe right now, the "Flood the Zone" nature of what our administration is doing, the impact of all the things on the lives and well being of thousands of people, the uncertainty of what may happen to my own company (and whether or not it impacts my job?) I don't know. The car, the dogs, the fact I may not have enough milk for coffee tomorrow, Damn, son. It's a lot.
Another Frank Turner lyric is this:
"The first time it was a tragedy
The second time is a farce
Outside it's 1933 so I'm hitting the bar."
Referencing the first Trump administration and Nazi Germany, the first time it was a tragedy (WWI and T45) the second time is a farce (WWII and T47).
And yeah, I have been drinking a whole lot less over the past couple months so it may be 1933, but I'm not hitting the bar, and I don't think that's the solution but.
but.
Wow I'm super negative today.
In other news, it's Thursday. And we're almost through the week, friends. Almost. That's the spirit, Chris.
Maybe I just need a Guster concert. And I'm getting two in a couple weeks. As long as nothing changes. As long as they or the Kennedy Center do not cancel. I'm hanging my hat and my mental health on this right now.
Something I've been procrastinating on is the plans for that weekend. Tonight, I booked our hotel for the weekend. Me and Linz. Can't wait. I guess maybe yeah, I feel better already spending money on hotels when I live 6 miles away from the destination.
Sorry not sorry.
No picture today (you can tell when I'm in a shitty way when I'm not taking pictures, right?)
coffee/water 9am: phentermine 10:30am: metformin+glipizide 12:30pm: multigrain toast w/pb and a smidge of cherry preserves 3pm: ramekin of kettle corn 6pm: metformin+glipizide 6:30pm: chinese food: pork and garlic sauce, some shrimp lo mein, general gao's chicken, 3 pan fried dumplings, 1 spring roll. a very very strong vodka tonic (to kill the bottle) 9:30pm: jardiance
So, Dahlia has been pooping in the house at night. Not every night? But. Huh. What's up with that?
We let them out last night at 11pm, they came back in, all set and ready for bed. Lots of cuddling and contentment. I went to the guest room at like 4. And she came in sometime between 5 and 5:30.
She jumped on the bed, off the bed, went back to Doug, came back to me.
She was trying to tell me something, obviously, but I was in super sleepy mode. I tried to get her to just settle down, cuddle up with me, and go back to sleep.
She left. I should have followed.
I fell back asleep. I heard Doug's alarm go off at 6, he had to go to the office today so he got up early. I heard him feed the dogs and let them out. I didn't hear him shower, or leave. The joys of the guest room.
I woke up at 8, after hearing Geoff come upstairs to the kitchen. Then, I let the dogs out again, and went to get my coffee.
Someone (probably Toffee?) had thrown up on the couch. She eats a lot of wood and bird seed and well, there are repercussions to that. I'm used to it. I cleaned it up, and got out the fabric/upholstery shampooer machine dealie so I could run it. After Coffee.
And then I thought Jeeez Doug should have seen this, or texted me about it. I understand if he was leaving for work but ... tell me?
Heading back for my next cuppa coffee, I turned the corner, and on the doggie bed by Toffee's kennel was a distinctly Dahlia sized pile of poo. Thanks.
Also ice cold, so if Doug saw this, he left it. Easy pick up, just ... do it? I'll be sure to ask him what's up with that but. I cleaned it up. And then the upholstery cleaner and I got to work.
I'm not sure why she'd be doing this. She goes out late enough, and she has been super good at not pooping in the house. Not sure what gives.
I thought about letting her out at 5-ish when she was fussing around, but I would have wanted to go out with her so she didn't just indiscriminately bark at shit all over the place. She's so barky. And at 5am, my neighbors do not deserve this. And I didn't want to put on yoga pants.
There are days I want to keep her and other days I'm pretty sure she needs to live somewhere else.
It is pouring out today and I let them out to do their thing. Toffee normally never goes outside if even the sidewalk is damp. But Dahlia does not care. And Toffee follows. You can tell she has immediate regret. They went out, came back in, and Dahlia's feet are GIANORMOUS mud mittens. There are footprints all over the kitchen.
Good thing I didn't mop, and, well, now I have to.
Anyway. We had a great day, just us girls. Got a lot of work done, and they were both so overjoyed when Doug came home. Dahlia has never had a Dougless day here at the house! The joy was palpable!
