Oh, Goodbye?

As mentioned in yesterday's entry, we got a lead on a couple looking for a black lab. They came over. They were adorable and sweet. Her reactive barking didn't bother them. He said that he has worked with labs and his family has worked with labs, and he has some experience working on excessive barking. She said her dad trained all their family dogs out of barking, so much so that it was worrisome that someone could walk into the house and the dogs would do ... nothing.

They loved her. 

Right from the minute they came in. And they loved Toffee too. And loved them both together doing their face fights and wrasslin' show. 

She was into them too, not scared at all, not shy. Up on the couch between them. Belly rubs, butt scritches. I put Toffee in the kennel so they could have some one on one time, and Toffee didn't scream or cry. Proud of her. Then Doug came home, so we let Toffee out for more fun. 

We played outside, she got to carry around her big stick that she adores. I wish I had a good picture of her and the big stick. 

They took her for a walk, a "test drive" around the neighborhood and he described her as a "dream" on the leash compared to some of the dogs he used to have growing up. I wouldn't say she was a dream on the leash. she's good but not dreamy. I wonder what other kinds of dogs he's had where this was dreamy. 

He's from Massachusetts so we bonded over hockey. Dogs and hockey. Delightful human being.

I asked if they wanted to sleep on it, pick her up this weekend. 

They said no - they wanted to take her right then. 

Oh. Okay. 

Doug packed her up some food and toys, and her leash and poop bags, and some milk bone treats. When she came to us, she came with a twin sized comforter, so we sent that with her too. Her piece of her first home. It seemed right.

I asked if we could take a picture before they left. Dahlia looked right at me when I called her name. 

They are stupid adorable together. He is an early riser, like Dahlia, and he is looking forward to early morning walks and even a run. They're making an appointment to get her fixed. I'm sending over her medical records. I gave them her rabies cert, and I will be picking up her flea/tick/heartworm prescription which was not ready today. 

Off they went. To Petsmart for a shopping spree. Enthusiastically. 

I told them honestly if this does not work out, to please let us know. And we'll babysit if they need to go out of town. Toffee and Dahlia are friends. I'd like to have them see each other again. Someday. 

This somehow seems surreal. 

It's kind of weird and quiet here now, I miss her already. Toffee is curled up next to me. We had a lovely little walk together tonight, and that was kind of nice to not have to come back and get another dog to go around with again. Although I could use those steps! 

And I didn't have to keep her on the leash in the yard at all, because she's Toffee. She can roam free and run around and it is all ok. 

I sat outside talking to Jess for like an hour, and it was nice to be out there with Toffee just being Toffee. 

Her new momma sent me this picture, I think she's comfortable at the new place, eh? 

Long may you run, jump, bark, swim, live, and thrive, Miss Dahlia. Thank you for making the past couple months very interesting. 

Digits below.

digits

exercise: 12/12 hours.  Toffee Walk, 28 minutes/1.24 miles; 10k by bedtime

blood glucose:

7am: 120
4:15pm: 125
10:30pm: 145 (a littler higher than usual, probably the close to 10pm Jardiance time) 

food:
coffee/water
7am: phentermine
9am: met+glip
noon: BLT salad with cucumber
5pm: met+glip
7pm: 2 cheeseburgers, no buns, 2 big slices of tomato. One small slice of pecan pie.
one beer
10pm: jardiance

A couple updates

Since I'm no longer in the on call rotation for work, there's no real reason for me to have alerts on for the phone to ring or texts to come in. 

Truth be told though, I'm too lazy to set a DnD to just let my sister, my mom, Jess through. So I keep the phone and notifications just loud enough that I'll probably hear it if something comes through. 

I was awake and listening to snoring dogs and Dougs at 2 am. There was a unexpected ding. 

The A1c results were in. Screenshot for your edification.

Now that's a dramatic drop for 3 months, when for the past few years I've been fighting so hard to get results like this. 

Adding a new medication, and me maintaining the closest to good/low carb food eating that I can do (acknowledging that I could be skipping mac & cheese and the donut here or there), and pledging to do more movement every day, well. 

Here is the result. 

This is a bigger drop than I expected. I really had hoped to just crack the 7% and get to like 6.9, 

Still more to go and work toward, but the goal of getting below 6 and down to the less than 5.6% that they recommend is where I want to be. 

I will not hurt myself patting myself on the back. This has been a challenge for yours truly but I'm doing it, the best that I can. I like my feet and do not want to lose them. Ya know? 

A few of you have asked what's going on with Dahlia. As a recap, she came to us in early January and we were going to hold on to her while her owner recovered from a stroke. 

It was pretty obvious to his sister (Doug's coworker) that she was not going to be able to go home to him once he was out of rehab. She's a lot of dog. A Lot. And he was barely able to take care of her before, so not being able to take her for walks, and care for her the way she really needs it and deserves, he agreed, and said it was okay if he gave her up. He and his sister trust us to find her a good home.

So here we are, with this dog. And what, it's our responsibility to find her a new home? Well, to be honest, I was okay with that. I was okay with getting her to the vet for the first time in her life, getting her vaccinations for the first time in her life. Prescriptions for ear infections and hot spots, skin medication for her horrible scabby rash at the base of her tail. 

I was all in on taking care of her so yeah, you bet I'll find her a good place to live. The only things we didn't do were get her microchipped and get her fixed. If she was going to stay here, yes. They would have been done already. 

My friend H was going to take her until she lost her job and felt that she would not be able to afford to take care of her, and, if she did get a job and it required travel, there would be no way she'd be able to keep her. I told her to keep looking for a job, and if she gets one that doesn't require travel, Dahlia is all hers. 

Still no job. 

A friend of mine from college really wanted her, but they have cats and Dahlia is untested with cats. I tried to introduce her to cats at a neighbor's house but that just didn't go well. We figured if no one wants here, I'd take a ride up to Massachusetts and we'd introduce the cats and ... see what happens. 

A week or so ago, I was walking her by my neighbors' house where the husband was out doing the lawn. He stopped to say hi, and pat her. They have a black lab, his name is Benny, and they always say hello through the fence. 

Note, I know all the dogs by name but I do not know the neighbors by name, mostly. 

I jokingly asked him if he wanted another black lab to make a nice pair and he laughed, he said no. They walk their dog and their baby three times a day. They're always out together, rain, snow, cold, hot, I'm proud of them. And we always say hi. 

He said they adopted their dog through a lab rescue that was no longer in business, but, they are in an alumni facebook group. 

"I could ask there?" he said, and he took a couple pictures of her. We chatted for a while that yeah, she's a great dog. But she's a lot more dog than I (we) need right now. 20 years ago Doug and Chris, yes. This would be a keeper. She exhausts me. 

The thing is, she and Toffee really really really have lots of fun together, and I've been super reluctant to leave her go. 

But it's time. It's the end of April. I thought she'd be either back home or somewhere else at the end of February, friends. 

The next day, the wife came over and she had two really good leads for us on people who wanted her, and she wanted to know if it was okay to give them our number. 

One of them isn't going to pan out. The other? We chatted daily all week, while she and her husband are on vacation, I sent video of her and Toffee playing. They have no kids (she barks in kids' faces, which scares them), and she's a runner so she's looking forward to having a new running partner, which I think Dahlia will excel at. 

They're coming over tomorrow after work to meet her. 

This could be the one. This could be the family. 

I told her that I'm super willing to always have her back if they're on vacation and need a sitter. She said they'll get her fixed and chipped. 

I'm looking forward to meeting her, and also dreading it. 

Of course, I'll update. 

Today we spent a lot of time tidying up the house. Living room looks great, and tomorrow I'll vacuum while Doug is in Virginia (there's a story there too). 

And on that note, off to bed. I was going to post a picture of her, but she's sleeping in the weirdest position and ... I'll take some shots tomorrow. 

Digits below.  

digits

exercise: 12/12 hours.  Dahlia walk, 30 min/1.41 miles. 11k+ by bedtime

blood glucose:

8:30am: 111
6:30pm: 115 (late on accident)
11pm: 80 

food:
coffee/water
9:30am: phentermine
10:30am: met+glip; bowl of mac&cheese w/bacon
5:30pm: met+glip
6:30pm: large bowl of "creamy chicken lasagna" a la Geoff
vodka tonic
9:30pm: jardiance

Front Royal to Strasburg to Front Royal - Day trippin with Doug and Chris

Doug and I have been to Front Royal many times since we've been here, mostly to hit the Skyline Drive entrance or exit. It's a decent town, has some run-downness to it, but also some real beauty. And the views over to the Shenandoah mountains are sublime. 