Here they are hogging up where I sit to work. Jerks. Adorable Jerks. Digits below.
digits
exercise: 12/12 hours. 2 Indoor walks. 33 min/1.87 miles. Had to get a shower and get ready for a meeting so I ended the walk. then I was pushing some steps in so i can hit 10k and did 12 min/.53 mile. 10k+ steps by bedtime
blood glucose:
8am: 167 4:30pm: 124 10:30pm: 101
food:
coffee/water 8am: phentermine 10am: metformin+glipizide 12:30pm: BLT salad 2:30pm: protein shake 4:30pm: container of chicken salad 6pm: metformin+glipizide 8pm: 2 slices of multi super grain bread w/pb (was not hungry for what I made the boys for dinner) 9pm: jardiance
Managed a good night's sleep last night. Having Zquill handy is very helpful. I'm able to fall asleep relatively quickly and can get through to 2 or 3am and that's when I wake up. I go pee, if Doug's not snoring, I come back to bed. If he is, I go to the guest room and listen to a podcast, or not. Sometimes not. And sometimes I fall right back asleep, which is what happened today.
So a nice big chunk of sleep until Dahlia came to me at 6:45am. Oh hello. Good morning. okay. we're up.
Even though I felt really gross today I put in the full day of work, and then some. I thought about leaving for the gym and the market at 3pm after my last meeting wrapped but I dove into some other things. Doug came up at 4:30 and was disinterested in the market. Geoff was still at work. And we decided to take the dogs for walks. Getting my walk in was important, and Dahlia needed it too.
Doug went one direction with Toffee, I went the other with Dahlia. I probably could have gone another couple blocks but I was ready to go home. It was a good, brisk walk. She did well on the leash. I was able to jog a little and she was super good with that.
There are days when I just want to keep her, and others when I just want it to be Toffee and me.
We still didn't have anything for dinner. Sadly. Doug took things out of the freezer to make dinner and I was thankful for that. It was a nice effort. The rice was good. The pork pieces were not so awesome. Geoff had class tonight, so he was happy to eat and get to school.
So I ate a lot of rice, regrettably. My sister let me know she was in the car so I called her. She had some updates for me about her weekend, so I walked while she talked. And I got an extra couple blocks in.
Then I ate Oreos. Regrettably.
Tomorrow, Doug has to go into his office, I've got meetings on top of meetings. But because he's out of the house, I'll maybe try to vacuum between calls. Needs done.
Digits below a nice dog who is waiting patiently for Doug and Toffee to come home from their walk (five minutes later). Catchin' some rays.
digits
exercise: 12/12 hours. Two walks. One with Dahlia (20 minutes/1.02 miles), and one while talking to my sister (15 minutes/.72 miles) 10k+ steps by bedtime
blood glucose:
8:45am: 160 5pm: 154 11pm: 93
food:
coffee/water 9am: phentermine 10am: metformin+glipizide 12:30pm: grilled cheese w/4 slices of swiss, turkey, sourdough bread. one Entenmann's chocolate donut (see yesterday's post about shopping at target when hungry) 6pm: metformin+glipizide 6:15pm: doug's fried rice w/pork (the pork was leftover/defrosted, not good, so.... mostly rice) 8:45pm: jardiance 9pm: a lot of oreo cookies vodka tonics
I did take today off of work. Not because I just felt like it, but I think I jinxed myself yesterday and ended up having a reason.
I didn't get any sleep last night and woke up this morning feeling like absolute crap. We went to bed at 10:30 and Doug didn't put on his CPAP. The podcast that we were listing to ended, and he has it on a timer to just not play another episode, and I was wide awake, wanting to hear something other than snoring.
Into the guest room, listening to a different podcast, and just not falling asleep at all. It was after 4am when I really fell asleep. Toffee came in the bedroom and hogged up the bed horribly. I had to get up and poop repeatedly so I was afraid to actually fall asleep too.
6am came and I was actually sleeping alright at that point. Doug's alarm went off because he had a very early meeting. I messaged my boss that I was taking a sick day. Which I never do. I will work here through being sick, and just keep the camera off and keep to myself but, I wanted none of it.
I messaged a couple besties and asked them to do things for me, for us, for the team. They sure did. I went back to sleep until about 8:30. The dogs were playful and noisy. Geoff left for the gym and was noisy, and I had to pee.
For lunch I made chicken salad again, and got a shopping list together. I tried to convince Geoff to go but he said he was busy studying for a test tomorrow. Okay thanks.
I was way overdue for some blood work, so I had to go out anyway. I thought I'd take a nap and tried but could not fall asleep. I gave up at 3:30 and waited for my phone to charge. I finally left at 4:30. Because of course, I can't get out of my own way sometimes.
Had I left earlier, I would have gone to the gym first but. It was just enough to lab visit and get food.
I go to Target when we need homegoods like paper towels and dish soap. They have everything I need at a better price than Giant, but they are sometimes missing a few things. That's okay, I'll send Geoff tomorrow for some additional things like low sugar preserves and Spray & Wash.
But really, I should not go to Target if I'm hungry. I bought a lot of junk food and stuff I (we) just don't need. I know Doug and Geoff will just eat it, but my body was kind of like "oh hey, Double Stuff Oreos. How YOU doin?"
The kicker of the day was that I forgot that one of my clients was doing a tech switch over tonight at 7pm. Thankfully I put a meeting on my google calendar so I got an alert while I was eating dinner. Ope, as they say. Everything went perfectly, and I was delighted.
That's about it. I'd call out tomorrow too but I have so many meetings that I just can't skip.
I'll be sure to shower.
digits
exercise: 12/12 hours. No gym/walk today. 6500+ steps by bedtime
blood glucose:
8:15am: 121 4:30pm: 113 10pm: 137
food:
coffee/water 8:15am: phentermine 10am: metformin+glipizide 11am: bowl of chicken salad 6:15pm: metformin+glipizide 7pm: bowl of penne w/meat sauce 7:30pm: ramekin of cashews
Not really like me, to be honest. I shower daily because I am usually on zoom calls with clients, or my team.
I passed on Friday because everything was so busy and I didn't even get to take a decent lunch time. I put a bandana headband on my head to push the bangs out of my face and my hair actually looked nice, so. It wasn't a problem. Just something new, different, weird.
I sometimes skip showering in the morning, do my first wave of work/email, and shower at lunch, but Friday this was not possible. And around 3pm, 4pm, I didn't feel like it so I let it go.
Saturday I just couldn't be bothered. We were not going anywhere, and all I did was walk Toffee. After the walk, again, just didn't feel like showering.
So today, I went to the gym and the market. While I was on the treadmill I just thought to myself that I was a gross person. So gross. Why are you out in public at all. What are you thinking. When I got home, I took a shower. Finally. I didn't want to shower before the gym just to get hot and sweaty again, naturally
Sometimes, you get in the shower and you say to yourself "Oh wow. This is exactly what I needed." I had the water up super hot. I scrubbed all of me with a facecloth. I washed my hair and used conditioner like an adult. I stood there for a long time. And I realized dinner was not going to make itself.
Afterwards, I felt not like a million bucks, but maybe thirty five dollars and twenty seven cents. Much better than the zero I was feeling for the past couple days.
My running joke with a couple of my friends is
Are you hydrated?
Did you get enough sleep?
How about some fresh air, did you go outside today?
And I think adding "did you shower?" to the list may be important.
I'm still feeling down, and my head and heart hurt. My mother in law called today and Doug was taking a nap, so she and I talked for an hour. She is dreadfully upset and concerned about everything that is happening with the current administration. I think she needed someone to talk to. She follows current events closely, and when she talks to Doug he is a bit dismissive of how she is feeling, and he isn't very supportive or in agreement with her.
He's not really in agreement with me either. Sadly.
I have to say, it is a relief to hear someone talk the way she did, when she is a someone that I did not think would.
"I'm not going to be around much longer," she said (but honestly, she will, mind you) "and I'm just so upset about what is happening and what we are going to leave for others. It's devastating to me."
She asked about my job, and honestly, I don't think any of this will impact my job. Who knows. We talked about snow and ice, about our guest dog, and how much she loves shredding old documents and paperwork.
It was a nice chat. We don't get to talk too often.
For dinner, I got the makings for french bread pizzas, with skinny french bread that kind of broke into many pieces for some reason and I didn't think dinner would work out. I wanted to put ground sausage, peppers, mushrooms, all over the pizza but it felt like I was just making glorified bread sticks. It felt horribly disappointing in the prep phase. I only put on pepperoni, but Doug and Geoff said it was pretty good.
Shocked at how low my glucose readings were after that dinner. Took it three times and picked the highest of the readings (lowest was 97) for the "official" list here.
Tomorrow I may take the afternoon off. I just do not feel like working. Sadly. Just not feeling it.
Another escape on the treadmill may be in order. And I need blood work done. So maybe I'll ditch in the afternoon. One of my clients is doing a thing at 7pm that I told them I'd help monitor so. Flex time.
Digits below. I have pictures but don't feel like moving them off my phone. Meh.
digits
exercise: 12/12 hours. Treadmill and grocery store. 58 minutes/2.52 miles 12k+steps by bedtime
Last night, I fiished working and shut the computer and decided I was not going to look at it again. I had watched the press conference with Trump and his ilk, and Zelenskyy, and was sick to my stomach watching it. I don't want to write too much about it or how I feel, but suffice to say, I didn't see it as an example of American Exceptionalism.
I went to bed last night, still furious about it. My fitbit told me I was earning exercise points from an elevated heart rate for about an hour, and it wasn't wrong.
Didn't sleep well. And realized that I didn't do an entry here.
That's okay. I blend days sometimes and that's alright.
Geoff worked today so he was up very early. I set the coffeemaker up for him in advance so I didn't need to listen to him bang around the kitchen, and wake up the dogs. But the dogs did wake up. Of course. Action in the food room! Must go see!
He fed them at 6am and I think Doug woke up at 7ish, in time to see him off for the day.