We left the house at 10, our initial plan was "early" but 10 is early when there are dogs to take care of, dishwasher to load, laundry to put in the dryer. I was pleased with getting out of bed at 8:30 and being ass in seat in the car by 10. We are pretty good at this, as long as there is teamwork in getting things done. 

It's about 75 miles, can be an hour and a half, two hours, depending on the traffic. Once you get past Manasass it is smooth sailing. Rte 66 is direct and fast right over there. 

We were not planning on visiting Skyline Drive, but just driving around. After a toodle aboot town there, we headed down Rte 340 a ways toward Luray, but didn't make it all the way down there. Another time. It's farther than you think. Lots of Shenandoah River access, lots of outfitters, lots of canoes and kayaks. Really neat area. 

We kept seeing signs for Browntown, and we both said "Browntown" funny in like a deep radio voice. There was a sign for the Browntown Redbud Fair, and we were intrigued. So we turned off 340 and headed that way, long and twisting road through the woods, stuck behind a tractor with two giant bales of hay, we enjoyed the semi-pavedness of Bentoville road. 

The Redbud fair wasn't that interesting, so we headed back north to hit 340 again. 

The next part of the plan was to visit Strasburg. A town neither of us had been to. It's super cute, a little nicer than Front Royal. It's where 66 and 81 meet, so if someone is headed down from New England they'd head over to 81 by Scranton and just go south, ride along the mountains, pretty open stretches of highway. 

We were hungry at this point so of course, Doug pre-selected a brewery in town. There were lots of cute little restaurants and diners and things, but the Box Office Brewery was pretty much the best looking thing in town anyway. And right on brand for us. As the name suggests it used to be a movie theater, but has been converted to a large, open floored eatery with a stage for performances, and a large balcony area to boot. It still has its lobby, which has big comfy chairs and more tables to sit at, and a coffee shop off to the side. 

We each had two beers and ordered a buffalo chicken pizza. I didn't enjoy the pizza - the crust was super crispy, almost like crackers, and impossible to fold. The toppings were tasty but sparse. And I could have done without the celery pieces on top. Still. Hungry so I ate two pieces. 

We decided to take a walk in town, slow stroll, window shopping. Everyone was super friendly. We were in front of the Dollar General and I mentioned my friend C to Doug, and how she had sold the house in Naples and was moving elsewhere. There was a gentleman putting some things into his pickup truck, and he turned around quickly and said "Naples? You have a friend who lives in Naples?" 

Well. not any more, sir. Sold the house. And then he said "Italy or Florida," which I thought was hilarious. "Florida," I said. 

He then went on to explain ohhhhhhh, Naples perked up his ears because his dad served in the Army in WWII and was in Naples, so he always liked to hear stories about Naples. Then, he told us all about his dad (I paused my fitbit walk/exercise counter because I knew we'd be a while). He mentioned D Day and I pointed to Doug and mentioned his pappy was at D Day. 

He had all kinds of stories about his dad, coming home to North Carolina and then the family moving to Virginia. He recommended a few cool things to go see historically for the area and asked where we were visiting from. We told him and he had stories about time he spent in our county. 

Dude liked to tell stories. 

I think I thanked him three times so we could move along, and he continued to share. We waved, he waved, we got away. 

Back in the car, we drove around some more up the hills and through the woods. We hit Rte 11 and Doug wanted to take a ride down to Woodstock, VA to see what the vibe was there. It was a decent sized town, with a military academy, and easy access to 81. We ended up back in Front Royal again because we were hungry and there was an historic bar there that Doug wanted to visit. It was kind of beat, and people were smoking right next to the windows so it stank. We had one beer each and talked to the owner who confessed he'd rather be home mowing the lawn than working. Okay. We won't keep you then. 

As mentioned, we were hungry. Especially me because the 2 pieces of pizza from earlier were just not giving me the energy one needs. We stepped into a sports bar/restaurant and the TVs all had basketball and tennis on them. I asked the hostess if they could put on hockey and she basically said, "It's basketball or tennis," so we left. Not even a "let me check on that for ya." 

Also Doug thought the place smelled gross, so. We bounced.

We walked around the corner and went to Vibrissa Brewing. It used to be Front Royal Brewing Company (the first two times we went there), but they either rebranded or were sold, not sure. But we knew the food was good. 

They put hockey on for us.

The bartender was delightful. 

The food was delicious. 

We each had one beer (if we hadn't had the one at the other place, we would have had two here), and it was time to mosey home. 

On the way out of the building there was a bakery in the front of the building that you had to walk past, so, we went in. The owner of Down Home Comfort Bakery was holding court with some people asking him questions about the history of the town, like "How did Front Royal get its name?" Of course, he was full of knowledge. They paid for their stuff and he turned to us to point at pictures on the wall of the town through the years. He and Doug talked about posters for shows that happened in the theater across the street like Patsy Cline, the local girl from Winchester, right up the highway. 

We bought a bourbon pecan pie, and it waits for us in the kitchen today. Didn't want to dive into it last night, but saving it for hockey tonight. 

Another cool thing about this location is Basecamp, which is a service the businesses in the building provide to folks hiking the Appalachian Trail. You have to get a code to get into the secure area, to do laundry, clean up, stock up, and go. Online there are good reviews but also complaints (nowhere to sleep so what's the point) but knowing some folks who have done the trail, and have passed through Front Royal, I would bet this would be a good thing. And you can get baked goods, beer, good food, and go stay at one of the super cheap motels in town (my friend Kim said she spent 3 days there a few years back because Front Royal was so welcoming and kind). 

We hit the road, got home at a decent hour.  I realized we didn't walk nearly as much as I thought we were going to. It was freezing cold here, and incredibly windy, so taking a dog for a stroll wasn't on my wish list (it was on hers). I jumped in the car and ran up to the gym. I only needed about 2k steps to hit 10k for the day, so I did that and then some. 

All told it was a great day. I've taken my picture in front of this sticker wall at Vibrissa a few times. 

Out West to Front Royal and Strasburg

We got up early and hit the road. And I'm super tired. I'll write a real entry tomorrow. Just wanted to do the digits so I don't lose them. 

All day long I kept getting test result emails from my doctor's office. Every single test under the sun is back in, except the A1c. The only one I want to know about. Hopefully tomorrow. But it's weird that I've gotten everything back save one. 

Stay tuned, friends.

digits

exercise: 11/12 hours.  Missed noon because we were in the car driving unpaved crazy roads. Short, slow walk in Strasburg, VA, 17 min/.47 miles. Gym, because I didn't want to fall short, 20 min/1.05 miles. 11k+ steps by bedtime

blood glucose:

8:45am: 158 *forgot the jardiance last night
n/a pm: n/a
10:30pm: 89 

food:
coffee/water
8:30am: phentermine, met+glip
9:30am: english muffin w/pb&j
1:30pm: a couple beers and crummy pizza slices. I only had 2 because I really didn't want it. 
5:30pm: met+glip; nashville hot chicken sandwich, no bun, onion rings, 2 more beers
9pm: jardiance

Now and Soon

I promised pictures of the azaleas, they're below. Taking the dogs out around the yard this morning, everything was bathed in the beautiful eastern light. I had to go back in and grab my phone and take pictures. 

The azaleas are in full bloom right now but very soon, they'll start to die off. All the white ones will turn brown and die. It's always so short a time, and always a mess after. 

Our rhododendrons are nowhere near ready and that seems a little late, but they are coming. Soon. I sat at the patio for a while, and even cleaned pollen off half of the surface. Soon. Very soon. 

Today was nowhere near as busy as all week, I was able to easily get things done. I went to the gym and went and had bloodwork done after.  It took me a little while to get out of the parking lot at the doctors' office because of some silly geese. They stood behind my car forever and yelled at me. I kept my distance, and eventually they moseyed along and I could leave. But I thought... well, I live here now. 

I didn't take the dogs for walks tonight because Dahlia actually went in the yard, shockingly. She was praised and got cookies. They were annoyed, and wanting, but I'm wiped out. So I threw toys for like 2 hours for her and she brought them back over and over. 

Retriever.

And we watched a lot of hockey. 