We sat around the house. My head hurt (and my heart still hurts from what we saw yesterday). At around 3pm Doug decided to go for a walk, but he'd only be taking one dog. This would mean if I stayed here, I'd have to listen to the other one cry because of the hateful criminal act committed unto her.
I decided I'd take Toffee if he took Dahlia. We walked separate directions, which confused Toffee at first but she settled down and we had a great walk. I added an extra block around, it was windy but warm. Good pace, glad I went. Doug and Dahlia got back before us because his ankle hurts. He twisted it in the yard whent he dogs crashed into him while playing. So I wasn't surprised to see him here when I returned.
He and dogs napped and it got to be late-ish. Geoff would be home soon and we had no dinner plans. Lucky for us, Geoff bought some bbq pulled pork stuff at Aldi the other day, the same day that Doug made slow cooker pulled pork. Ha. So we saved it for a few days and I am glad it was there. No motivation to do much of anything.
Proud of myself for taking a walk though.
There was a lot of this today. Poor Octopus. Digits below.
Saturday digits
exercise: 12/12 hours. Toffee walk - 25 minutes/1.19 miles, 8k+ steps by bedtime
blood glucose:
9:30am: 135 4pm: 113 11pm: 135
food:
coffee/water 9:30am: phentermine 11am: metformin+glipizide 12:30pm: last of the chicken salad w/ some iceberg lettuce 6pm: metformin+glipizide 6:30pm: pulled pork bbq from aldi 7pm: bowl of fritos
Friday digits
exercise: 12/12 hours. No walk, took a break. 5600+ steps by bedtime
blood glucose:
7:30am: 131 4pm: 116 11pm: 95
food:
coffee/water no phentermine, waiting on script 10am: metformin+glipizide 11:30am: chicken salad w/grapes and pecans 4:15pm: ramekin of trail mix (mostly peanuts and pepitas, spicy!) 6pm: metformin+glipizide through the evening: vodka & diet tonic; christmas cookies (maybe 6 small ones and one big one) 8:30pm: jardiance
I actually forgot what we had for dinner last night. huh.
Today I ended up not breaking the 10k steps for the first time in a long time. I just couldn't push myself to get beyond 8k. It was an incredibly busy day. A few big calls, and a system outage, and some chaos.
I did start the day with a chat with my mom. Every 27th of the month I pay her rent, and call her to tell her I did, or she'll call me to ask me if I did. Like.... I'd forget.
Whenever I talk to my mom, it's almost like she's doing a current events roundup like a talk show. "So, how about that kid in Texas with the mumps? What about the Kennedy Library shutting down?" And I get to hear about the neighbors.
Sometimes it is a little exhausting but Doug pointed out she's with it. Not like someone who forgets it is Christmas and then blames her son for not reminding her. True true true.
Doug ended his workday talking with his mom. She's incredibly upset about the current administration (he ... isn't?) and so she had a lot to say. They talked for an hour while I made dinner. I was going to ask him to make dinner so I could go to the gym but. I let him do his convo and I did the dinner stuff.
I'm very tired today. It was a lot.
That said. Off to bed!
digits
exercise: 12/12 hours. Indoor walk while dinner was cooking. 20 min/.90 miles. 8k steps by bedtime
blood glucose:
8am: 131 5pm: 151 9:30pm: 156
food:
coffee/water no phentermine this morning - waiting for prescription fill 10am: metformin+glipizide 10:30am: left over chicken broccoli alfredo and pasta; protein shake 11am: apple w/pb 5pm: metformin+glipizide 6pm: rotini w/meat sauce 8pm: pretzel chips w/hummus 8:45pm: jardiance
Today ended up being an amazingly busy day. We had a code push, some things weren't perfect, I had two calls with clients for the project that I am almost almost almost done with (Lord help me) and one was a re-call from the other day, a call that didn't go well. Not because of the person on the other end, but the technology and the situation. Super frustrating and infuriating. I brought my sysadmin to this call thinking that it would be like taking the car to the mechanic - this time, just because he's here, it'll work fine.
But it didn't and he's even stumped. Ugh.
I had a really good check-in with my manager. There is a lot going on, a lot of political stuff that has direct implications on our business. It's a little scary. But we fit in some Guster chat, and talked about our moms. Being able to have that kind of a gentle connection with your manager is very nice.
Geoff had a recipe picked out for dinner tonight. A chicken chowder. But he forgot the half and half he needed. I promised I'd go grab some while he was at work, thinking at 3 I'd be free and clear. But no. Around 4:30 I finally had a break in the action.
I wanted a trip to the gym and the market is next door. So. Off I went. Did only about 25 minutes on the treadmill and then didn't turn off the exercise feature on my fitbit, and walked to the market and did my shopping. This gets me some extra measured time, and it was a lot of walking around the market because where did they hide the olives?