We decided we're going to take a little drive tomorrow out to Front Royal VA. The weather is supposed to be good, and we haven't done anything in months and months. Geoff is going to stay home and babysit the dogs. I hope I don't fall off my get exercise every day this month wagon. Hmm. 

Maybe walk a dog first thing. After coffee. 

Anyway, here are some more pictures. Enjoy.

digits

exercise: 12/12 hours.  Gym treadmill, 30min/1.6 miles; 10k+ steps by bedtime

blood glucose:

9am: 111
4:30pm: 110
10:15pm: 129 

food:
coffee/water
9am: phentermine
10:45am: met+glip
11am: Entenmann's chocolate donut
4:30pm: pb&j on 647 bread (didn't realize I'd skipped lunch!)
5:30pm: met+glip; 1/2 Sam Adams lite beer
6:30pm: bowl of chili w/sour cream, fritos, shredded cheese
2 beers

It's time for hard pants and hamburgers

A quick glance at my schedule this morning showed I didn't have anything until 3pm. Hot damn! I think I'll go to the gym again. I left at 12:45 and by 1:05 was on the treadmill. I did that happy half hour (a little plus because Frank Turner's Next Storm came on with 1 min. left and ... well. I had to. It's a banger). I  went to the market, grabbed stuff for burgers and headed home. 

I got home at 2:15 and was going to jump in the shower, but, my meeting alert said that my meeting started at 2. How'd I screw up reading my calendar!

Ugh. Oh no. Thankfully it was a listening meeting, and I wasn't missed too much. And I already knew everything my buddy was presenting. So it wasn't too bad. 

Did a bunch of work, emails, announcements, followup on the situation we've struggled with all week. And several emails back and forth with the clients getting ready to move their websites. I'm hoping tomorrow is peaceful, I need to return to that Big Project and finish the tidying up. Got somewhat caught up on Tickets. Have to do a setup for two clients to share content with each other and keep forgetting to dive into it - it's time consuming. Need to submit support tickets to our devs for another product I support in the new ticketing system they use, got one of them done and need to do three more. Woof. 

Doug wanted to grill burgers, so around 5:30 he came upstairs and announced that it was time for hard pants and hamburgers (he was in his pj pants, not grilling attire). We sat outside while he cooked, it was gorgeous out. 

After dinner, I asked Doug if he wanted to walk one dog while I walk the other, like we did last night and he didn't, which was disappointing. It's hard to deal with splitting them up to walk them separately because they so jelly of each other. And it gets loud and screamy. 

I took Toffee first, and came back for Dahlia. So lots of extra steps and walkies for yours truly. And I did not have to walk Dahlia for a mile and a half for her to do her business. We made it to the little free library at the end of the street, and that was perfect. 

She needed a longer walk, she always does, but I was done for the day. And we got back and she was happy to see Toffee again, reunited and it feels so good. Now we can bitey face all night. 

More hockey. More hockey. Lots and lots more hockey. 

Tomorrow I have a lot of meetings stacked up in the afternoon, gotta get those issues ticketed for the devs first thing. I also need to get bloodwork done, so I am going to see if I can cut out early, do the gym, and then go over to the lab. We'll see. 

Was going to take that picture of the azaleas but forgot to take my camera out to the yard when walking the dogs around. Will remember tomorrow! 

digits below.

digits

exercise: 11/12 hours.  Missed a few steps at the end of the 11am hour because I got distracted by work. Gym Treadmill walk, 32 min/1.7 miles; Dog walk 12 min/.6 miles. 12k+ steps by bedtime

blood glucose:

8:30am: 122
5pm: 85 *checked 3x
10:45pm: 80 

food:
coffee/water
8:30: phentermine
9:45: met+glip
11am: a bunch of turkey breast 
2:30pm: 2 good yogurt
5pm: met+glip
6pm: 2 cheeseburgers, no buns, macaroni salad
gin & tonic
9:45pm: jardiance

The Fellowship of the Ceiling Fan

I had a big huge swath of open time in the middle of the day today. The broken things at work are still broken, but other people are up on it, and I was not needed to sit and monitor. 

I opted for mid-day gym. 

Rather than do to myself what I did yesterday and go hella late, why not go in the mid-day? I have a coworker who will often "flex time" and go for a 2 hour bike ride in the afternoon. I am trying to see things that my mental health and my time are important and follow his lead. He goes around 1-2 pm sometimes, so I left at noon. I was back by 1:15. Fair.   

When I got to the gym, hardly anyone was there so the treadmill of my dreams was open. Right in front of the TV with Law & Order SVU, or whatever cop murder show is on, and the Weather Channel right next to it. I had my playlist revved up, checked my pulse on the handles, and set the fitbit and the treadmill off in sync. 

Go. 

After about 5 minutes, a woman got on the treadmill right next to me, which I thought was odd. There are 14 treadmills in this row, and I'm on the 3rd from the end, you have .... 11 more to pick from and you get on next to me? 

I side eyed her, smiled a little, and gave her the hang 10 sign. 

She pointed up above our heads to the giant ceiling fan (which seriously is as big as my living room) and said "I gotta be right here, I'm sorry if I'm right next to you." 

Nice. 

"Welcome to the fellowship of the ceiling fan, my friend. Let's go get it," I said. 

She laughed. She has a towel that she uses to cover up the digital display on the treadmill. She said, "I don't like to look at how long I've been going, I like to go until I don't feel like going anymore and if I watch the clock, I start to get distracted." I thought that was a good idea. Sometimes if I listen to my body I can go longer but if I look at the timer, I struggle with "why are we only at 10 minutes." 

We ended up chatting. She said she joined in February, and has Type 1 Diabetes so she's trying to drop the weight and get her glucose under control. "I'm about to be 40 in September and I don't want to be dead soon, so we're going to get this." She said she set a 30 pound goal and has lost 14. But she's stuck. I told her I heard that. I was stuck for so very long. Just keep poking it. We talked about food, and what we don't eat and how that makes us sad sometimes. She likes sweets, I like bread. 

I said to her that I hoped none of this was triggering and made her want to go get candy or chocolate, like if you talk to someone in recovery about booze or heroin or whatever, it may make them think about what they're missing. She said no it was fine, sometimes just saying it out loud puts it out into the world. 

I hit 30 minutes, which was my goal, and stayed on for another song on the playlist (Song 2 by Blur). I knew I had to get back to work, so I bailed off the machine and went home. 

Perhaps I'll see her again, I've gotten to recognize people in the 4-5pm time slot and this was really my first time there at lunch. 

I got home, showered, realized I had a 1:30 meeting, not just one starting at 2. Ope. Well, good thing I stopped at 33 minutes instead of pushing to 45. I was in the mood to keep going, but. Knowing I needed to get back to the computer my brain got me to move along. Glad I did. Had a good afternoon overall even though the problems with the product persist. 

Today is Geoff's day to drive to school in Virginia, so I usually go easy on dinner. We do leftovers, or I just make something simple. I had bought a roaster chicken, and today was the last day it should be used so I put it in. Remind me to not want to have mashed potatoes when the boy isn't here to be the potato peeler. I hate peeling potatoes. But I did it. And survived.  And it was delicious. 

After dinner, Doug was settled in to watch hockey, and I suggested that during the first intermission we really should take the dogs for a walk. He reluctantly agreed and we headed out, just under a mile loop, I am starting to get used to this routine with them. It's always better when he comes too, that way one dog back at home isn't SCREAMING that she was left behind. 

I didn't take a picture today but a couple good dog playing videos. I'll try and get some shots tomorrow. The azalea bushes are out of control out there. Gorgeous! 

Digits, below.

digits

exercise: 12/12 hours.  Gym Treadmill, 33 min/1.61 miles. Dog walk with Doug (2 dogs together!) 21 min/.91 miles. 12k+ steps by bedtime

blood glucose:

8:30am: 134
4:45pm: 122
10:30pm: 85 

food:
coffee/water
8:45am: phentermine; met+glip
9am: 2 pieces of bacon (geoff leftover for me)
11am: pb& low sugar j on 647 multigrain
5pm: met+glip
7pm: roast chicken, mashed potatoes, stuffing, peas, gravy
8:30pm: some mixed nuts
9:45pm: jardiance
vodka+diet tonic

Derailed but Determined

Today was incredibly busy. 

I had a big 3 hour open spot in the middle of the day that I thought I'd go to the gym, and get it out of the way, but our products had other plans. 