I also got a nice loaf of crusty french bread. They were just putting them in the bakery display window when I walked by so, who could resisit! When I got home he had things mostly made and just needed what I brought.
He did a great job, but I need to teach him how to make a better roux. It was kind of lumpy, not creamy. Learning and evolving, that's the way you do it in our kitchen.
I did some more work after dinner, talked to Linda for an hour or so. No picture today. I'm so boring.
Alright! More tomorrow.
digits
exercise: 12/12 hours. Treadmill and grocery store, 39 minutes/1.53 miles. 10k+ steps by bedtime
blood glucose:
8:15am: 132 4pm: 112 10:30pm: 97
food:
coffee/water 8:30am: phentermine 10am: metformin+glipizide 11:30am: english muffin w/turkey and 2 slices of muenster cheese 6pm: half a bag of kettle corn (should not go to the market when i am hungry) 6:30pm: metformin+glipizide 7pm: bowl of chicken chowder soup w/corn and bacon (a la chef geoff) 8:30: jardiance
I had a 6pm client call tonight so I flexed time a little bit. The thought was to go to the gym, but it was 60 degrees, and 4:30pm, and I was suddenly feeling like walking a dog. You can't walk both dogs at the same time. Doug was still working. If you take one, the other freaks. So I figured I'd walk Dahlia, she really needs a walk daily. Toffee can go without and be happy as a potato.
Dahlia actually did really well on the leash for me. We kind of walked fast, not jogging like at the gym, and there are hills so I felt it in muscles I've not been using. I need to start using the incline on the treadmill to get that hilly action.
We did a really nice loop, and I was feeling really good so I took her back and got the Toffinator. She loves a walk, and she's good on the leash unless she sees another dog.
Or, until she shits in the middle of the sidewalk. Ugh. I cleaned up after her and we headed home. I hate carrying a poop bag.
All told, Dahlia got 20 solid fast walking minutes and Toffee got the 10 minute cool down.
The client call went great. We were done by 7. Follow up emails sent. Life is good.
Geoff made dinner. And that's the excitement.
More more more meetings tomorrow and I have to spin up a revisit on a call from today that didn't wrap up just right but I know what to do.
Alright, no picture because walking a dog and listening to the playlist makes for difficult picture taking.
More tomorrow!
digits
exercise: 12/12 hours. Outside dog walk/s. 30 min/1.39 miles. Last minute indoor walk getting the last 1000 steps of the day (the fitbit did measuring. 12 min/.48 miles; 10k+ steps by bedtime
blood glucose:
8am: 126 5pm: 121 10:45pm: 143
food:
coffee/water 8:30am: phentermine 10am: metformin+glipizide 11am: bowl of plain greek yogurt w/blueberries & tiny bit of splenda 3pm: 2 long stalks of celery w/pb; some pepperoni 6pm: metformin+glipizide 6:45pm: some of the slow cooker pork roast from last night over some french fries. ramekin of trail mix (mostly peanuts) 8:30pm: jardiance
We got an early morning start today. Again, the dog. Good morning, Sunshine. Aren't you chipper at 6:45am. And barking. Okay. I'm up.
Doug and Geoff took a trip up to the garage at 8am to drop the Dodge off, and it died completely on the way. Geoff was driving and pulled over, Doug was at the garage waiting for him. Long story short but... it's dead. Totally dead. Not worth fixing.
We haven't had it all that long, four years I guess. A pandemic purchase. I'm disappointed. But I'm kind of relieved because if I were to drive to Massachusetts, that would have been the car I took, and ha. It deciding to die like that in the middle of the Jersey Turnpike, well, that'd suck, eh?
Doug and our mechanic had a long talk this afternoon, weighing the options. We just put a ton of money into the Cooper, and the amount of cash it would take to fix this one tilts the scales for the value proposition based on the mileage on the beast. So Doug will find the title, we'll sell it for scrap, and buy something new.
He recently transferred money from his Etrade account into our bank account so he could move it into an IRA (he wheels and deals with this kind of shit) so we've got a fat lump of cash sitting in there, and he can figure out what to do next.
So we're a one car family again. Not like Doug is driving to the office, or me, or Geoff needs it for work because he walks the mile and a quarter to and from every day. He starts a class in person at the end of March so he'll be driving to Virginia then. So we have time to get things figured out. He does not enjoy the Cooper because he thinks it is too small. So hopefully he and Doug will find a car that fits him.
For me, the Cooper is perfect. Quick, small, easy to park, fun, fits the groceries I need in the back, can hold one dog nicely and comfortably. So I have no complaints with it.
While the boys were dealing with the Dodge, I did a walk in the house. I did 25 minutes, should have pushed it to 1/2 hour. But I thought they'd be back any second.
Doug took the day off after his morning of car trauma. He got the pork roast into the slow cooker and day drank and took a nap. I was full of jealousy. He woke up and went to the market for some more things to go with dinner, like he wanted egg noodles and something else.
I just worked. Work work work.
The best part of him taking the day off is he is making dinner, he went to the market, he is just doing stuff. He's doing it all in my space while I'm trying to work but heck. He's doing it. And I don't have to. So I was able to focus and get things done. Right up to dinner time.
Glad I fit in the walk before 9am that I got. Whew! And then I crammed in 2k steps after dinner and before bed.
coffee/water 7am: phentermine 10am: metformin+glipizide 10:45am: walnut raisin bread w/pb 3pm: some left over chicken, sauce, and a touch of rice 6pm: metformin+glipizide 6:30pm: slow cooker pork in gravy and a scoop of mashed potatoes 8:30pm: jardiance
I feel like it has been such a long day and ... well, it has.
Toffee will sleep until we get up, but the second Dahlia sees sunlight it's Rise and Shine, everyone! She's been here like a month, and when she got here it was darker later. But now, the sun is up before 7am and it's time for breakfast.
Doug had gone into the guest room at some point last night, so she got up and followed him. Then she came back in to sleep with me and Toffee. This is the eastern facing windows, even with the black out curtains you see the sun peeking in. So. She got up, and started pacing.
Eventually, her little chirp of a whimper was getting to me AND I had to pee. So. We're up. I thought we'd let Doug keep sleeping so I went to close the door and they barreled past me, jumped on the bed. Good morning Doug.
We did a whole lot of nothing this morning, I did laundry. Doug cuts his own hair, and I do the Quality Control to the best of my ability. He showered, and I did an indoor walk while he was doing that. I thought maybe we'd be going out to do something but we didn't. He decided it was time to read which is code for "nap."
I went to the gym.
I was on the treadmill, and remembered today was D&D day. So I only did a half hour, and packed it in to rush home. Not enough time for a shower for myself, just enough time to get set up in the guest room.
But I did run to quite a few songs. Red Hot Chili Peppers gots some BANGERS for fast pace, yo.
We had a great game session, not quite as good as two weeks ago, but it was still a riot. We are very good at cliff hangers. Good day all 'round. Digits below from when the dogs were polite and quiet while I was playing my game.
digits
exercise: 12/12 hours. 2 walks: inside, 20 min/.9 miles; treadmill at the gym, 30 min/1.56 miles. 11k+ steps by bedtime
blood glucose:
7:15am: 121 4pm: 123 9:45pm: 145
food:
coffee/water 7:30am: Phentermine 9am: Metformin+glipizide 10am: 2 slices of farmstand raisin oatmeal bread w/pb 4pm: protein shake white wine (DnD time) 6pm: Metformin+glipizide 6:15pm: bowl of mac & cheese w/bacon 7pm: last slice of cheesecake w/berries and whipped cream 8pm: giant chunk of white cheddar 9:45pm: jardiance
We had some errands to run today, so Doug and I went to Target, got what we needed (dog food/snacks; dog shampoo, some other stuff), and then we stopped at H Mart because Doug said "why not. It's here and it's my Saturday. Let's go check it out."
Not like we've never been to H Mart or in Massachusetts the Super 88 market. Totally been there. It's just fun to go look at giant Jackfruit, beautiful fresh fish, pick out Asian pears, and see all the miles of sauces and mystery snacks. I've been wanting to make some dumplings with my bamboo steamers, which have been sitting sad and lonely in the basement, unused since Massachusetts. Chef up some Shu Mai, or gyoza. All of what I need is right there. I'll be back. Heck, I drive past it every time I go to and from the gym. Note to self. Do it.
After H Mart, we went to the bank because Doug had birthday checks to deposit. Then to the orchard for some nice apples. I made friends with the barn cat. He enjoyed my head and ear scritches and made squinty face at me and purred. I could not be happier.
We had to pass a nice beer store that has a tap room on the way home, so ... "why not. It's here and it's OUR Saturday." We each had two beers, watched the Caps and the Pens play hockey, and then bought some take home stuff.
We got home and had a snack. I took my blood sugar and it was really high. We didn't have food at Quench, which was a mistake. Should have had a little something to nosh. So snack was mandatory. Then it was time for washing the dogs. They needed it, especially Dahlia. Finishing up being in heat, she deserved a spa day. Piña Colada dog shampoo and conditioner for her lovely fur. We decided to use the utility sink in the basement instead of the tub. Good call. They both fit in there pretty well but I wish we had a hose with a spray attachment or something. It would make it so much easier than dumping a plastic food container full of water on them over and over.
Toffee went first and was a champ. Then, she stood there very concerned while Dahlia had her turn. Now everyone is freshy fresh.
I didn't feel like cooking but, dinner wasn't going to cook itself. Did that, and watched a weird Anime that looked interesting to start with but just got weirder and weirder. I lost interest. If he keeps watching tomorrow, I'll probably do something else. Meh.