That, and the training class needed some fake articles written to fill up a section page, because the trainees didn't do their homework like I asked them (jerks). So I wanted to build up that content. While I was waiting to hear from developers, chatting with our Tier 1 support person, getting alerts written and sent out to the clients, I stayed here. I didn't do a lot of extra steps like I sometimes do during the day. I will usually take the dogs out at 10, at noon, 2pm... and do circles around the house with them to build up extra steps. Not today.

Training went well, no complaints there, and tomorrow we have office "hour" for people to drop in and bring us questions. Usually, trainees do not come to the office hour so my buddy and I get to just quietly work or shoot the shit, or whatever. But I think we'll get attendees to this session. 

Geoff has class on Tuesdays and his professor opens the zoom at 6:30pm for the 7pm start. He likes to be there early, and participate in chit chat and kind of the social thing that you don't usually get with online classes. So he likes to have dinner done and dusted by 6 on Tuesdays, and I like to give him that.

I wanted to have dinner done and dusted for him when he walked in the door at 5:30 but because he bought super thin pork chops I knew it would only take 15 min. to make them. I was waiting to hear if we had an all clear on the situation with the product (and no, we didn't yet). So dinner was prepped and ready to cook, just wasn't yet cooking. 

Popped everything into the oven and had it ready by 6:10, so it worked out well in the end. 

But. Because of all of this nonsense, I didn't get to the gym at a good time like 5pm. I went after dinner around 7:30pm. 

Kind of a mistake.

The place was packed. I got a treadmill in an area of the gym I don't usually use, but it was the only one free. It felt like it had a loose rubber track thingie, and the heart monitor didn't work (I always like to see what my pulse is). But I was there. Let's get'r done. 

I put on my playlist, the guy next to me had an external speaker with him and the guy on the other side was on the phone. I turned it up louder. 

One of the best parts was The Killers' Mr. Brightside is on the playlist. I'm able to run for that entire song (go me) and it is a 14.30 min. pace, which isn't race pace, but hell, my regular walking pace is 20-21 min for an hour. 

Kick ass. This song fucking slams. And this is a luscious video. Hot Fuss is one of the greatest albums ever. Fight me on it. 

Anyway.

Spent the full half hour that I intended, thought about going longer but the crowdedness of the place made me want to just go. 

I need to go back to the circuit room, sometime. I hate going in there if other people are there just sitting on the machines playing with their phones. So I haven't used it recently. 

I got home and knew Dahlia needed to take a poop stroll, and I was still 1200 steps shy of 10k, so. I grabbed her, and we went up the street. Some days she takes a mile plus to poo, other days, 4 doors up the road. Today was 4 doors. So I got her back to the house, thinking I'd also take Toffee but she was non-compliant and would not come to me to get her harness on, so fuck it, I'm not going to fight with you to get you to get dressed, dummy.

I was still some 1300+ steps shy of the 10k goal, so I took ME for another walk, not to poop but to achieve. And we achieved. 

The rest of the night was hockey. All hockey. Hockey, hockey, hockey. I love playoff hockey. There is no better sportsing. 

No picture today ... digits below! 

digits

exercise: 12/12 hours.  2 walks. Treadmill walk/jog, 30 min/1.56 miles; dog walk, 11 min/.65 miles (dahlia pooped fast!). 10k+ steps by bedtime

blood glucose:

9am: 124
4:30pm: 105
11:15pm: 111 (thanks, pierogis)

food:
coffee/water
9am: phentermine
10:30am: met+glip
12:45pm: blt salad (with some cucumbers!) 
5pm: met+glip
6pm: 2 thin porkchops, several pierogis 
9pm: 2 sad pierogis in the pot that no one else ate
vodka and diet tonic
10pm: jardiance

A tale of two walkies

My 4pm meeting was canceled today and we opted for leftovers which were easy to reheat. I didn't have to cook, so I opted to run to the gym. I know we have dogs to walk, but there's a reason that the gym has become a better option for me. 

I get more steps and distance in. Screenshot below, but, you can see the treadmill time and distance, and the dog walk time and distance. I can jog to certain songs (Mr. Brightside, In the Middle, Song 2, all bangers and all good pace songs). I can't do that with the dogs. 

Obviously, one is far more productive. I don't mind doing both. When I got home from the gym, we ate, and I asked Doug if he wanted to walk one dog and I'd walk the other but he said he didn't feel up to it, and... hockey was coming on. 

I took Dahlia first, because she needed to poop, and she did, literally 3 houses away. Thank you. Now we can do the whole block because that's what I was mentally prepared for (8 minute loop). And then I went back and got Toffee and walked to the end of the street and back at our leisure. 

All told, slower, more stopping to sniff, stopping to poop, stopping to bark at other dogs, stopping to talk to some neighbors along the way.

None of that on the treadmill. Treadmill is all business, all focus, no leashes moving from hand to hand, no bag of poo to worry about. Just progress.

In other news, our first day of a 3 day training went well. I love my colleague, running the class with me, and we switched back and forth on tasks. Made it so easy for us to be able to sip water while the other was talking and go through the comments in the chat and answer questions. 

Tag Team Delightfulness. 

Alright. Digits below, and I'm so looking forward to being asleep. I can't tell you how much, It is immeasurable. 

digits

exercise: 12/12 hours. 2 walks, one at the gym and one around the neighborhood. gym, 28 min/1.49 miles. I would have stayed on if I read Doug's text telling me he was going to take a nap and not to rush home to walk dogs. Second walk, 20 min./.83 miles. 11k+steps by bedtime

blood glucose:

9:am: 125
4:15pm: 147
10:30pm: 68

food:
coffee/water
10:30am: met+glip
12:30pm: low carb wrap w/turkey, bacon, shredded cheddar, mayo. 
1:45: the rest of the bacon on another smaller sized low carb wrap w/mayo 
5:30pm: met+glip
6:30pm: single layer lasagna
9:30pm: jardiance; some crackers and garlic hummus
a couple very small vodka & diet tonics

420 Praise It or A Do Nothing Easter

11 years ago, one of Jess' friends posted on Facebook for Easter, "420 Praise It." Which I thought was hilarious. Here we are, back on the calendar again with Easter falling on "the pot day." 

So my message unto one and all is ... Praise it. whether or not you do the pot part of things, just praise it. 

We did not plan anything for Easter. Last year I went to see Guster, and Doug didn't plan anything then either. He and Geoff realized they didn't have anything for dinner so he went to Target and found them closed. He thought that was weird, but our County has some weird rules. 

Giant was open, so he got them some dinner there. 

And here we are, a year later, in the same boat. We all came to an agreement - Doug is mowing the lawn (and then shopping online to see if he can get a Worx weed whacker), Geoff went to the market for dinner makings, I was the chef. 

We decided on a lasagna to buck tradition, and because the boys thought it sounded good. Alrighty then! 

I was thinking about previous Easters and the amount of effort we put into it. We, maybe meaning I because. Church, dressing the children, egg dying, nice dinner. 

I'm not sure that I am happy to eschew all sorts of family traditions, but I am happy to not do things. Truly. I know I've written about Slacker Christmas, as it does not have to be crazy over the top do all the things (and they usually fall on me) preparations and jump flaming red hoops. I'm not a go to brunch for Easter kind of person, or go to a restaurant kind of person, I feel badly for people who have to work on holidays, but also some people may want to work on holidays, and if they usually work on a Sunday why lose that day's pay. 

It just feels weird though, to do absolutely nothing at all to commemorate the holiday. I kind of want to write about big thoughts and ponderings, but I will just say this. 

My friend S called me last night. She has been struggling with Easter and she always has. She's a christian, but Easter always feels to her like a problem and a mess, going back to her childhood but especially lately as an adult and a mom. Because of family, and trauma. Old and new.

She is basically forced to go to brunch with her in-laws every year, and she hates it. She does not get along with her father in law (there's a lot there) and a big part of it is because he essentially does not care for her son, his grandson. 

They do not spend time with him, they aren't interested in his activities (like his recitals/music), and she feels that his neurospicy personality bothers him. H is on the spectrum, but he is a delightful person, a lot of fun, and really, any grandpa should love this kid. But ... he very much does not. Or if he does, he doesn't express it.

She wanted to tell me that H said "do you remember last Easter, when we were in Boston and we went to Guster, and then on Easter Sunday we did the easter egg hunt in the hotel? That was the best Easter of my life! I wish we were doing that again."

And she wanted me to know that a lot of how he feels about last year sits in my lap. The fun, the time together, the everything, I helped orchestrate it. And I did it with him in mind because when we bought the tickets (months before) we didn't realize that was Easter weekend. She knew she was going to catch all kinds of shit for missing the Family Brunch. She felt intense guilt, like, maybe they'd think she did this on purpose (but no, she didn't, she didn't plan the tour and the closing night date and location). And on top of everything, H would miss out on an egg hunt or Easter Kid Fun here at home. She was spiraling about it. She almost canceled their trip and I told her not to - we'd make some fun. And we did.

She also said it was her favorite Easter ever. She said that family is fine and all but the friends that go out of their way to do stuff for each other, this is what makes life good. And we do that for each other. We become Framily. Someone's birthday while Guster is touring - there's cake and singing. People get married during On The Ocean, we all celebrate with them. Ryan wrote about this in The Atlantic (gift article, read it while it is still available), about the Guster Fam (shortened by most of us to GusFam) and how they owe it to us to deliver. And we owe it to each other. 

This is a different kind of family, and she said to me "H is his [her father in law's] own grandson, and he's not anything to you, but you love him so much, so very much and you don't have to."

But I do, because on one night in 2019 or something, they came to a meet and greet before a show and I said to her "did we just become best friends?" 

She survived brunch and has stories. I look forward to spending some time with her soon. 

As for the rest of our day, after Doug mowed the lawn he took a nap. I went to the gym. I had done an indoor walk while he was mowing and I watered the plants. But I wanted a good treadmill event. No dog pulling my shoulder out of joint, and maybe some jogging to some bad 70s song. I got that. Dahlia needed to go out after I got back, so we walked up the street to see if she'd poop and she did. 

I think I've broken her code. No poop in yard! Yes poop on neighbor's lawn 3/4 of a mile from our house! Jerk.  Digits below my bad selfie from the gym. 

I hope whatever kind of Sunday you had, whether Eastery, or not Eastery, with or without family or friends, that you found a joy in the 24 hours.

digits

exercise: 12/12 hours.  2 walks. One indoors for 20 min/.69 miles. Gym, treadmill. 30 min/1.56 miles (and another one with Dahlia that the fitbit measured, 11 min/.48 miles). 12k+ by bedtime

blood glucose:

9am: 122
4:30pm: 115
10:30pm: 105

food:
coffee/water
9:30am: Phentermine
11:45am: met+glip
2:30pm: 2 good yogurt
6pm: met+glip
7pm: plate of lasagna (with very little pasta, but a lot of meat) 2 small pieces of bread
9:30pm: jardiance
white wine

An Observation

Ever see something and wonder, "What's up with that?" Here's mine. 

Lately, there have been different cars every couple of days that just park outside our house. No one gets out of the cars, and the cars sit there for a while. 

Now.

This could be one of two things in my world. Uber/Lyft drivers waiting for a ride request, or, sex workers. 

I'm inclined? Maybe to think it is the latter. Simply because they're parked out there for quite some time. And with Uber, there's usually a dashboard light to let you see that's an Uber. And there is no Uber light. So it is a different paradise by the dashboard light (old people like me know what that means). 

Personally, I'm not super duper offended. Sex work is valid work, for some people it's the only thing they can do and there is a demand for it in this world. I don't think of people as shameful or dirty. They're making a living in what is probably the most shit economy ever. But I don't understand why park on this street when there's a plethora of side streets, a school, a park, and the metro station parking lot. 

Residential neighborhoods in front of people's houses are really not the best place to do your thing. I kind of understand how you wouldn't want to go get a hotel in this area because everything, even the shittiest hotels - is rather expensive. Gotta bring home the money, not give it to Mr. Holiday Inn. 

One time, quite a while ago, we were out in the woods doing a geocache with the kids. We parked in a good space and there was a long dirt road we had to walk down, and at the end there was a fire gate leading into the town forest. There was a pick up truck parked down by the gate, and when Doug and I walked past the windows there was a man getting serviced by a bobbing up-and-down head of reddish brown curly hair. He looked at us with RAGE in his eyes like how dare we be walking in the woods in the middle of broad daylight. 

We had a little eye contact, the kids didn't see anything (that I know of) and we walked around the fire gate. The truck started up and they left. I thought well you didn't have to go - you coulda finished. We're walking away now. dude. But that was the nature of our old town. Lots of forest and trails and the occasional hunter or blow job. Or both? 

The car just left, DC plates. So I'm kind of thinking it was someone from the city who came up to just outside the city but close enough to the city to go back easy. 

I am not even really sure what to think or even do about this? No one is hurting me. They aren't leaving garbage in the street or on the walkway. Is this a "no harm no foul, Christine is a libertarian at heart so just let it go?" sort of thing? 

Pondering the world and situation here. Hmmm. 

We had a good day, Dahlia slept until 8am and I was in the guest room but heard her at the door trying to escape the bedroom. Doug fed them, I took them out. It is easy to get 1,000 steps before 9am when you take the dogs out into the yard and walk around the house 5 or 6 times. 

Doug went to home depot, he wanted a new weed whacker because ours died last year, and he wanted to use the batteries and the 20 coils of whacking string he has, but HD does not carry this brand anymore (thanks, jerks). We needed a new trash barrel, and a toilet seat, so he got those with great success. 

I realized today that we have nothing for Easter Dinner. We didn't invite Doug's aunt and cousin over. We just have not planned anything. Doug said he'll go up to the market tomorrow and get some ham product. We'll wing it. 

It was nowhere near as hot today as the forecast said it would be. I kind of wanted to do a bonfire after dinner but it is hockey playoff time so heck. Hockey playoff isn't going to watch itself now, is it? Maybe tomorrow. I'm in the mood to burn some things. 

Here's a picture for ya. Yesterday when we stopped at the brewery I got the take away beers for the boys (and me) and they gave me this cute ass tote bag for Peak Bloom. Hell yeah, Brewery! Thanks! And the beer is a big favorite of mine, so it made me happy. It also made me think of Jess. I love a good tote bag, and their friend Molly looked at my travel stuff last time I was up there and she said "Jess, you didn't stand a chance. The tote bags, the flannel..." me and my bags and Doug and his contrasting/clashing flannel. We passed these traits along to that human. And no. for sure they didn't stand a chance. 

Digits below. 

digits

exercise: 12/12 hours.  2 walks. One inside for 30 min/1.52 miles; Pokemon walk with Dahlia, 6 min/.3 miles. fast. 10k+ by bedtime

blood glucose:

8am: 130
4:30pm: 100
11pm: 99 (shocked it is this low after 4 beers?)

food:
coffee/water
8am: phentermine
10am: met+glip
12:30pm: english muffin w/pb and low sugar jelly
5pm: met+glip
6:30: grilled chicken+macaroni salad (4 strips of chicken, doug marinaded in soy sauce, brown sugar, ginger, olive oil...) 
7:30pm: crackers and Büttercase and crackers; 3 beers
9pm: jardiance

Sheep in the Big City, Again

Dahlia woke up at 6:30 and stood next to my face breathing. I played asleep, or played dead. So not ready to get up, kid. So not ready. She managed to get back up on the bed and quietly waited until 8. Proud of her. I got 'em breakfast, outside, walk about. And set to work. 

I headed into the office around 11. It was a remarkably easy trip, made it to the metro platform just as the train was pulling in. There were a ton of cops on the trains, the platforms, not sure what was going on in the world but things were extra security focused and a bit weird, to be honest. 

I got to the office and had a good long chat with our department head about stuff and things. The building is very quiet on Fridays, so I went into the kitchen area for the meeting I had at noon, and just had the space to myself. My colleague on Zoom and I troubleshot some things and fixed up a site for training next week so it looks nicer and doesn't have a ton of weird test content all over it. Gotta make it look freshie fresh! 

My colleague visiting DC this weekend came over to see me. They went to the zoo this morning, took their son to an office event (baby's first!), and they were going to head to their hotel to go to the pool. I asked if they would want to hang out and we could go to the brewery around the corner, and the decision was up to the kid, who really wanted to go to the pool.... Until.

He noticed I play Pokemon Go. So... we wanted to become Pokemon Friends, trade gifts, and battle so yes. To the Brewery! 

We had a really nice visit, except that my phone wasn't behaving nicely due to being in the concrete building. I bought 2 4-packs of beer from this brewery, they don't sell in our local store so always grab1 Schlepping it home is usually a pain but I was ready for it! 