Anyway. Here's the barn cat, and the digits are below.
digits
exercise: 12/12 hours. No gym/treadmill miles measured but the fitbit detected that I was walking and measured 52 minutes (H Mart); 10k+ steps by bedtime
blood glucose:
9:45am: 156 5pm: 223 10:30pm: 113
food:
coffee/water 9:45am: phentermine. Metformin+glipizide 11:45am: english muffin w/pb 3pm: 2 beers at Quench 5:15pm: baby bell cheese, protein shake 6pm: metformin+glipizide 6:30pm: chicken and broccoli alfredo over penne pasta 2 more beers after dinner 10pm: jardiance
I had planned to leave for the gym at 3 but got a slack asking me to join a meeting at 4pm. On a Friday. On a BLESSED Friday. when I started work at 7:30 because I was up and wide awake.
I agreed. I attended the meeting. It went to 4:45, and I fed the dogs and got ready for the gym. I figured I wouldn't get 45 min or longer on the treadmill. I also needed to feed the family.
So a solid half hour with running/jogging/some laughable movement and I was ready to go to the market.
Doug asked for "something from the pizza family," which usually means a french bread pizza. But I went to Lidl, not Giant (next door to the gym and a whole lot cheaper) and they had nothing resembling a baguette or whatever. So I got some store brand take and bake pizza. I should have just planned for something different. This was not good pizza. Lesson learned .... Go to Giant and get the makings for real pizza or just get Digiornno or however you spell it.
I didn't rightly care, because I was far more interested in dessert. I made the cheesecake during our sprint review and it came out really great. The springform pan I got at Lidl is a little warped, so I need a heavier aluminum foil to wrap the pan in so the water bath does not seep water into the cake. I think I should look up another recipe - I seem to remember doing this where I put the water on the shelf under the springform pan, and the pan didn't have to get wet. Where did I see that? Alton Brown maybe? Not sure. Anyway.
The beautiful crust I made yesterday held up to a little moisture. The recipe for the cheesecake was spot on and perfect. No complaints at all on that front. I set some berries in a bowl with some white sugar (about 2 T) and a dash of brandy, and lemon juice. I didn't make a syrup and reduction - I wanted whole berries. And, when I was at Lidl, I got heavy whipping cream and made homemade whipped cream because heck. I wanted some. I also can control the amount of sugar that goes into the mix and I always keep it super light.
All told.
Worth it in every way. And, I was shocked my blood sugar was not 200. The new medication and the increase in exercise is helping. It doesn't make it so "Fuck Yeah I'm having cake EVERY night!" This was just a treat. And I'm happy I did it.
Digits below.
digits
exercise: 12/12 hours. Treadmill, 30 min/1.54 miles; 10k+ by bedtime
blood glucose:
7:15am: 123 5pm: 103 10:15pm: 108
food:
coffee/water 7:30am: phentermine 9:30am: metformin+glipizide 11am: english muffin w/pb 6:30pm: metformin+glipizide 7pm: one slice of meat lovers' take & bake pizza 7:30pm: slice of cheesecake w/blueberries & strawberries and homemade whipped cream. 3 glasses of white wine w/diet ginger ale 10:30pm: jardiance
I saw a comic on the internet about life is an endless cycle of washing the dishes, putting them away, taking them back out, eating on them, making them dirty and washing them again.
This wasn't the meme I saw but it sure did come to mind. This and laundry. Always. Only dishes are daily.
Yesterday while I was cooking dinner, I loaded the dishwasher and started it. Then after dinner, while the dishes were still going, the pile of dishes and pots was all right back. We went to bed, Geoff unloaded the dishwasher before he went to bed, and I reloaded it at 10am. Started it again but still had dishes in the sink for a 2nd run later today. Geoff made lunch, dirtied up a frying pan, plates, bowl, and so that gets added to the next round. I'll make something later, maybe a BLT salad, which will dirty a sheet pan, a cutting board, a big bowl.
Geoff sucks at loading the dishwasher, so he may start it sometimes but I undo it. I've given him guidance and instruction, but he just ... doesn't adhere.
So I'm always the loader, he's the unloader. We're a good team.
Today, my 2pm meeting flaked out a little bit. They couldn't log into the platform they needed, the guy who gets the verification emails is on the road today and he wasn't going to be able to let us know every time he gets a verification notification (honestly, why not just one verification. whycome dozens?) We rescheduled for tomorrow. I thought about going to the gym but I have a 4:15 and didn't want to cut it close.
Instead, I went into the kitchen and made a graham cracker crust/base for a cheesecake. I bought a springform pan weeks and weeks ago and it has been bouncing back and forth between the kitchen and the dining table, taunting me. So I found an easy peasy recipe (seriously, 9 graham crackers, 2 tbsp brown sugar, 5 tbsp butter, melted. mix. Bake for 15 min. Set aside.
Now I have to commit myself to making the actual cheesecake, I guess.
It's like I jumped into the pool and I'm doing T-Rex arms and walking around in circles not ready to plop the whole rest of my body down into the water.
I finished up that call and immediately started dinner, it finished right as Geoff walked in the door. I went to the gym. Got there at like 6pm, the place was packed and hopping. Got a treadmill and set to work. Playlist was great, some very slower songs to start with, which was good because I wasn't ready for big movement. Ran a bit for a few songs. Buffalo Stance, Toxicity, Let's Go Crazy, but nowhere near as much as yesterday. Ended up with 5 minutes more but exact same distance. Thought about staying on for one whole hour but I was so hungry at that point. Had to pack it in. And dinner was waiting at home.
As were more dishes.
Geoff asked about the graham cracker crust. I told him it was too late to make the cheesecake but I would do it tomorrow. We have a 2 hour webinar that starts at 10am, so I'll dig in then.
Right then. Bed! Digits below.
digits
exercise: 11/12 hours. Missed 1pm. Impromptu call with a colleague I never work with who had 90 questions, and I answered 98. Great chat but ... fell short of the hour by 20 steps. Treadmill. 50 min/2.34 miles (note, exactly the same distance as yesterday but 5 min. more. Didn't jog as much as yesterday) 11k+ steps by bedtime.
blood glucose:
8:15am: 136 4:45pm: 113 10pm: 80
food:
coffee/water 8:15: phentermine 9:30am: Metformin+glipizide 11:30: BLT salad w/ cucumber thrown in for extra fun. BLCT doesn't spell anything good. 5:15pm: 2 good yogurt 7pm: Metformin+glipizide; small bowl of pasta and meat sauce (hamburger and sausage) 10pm: jardiance
I didn't sleep well last night. I woke up a few times and went to the bathroom. Toffee really likes to get nested in my lower back and butt, curled up like a little 50 pound croissant. It was cold in the bedroom last night so she was exceptionally snuggled in. I went to the guest room but bundled her up in a blanket, since she was not going to get my butt heat.
For about an hour I was awake, and I picked a podcast and tried to go back to sleep but it was too interesting. Eventually, sleep found me but the dogs did not. They heard Geoff in the kitchen, and he fed them breakfast. I had gotten after him the other day because he lets them out, then goes downstairs while Doug and I are both still in bed, so ... guess who has to get up and let them in. A full hour plus before a body wants to get out of bed. Today he stayed in the living room, and brought them in.
They found me and got back in bed, big snuggles and snoring. My alarm went off and instead of snooze I hit dismiss. If Dahlia wasn't having a dream full of yipping and growling, I would have kept sleeping.
Days like this, I'm happy I work at home. Got up, dressed, ready, work. Work. Meeting, and a meeting cancelation that gave me permission to run to the gym.
I kind of feel like I should do this, lunch time plus a half hour. And the ability to hit the market is extra good. I needed potatoes because the ones we had were beat. And a fresh can of breadcrumbs. Good to go for meatloaf.
Today, I pushed it for myself and stayed on the treadmill. The treadmill is slower than my fitbit, because I set it for 3 miles per hour, which is 20 minutes for a mile, and then I have been jogging/joke running to some songs. So my fitbit will say 18 minutes for a mile pace, or ... I got it to 14 minutes for a mile pace.
Timing wise, 45 minutes and the treadmill said like 2 miles, a little more maybe. And my fitbit reported a whole lot more. The playlist was good today. Hungry Like The Wolf is a little too slow, but Girls on Film is perfect.
Came back to meetings, a shower, a check in with my boss, more meetings, and a spreadsheet to conquer. I planned on hitting that thing tonight but the dogs were busy and playful, and I had them basically on top of me several times so I put the laptop somewhere safe and out of reach of the nonsense.
Not sure what the weather is going to be tomorrow. It could be super snowy or it could be not. We're kind of on the edge of what may be meaningful, measurement-wise.
Geoff goes to the gym in the morning. He leaves at 8:30 and is back by 10. I have a 4:15 meeting tomorrow, so I may not get to go to the gym unless I run out the door the minute Geoff returns. We'll see.
Digits, below.
digits
exercise: 12/12 hours. Treadmill, 45min/2.34 miles. 11k+ steps by bedtime
blood glucose:
9:45am: 123 5pm: 72 (!!!) 10pm: 128
food:
coffee/water 9:45am: phentermine 10am: Metformin+glipizide 2pm: 2 good yogurt 5pm: pretzel chips w/hummus 6pm: Metformin+glipizide; 2 pieces of 15 grain bread w/pb 6:45pm: meatloaf, some mashed potatoes, broccoli in cheese sauce, some gravy on the potatoes 9pm: jardiance