The walk back to the house was a little brutal with the heat but I made it without having to stop and die along the way. Go me. 

I got home and worked a bit more and Doug made dinner. We had a big piece of left over salmon so he cheffed up some kind of a curry, and put it over couscous, which was great. Absolutely great. 

Around 7pm I was wiped out enough to go take a rest that turned into a nap, which was nice.

It's kind of fun going to the city.

Digits below!

digits

exercise: 12/12 hours.  2 small walks metro to office; office to brewery. Big walk from Metro to house, 23min/1.04 miles; 12k+ by bedtime

blood glucose:

8:15am: 117
6pm: 116
10:30pm: 104

food:
coffee/water
8:30am: phentermine
10am: met+glip
10:30am: ramekin of mac&cheese with hamburger
1:45pm: a beer (should have gotten snack but I forgot to order, I was playing Pokemon!)
4pm: some roast beef and a slice of sharp cheddar (I realized I had not had lunch)
5pm: ramekin of cashews
6:30pm: left over salmon in a Doug Curry w/peppers, tomatoes, spices, coconut oil, over couscous
10:30pm: jardiance (should have taken around an hour earlier but forgot.)

Family Walk Again

I had kind of a shitty stress-filled day. I did have a good troubleshooting session for a problem for a client with my boss. We punched and slashed and tried to figure a thing out - no dice. I was glad he spent 40 minutes with me on this problem because I thought I was just going crazy and he'd look at it and say "oh, this setting..." But he didn't find it either. 

Really want to get this figured out for the client, but we struck out today. 

I had another call with a colleague where we basically shot the shit and did a troubleshooting thing that I just needed one more set of eyes on. And we figured it out victoriously. 

Pounding away at sending out emails for a colleague on vacation for the training next week, I just needed to get that done and I could breathe. Doug came upstairs and suggested we walk the dogs together. Give me 10 minutes, yes. Yes do let's. I happily closed my laptop and we went. We did a different route, than yesterday, got a poop out of both dogs. Another Victory. 

When we got home, all he wanted to watch the news, which he does every day at 6. So I usually make dinner. But I said I didn't feel like making dinner. I was cranky, and tired.  Cranky. My ass was cranky. Between Geoff and me, we do 90+% of the cooking and he maybe cooks once a month. 

He said he'd cook, but it would be after the news, which meant it'd be after 7:30, close to 8, and I was a little pissed. That's late. I don't like eating that late. 

The other day at the market, I had bought some shrimp, which I wanted to grill. but he had other ideas and told me he'd cook. So I didn't care if it was grilled or whatever - I just didn't want to cook. So I'd be patient.

He whipped up shrimp and linguine, with olives and peppers and some other stuff. He had sauteed the shrimp and it was nice and spicy. I didn't want linguine because I've had pasta several times this week but hell. I wasn't going to pitch a fit. It was delicious. 

While Doug was cooking dinner, I wanted to go do some more steps. I was at 8k at 7pm, so, if I hoped to break 10k I needed to do more than walk my last 2 hours of 250 steps and walk around the yard with dogs. So I took myself for a solo stroll. I went up to the big corner, turned around and came back, still about 900 steps shy of 10k so... around the next corner and up a block, and back. 

As I was coming back, two deer crossed the road in front of me. I stopped, and waited, stood perfectly still. They nibbled grass in a front lawn and one saw me. I crossed the street to move away from them, since I was super scary, obviously. A man and his child came out of the house they were in front of and I waved and pointed. 

He stopped, the little kid stopped, the deer stood there for a minute, and then turned around, came towards me and into the yard by where I was standing, and they jumped the fence. 

I looked after them and saw 5 more deer standing in the yard. They all took off, jumping fences with ease up to the north. I heard the man say wow, and his kid said wow. I turned and smiled. 

It made my day a little less shittier and I'm glad I went for this finish-up-the-day walk. Dinner was just about ready when I got back, and I was thankful for the cook and for the alone time. 

Going into the office tomorrow to see my colleague and his family, so I can't dick around in the morning. I just checked the weather and it looks like summer is finally here. We had a low of 35 the other morning and this weekend, Saturday, is supposed to be 87. Bananas. Tomorrow will be in the low 80s, so I'm hoping I don't die from the heat since it has been perfect... in the upper 60s/low 70s. Just perfect. A half hour/mile walk with the dogs is cake at these temps. Not looking forward to balls hot. 

Digits below.

digits

exercise: 12/12 hours.  Two walks. One with Doug and Dogs, 30 min/1.22 miles. Second solo, 15 min/.63 miles. 11k+ by bedtime

blood glucose:

7:30am: 127
4:45pm: 128
10:30pm: 70

food:
coffee/water
9am: phentermine
10:30am: met+glip
11am: slice of banana bread
1pm: another slice of banana bread
2:30pm: chicken thigh w/peppers and onions mixed with mayo for a chicken salad
5pm: met+glip
7:30pm: linguine and spicy shrimp w/red sauce
9:45pm: jardiance

Family Walk

Work was a lot today, and tomorrow we're down a couple folks so that should be extra busy. One of my colleagues is coming to visit and on Friday we're going to connect at the office. Looking forward to meeting his wife and son. 

It's funny, a couple years ago we had an open position on the team and I thought of him. I called and said, "Hey, T. We have an opening on the team and I was wondering if ---"

"Yes." he replied.

"But you don't even know what the job is, can I tell you wha ---" 

"Yes, I want to apply for the job. Yes." 

And they hired him. I was so happy. And he's SO SMART and talented, and I'm so glad he's on our team. I can't imagine life without him. He's the best. 

So Friday will hopefully be a great day. They're going to the zoo in the morning, and will get to the office around 1. Lunch, chat, visit, and then probably head home. 

After dinner, it's finally light out enough to take a walk. It was well after 7pm when Doug suggested. I was ready to take one dog and come back for the other, or, have him take one and me take one and we both go different directions. 

But he wanted a family walk. So okay yes. 

They do much better when we go our separate ways, but it wasn't too incredibly bad. I usually walk a lot faster, but they kept crossing in front of each other and the leashes kept getting tangled. I had suggested a dual leash/harness but Doug thinks that implies permanence of Dahlia, and I have a hard enough time controlling one of them if they see a bunny or a bird or a cat... So he's kind of right. 

Didn't take a picture of them walking but they were cute, shoulder to shoulder. And I tell ya... I'm doing much better walking and going, and keeping up with Doug. All these steps and 10k+ days. Hell yeah. I even suggested we walk up another block before turning home (mostly because Pokemon) and he was the one ready to go home. I feel like that's a victory. 

Digits below!

digits

exercise: 12/12 hours.  Dog walk together, slowed pace because of zig zagging idiot dogs. 30 min/1mile; 11k steps by bedtime

blood glucose:

9am: 130
4:45pm: 116
10pm: 96

food:
coffee/water
9am: phentermine; met+glip
10:45am: english muffin w/pb and low sugar jelly
1pm: small bowl of tuna salad (doug made lunch and I ate the leftovers) 
5:30pm: met+glip
6:30pm: 1/2 a chicken parm breast, some pasta, sauce, shakey cheese
10pm: jardiance

Please get your dog microchipped

I didn't want to take dogs for walks. It is cold and so windy today. But Dahlia was so hype and I just had to get her out of the house. Doug was absolutely not interested in walking a dog. So I took it upon myself to do both. Because if one goes, the other is very disappointed and upset. 

I started with Dahlia, and the goal is always get her to poop and start back. Tonight, we headed to the park, where there's a trash bin. And that's where she pooped so hallelujah, hooray, I sang joyfully while pitching the bag into the bin. We headed home, I didn't take any big detours or elongate the stroll. It was Toffee's turn. 

Dahlia and I came back into the house (20 min walk) and I was all ready to get Toffee and make it a 30, just go up to the pokegym and come back. 

I asked him where Toffee was and he said "outside, she didn't welcome you?" 

No. 

So I went out to get her, and no Toffee. Literally no dog anywhere. She was gone. How? She's too short to jump the fence, but maybe she found a spot where it was possible? 

I started looking for her. I was very mad that Doug let her out. But to be honest, she's always been so trustworthy. She's the good one! 

No Toffee anywhere, so I walked around the block, Doug walked up the street. I came back to the house and put Dahlia in the car to drive around looking. 

We spent about an hour. I was starting to get incredibly anxious. Where is my baby bean?! 

I was in a text conversation with my neighbor J (the one who owns Toffee's BFF Meg), and she said her husband went out looking too. 

My phone rang while I was in the kitchen getting a glass of water - a toll free number so I thought it was spam. 

I got an email. 

From 24 Pet Watch, the company her microchip is registered to.  "Great News! Toffee has been found!" I called the phone number and the representative had me verify our info. She said that the County ACO had her, and they were trying to get in touch with me (that must have been the toll free number). In the meantime, the ACO texted me, and my neighbor J's husband R was with him. Somehow he saw the van and flagged him down. 

In a minute, they were at the house, dog delivered. Boom like that. I logged into the 24 Pet Watch site and declared my dog home. Full circle. 

When we adopted Brodie, she came microchipped but I had to pay 100 bucks to sign up for the service and at that time, well, we were drop dead poor so I didn't register the microchip. Phineas was chipped, but his owner's info (and her old address and old phone) were on the chip record. 

This is honestly the first experience I've had with a missing dog, with a county Dog Officer (he was super sweet), and with a successful chip read and my contact info being found. 

So right now, I'm going to say hey everyone. Hey. Microchip your dog, and make sure your information is up to date on the record. I read stories all the time about strays or lost dogs who get picked up and the owner info is not accurate. And it's heartbreaking. 

To be reunited with her, well that was great. Also I'm a little mad that wherever she went, a neighbor "a block away" according to the officer was the one who picked her up and called their unit. 

I'm getting her a new collar, with her name and my phone number on it. That's it. Let my neighbor call me and not the cops. 

Guilty dog right here, but one I'm happy to have back. 

digits

exercise: 12/12 hours. Dahlia walk, followed by a Toffee Search Walk. 35 min/1.5 miles 10k+ steps by bedtime

blood glucose:

9:15am: 124
4:30pm: 154
11pm: 138

food:
coffee/water
9:15: phentermine; met+glip
10:45am: ramekin of Mac&cheese with bacon
1:30pm: BLT salad
5pm: met+glip
6:30pm: chicken parm w/2 small pieces of garlic bread
9:45pm: jardiance

Tree Work

My neighbors are having a very giant pine tree removed from their yard. The crew arrived at 8am. It was non-stop sawing, grinding, cutting, machinery, trucks backing in, trucks pulling forward. Until about 3pm.

The folks who bought the house we used to live in are also having a giant tree removed. I believe it is an oak. So the noise all up and down the street was excruciating. 

Part of me so desperately wants pieces of the trees for the fire pit, rather than see them go through the wood chipper. Seems so sad for them to be reduced to dust. 

After work today, I took Dahlia for a walk and Doug took Toffee. Dahlia needed to poop, so we walked to the park where there are trash barrels, for pitching your doodie bags. She wouldn't poop there, just walked around in circles so I continued our walk. We were halfway home when she went. I wanted to extend the walk to grab a pokemon gym and spinner, so we walked even further. I tie their baggies to their harnesses, because I'm not strolling for another mile with a bag of crap. So the dogs get to sherpa their own plop. I should look into some sort of bag or backpack for them, so I don't just tie the bags to their harnesses. 

I need to be more classy. 

After we got home, I grilled chicken thighs and we had fajitas. The night was perfect for it, and it was so nice to just sit outside quietly, relax, and flip the food as needed. The dogs had to stay inside because I don't trust one of them, heh. 

We should have done a fire last night. Today was really warm, and it has started to get very windy. I think we're supposed to get storms overnight and all day tomorrow. So burning is right out. I'm ready for a night by the fire. Soon! 

Here is dinner, in action. I love to grill! 

digits

exercise: 12/12 hours.   Dog walk, 31 min/1.53 miles. 10k+ steps by bedtime.

blood glucose:

8:30am: 125
4:15pm: 134
11pm: 92

food:
coffee/water
8:30am: phentermine
9:30am: met+glip
11:45am: 2 soft taco wraps w/turkey, bacon, mayo
1pm: last abandoned slice of bacon
5pm: met+glip
7pm: one chicken thigh, sauteed onions & peppers, guac, sour cream, refried beans, shredded cheddar on low carb fajita wrap
white wine
10pm: jardiance

Lawn Mowed

Geoff getting ready for work in the morning sometimes wakes the dogs up. It did today. Dahlia was all about getting up. So I fed them, took them out, had close to 1000 steps even before 7am. And just figured, heck. I'm up for the day. I did my blood sugar, closed the bedroom door so Doug could keep sleeping, and the dogs and I played in the living room.

I wish Dahlia was as trustworthy as Toffee. I wish she could be off leash all the time - and run and play and have a good time. I would have sat at the patio table, but no. We sat in the living room. 

We have to figure out her situation. Sigh. 

Doug and I sat together in the living room for quite a while, and then he went out to do the lawn. The grass was ridiculous, and another week and it would be knee high. We need a new weed whacker - he has not gone to get one yet, so the fence still looks like ass. But at least the lawn is mowed. 

We did sit out together for a while, with the dogs and Doug decided he needed a nap. Okay. You earned that with the lawn stuff. So I went to the market. I should not go to the market when hungry. I bought a lot of things, and some of it does not go together. And Aldi sometimes does not have what I want, so tomorrow, Geoff can hit Giant and get the low carb fajita wraps I long for. 

Not much else to chat on. I have no meetings until 1pm tomorrow, which is nice. If I'm somehow awake stupid early, maybe a dog will get a walk. But if I do that, the other one loses her shit, and if Doug is still sleeping... sorry dude? The weather is looking good.

No picture. Digits below!

digits

exercise: 12/12 hours.  One walk, indoors 30 min/1.50 miles; grocery store stroll, but not measurable. 11k+ steps by bedtime

blood glucose:

6:45am: 124
4:30pm: 113
10:15pm: 76

food:
coffee/water
6:45am: phentermine
10:30am: met+glip
12:30pm: pb&j on 647 multigrain bread
5:30pm: met+glip
white wine
6:30pm: one cheeseburger, no bun, healthy heap of macaroni salad
8pm: ramekin mixed nuts
more white wine

Sleeping In

This morning, I was sleeping in the guest room, I heard Geoff in the kitchen, and I heard Dahlia fussing in the bedroom where the dogs were with Doug. So I had to pee anyway, and  I got up, fed them, took them out. Thankfully Dahlia did a poo so I knew I could trust her back in the house if I went back to bed. 

They came in with me. 

And we slept until 11. It was glorious.

Doug must have woken up around 9 or so, but they didn't get up and go sit with him in the Living room. It was after Geoff had left for work (this is his weekend to go in). But they stayed with me and we had an epic extra snooze. I've been getting roughly 6 hours of sleep a night lately, but today was amazing.

My alarm went off at 9:45 so I could get up and do my 9am steps and I didn't even snooze it - I just turned it all the way off. Because I knew I wanted to actually sleep. Felt good, friends. It felt good. 

I got up and Doug and I hung around in the quiet. I made bacon and we had lunch, and then he decided to take Dahlia for a walk. I waited another 20 minutes and then took Toffee. I would have gone further with her but there were so many dogs out today! And she just is annoying when she sees more dogs. 

We did a solid 22 minutes and I wanted 30. So I made up for that later when Doug went to the market. 

Sleeping in set me back about 1000 steps to be honest. So I had to make up for it, and I did. I went down to the basement and did 500 steps back and forth. I made dinner and walked back and forth. I took the dogs out at 10pm and .... several laps around the house. Making up for the sleeping in. 

This morning was deceptive. It was hugely bright and sunny out at 7am. And when I came out at 11 it was pouring.  I knew that might be the case. Doug and I have a lot of work we need to do outside, but the weather just didn't want to let us have today. 

Hopefully tomorrow is a better weather day. That lawn is 9 feet high. 

Good day all around though. Doug went to the market instead of taking a nap. Had he taken a nap, I would have gone to the gym and then the market next door, so. That would have been alright too.  I wouldn't have had to cram steps in during the evening. 

We started watching a series that Ozzy and Jack Osbourne's World Detour show, that was on our agenda tonight. It is really sweet. Very good. I felt some powerful feelings when Jack took Ozzy for his birthday to Iron Mountain north of Pittsburgh to listen to the master pressing of Crazy Train. Seeing Ozzy just overcome with surprise and sitting quietly, stunned, listening to his friend Randy Rhoads play those famous guitar licks. 

Truly a very moving and interesting experience. Jack Osbourne seems like a really cool person, and someone I'd like to just message and say "I really enjoyed that." Kind of something I wouldn't do. But I'm tempted to. He's so young, really. And what a crazy train of a life he's had. I think he's genuinely (or so he seems) lovely. 

Weird to think of a celebrity person like that sometimes. 

Anyway. Here's to a drier tomorrow? 

Digits below. 

digits

exercise: 10/12 hours. Slept until 11am. 2 walks. first with Toffee, 22min/1.03 miles; indoors, 15 min/.69 miles; 10k+ by bedtime

blood glucose:

11am: 124
6pm: 113
11pm: 80

food:
coffee/water
11am: phentermine, met+glip
1pm: bowl of BLT salad
5pm: met+glip; entenmann's chocolate donut (sorry)
6:30pm: big piece of salmon, left over potato/onion bake, 2 pickles
7pm: ramekin of mixed nuts
10:30pm: jardiance

Little Changes

Facebook has a memories feed where you can look back on stuff you've posted in the past. I think of the Guster lyric, "Nostalgia, she's a shit disease, it's a shame to reminisce." 

But I usually do look back and see what was up. 

As usual, there is a lot of Guster. 13 years ago today I posted a video from a Chicago radio station website of. Guster singing Go Cubs Go with Jeff. Garlin. Adorable.

This time last year Jess had bought me a print of a webzine about Laika the Cosmonaut space dog. Which wrecked me and made me cry then, and makes me cry still. I am not sure where I unpacked it when I got home last year, from my mom's... it has to be in my bedroom somewhere. 

In 2019, I had to have an "emergency" head shot taken for my college web magazine. I thought it was a cute picture so I posted it, and it was my profile picture for quite a while. 

And I noticed. 

How much weight I had in my face at the time. It's really is a cute picture with myy wash and wear hair that isn't styled, a scarf I happened to have at my desk, the white top that normally I'd never wear to the office because I always get food on my white tops. It's totally me. But that face.

What a difference.

 I think in 2019 I must have weighed at least 230. I had lost some weight since moving to the DC area, and then the pandemic hit and slowed my progress. During Covid I got down to 195 or so but that was from being sick and in the hospital. Went back up to like 220 after and was there for a very long time. 

But I can say, looking at pictures from the past, there's a difference. 

Here's another, of my sister and me, and I think the kids were small, and cute, and I have a picture of them across the table from us. This was at a restaurant in Newburyport, I'll say 15+ years back. It's weird to look at pictures and say wow, that was a different thing/face/body/whatever. 

My friend Chris told me when he looks at his Facebook Memories, he says "who is that fat bastard? oh, that's me." I know exactly what he means, only I'm cuter. 

Today was a pretty good day. I didn't have any meetings until 1pm, so I got to catch up on helpdesk tickets, email clients and say "are you all set with this, I have not heard from you since February..." that kind of thing. 

I have a spreadsheet that I'm supposed to bury my face in and pay attention to, and I didn't look at that. Some days, I do a lot of work and some days I don't quite push it as hard. I had three meetings this afternoon, and basically finished work at 5 and was super done for the day. 

It poured out all day. Dahlia is willing to go outside, and Princess Toffee who usually stays indoors if it is even slightly damp, went out with too. I wanted to walk them, but it was just too rainy. Sorry, girls. 

Geoff cooked dinner, and I did an indoor walk while he cooked. I didn't think I'd get a walk in with the weather, but, I went to the gym after dinner. I wasn't willing to lose my streak of 10k+ days! 

Linda and I talked while I walked the treadmill. No playlist, just Linda and chatting. I wanted to do at least another 20 minutes on the treadmill, but ended up at 40 minutes with my chat with her. 

Tomorrow I think it is going to rain still, not sure what our weekend plans are going to be. 

Digits below this picture of me and Linda. Oh, yesterday was "National Siblings Day" so there are tons of pictures of me and Linda from that day. And now this one. 

  

digits

exercise: 12/12 hours.   Two walks. Indoors, 20 min/.93 miles (thinking I wasn't going to get another walk at all). Treadmill at the gym, 40 min/1.79 miles. 12k+ steps by bedtime

blood glucose:

8am: 118
5pm: 132
11pm: 95

food:
coffee/water
8am: phentermine
9:45am: met+glip
12noon: large bowl of mac&cheese w/chorizo
2pm: protein shake
6pm: met+glip
7pm: cheesesteak meat w/mushrooms+onions, american cheese
10:30pm: jardiance

Sending Love Out Through The Air

Doug went to the guest room at some point last night, so it was me and the dogs in bed. I woke up at 5:30, went to pee, came back and put a podcast on. The podcast episode was number 3 in a series from The Constant on finding Noah's Ark. And listening to Mark yell and scream hilariously about a 1976 documentary about the search for the vessel had me chuckling instead of falling back asleep. Eventually I did, but I'm going to need to pick up where I fell off and listen to the rest. 

Dahlia woke up at 7-ish. So I decided I was on dog duty. Got up to feed them and found Geoff already in the kitchen, so he fed them while I went to the bathroom and put my shoes on to take them outside. 

Since Doug is usually the early bird with them, I let him sleep today. We walked around the yard, talked to our neighbor who has the pittie Meg. We haven't seen them for a while, weather and schedules being what they are. So we talked about getting together for some fun. I checked the weather, and it looks like rain all weekend, in fact, starting tonight it's supposed to get bad and just stay bad. 

Perhaps this is the weekend I get some things done? Hmmm. 

So up early, drinking coffee, Doug sleeping, dogs back in bed with him, Geoff to the gym, I settled down with my coffee. I didn't feel like actually working just yet, so I surfed through facebook. I have a friend who's daughter just had her second baby in March. She gave me constant updates as the baby was coming and right after she arrived, but I haven't heard from her in almost a month. 

I messaged her to check in and let her know I was thinking on mommy and baby, thinking on her, thinking on the big brother, and the daddy... and just having this kind of quiet morning contemplative moment. 

She and I are different planes religiously, so it is hard sometimes to tell someone you're praying for them if they may not be open to that concept. So I worded it that I'm "sending love out through the air." 

I sat for a while, sending love through the air to a lot of people. I think I like that thought. Since I can't hug some people in person, and "thoughts and prayers" has just become the most empty and vapid sentiment, thrown around by politicians after school shooting tragedies that leave small children under the age of 10 dead on their school floors but do nothing to fix problems. 

A long time ago I used to do morning devotionals or evensong prayer times. Back in the college years, and back when I had wee babies who would be awake at weird small hours. I've gotten way out of that habit. Yesterday when I said I had to do better with getting out of bed in the morning, I decided to put those words into action. 

I'm glad I did.

And I may have sent love to you, too. If you're one of the three or four people I know personally who read this blog. 

Work today was good. I had a really good client call, a slack message exchange with someone who is leaving and I'm incredibly sad to lose him. I told him he is forever a fish in my ecosystem, and I treasure him. We had office hours, which is always my favorite meeting every other week. 

Both dogs were fed on time at 5, and because I started working early, I had no problem walking away from the keyboard to take walkies. Doug was still working and Dahlia was needy. She hadn't pooped since yesterday (this drives me nuts) so ... off we went. It was a good long walk, and because it was still light out, I steered her into the park by the elementary school so when she did poop, I'd be able to ditch the bag in the provided poop receptacle that they have there. Whee!

I went home and got Toffee, patiently waiting for me (not really patiently) and took her up the street and back. Shorter walk but productive and a full half hour for me. Yay. Amazing how many steps you can put in a day if you just take the dogs for a walk. 

Doug made dinner, Geoff had gone to the market and got the makings for French Bread Pizza. He thought we already had pepperoni, but Doug had used it in the spaghetti last night, for some reason. Ha. 

I think tonight it is supposed to start raining and then never stop? Maybe? Which is no good for dogs who need to go for walks, or one dog that needs to go for a walk so she can poop. Luckily, she's not shy about rain, like Princess Toffee is. 

No picture today, nothing to snap. Digits below.

digits

exercise: 12/12 hours.  Dog walk. Dahlia for 19 min, Toffee for 11 (she pooped faster) 1.38 miles; 10k+ by bedtime.

blood glucose:

7:30am: 125
5pm: 134
10:45pm: 107

food:
coffee/water
7:30: phentermine
9:45am: met+glip
12:45pm: pb& low sugar j on 647 multigrain
7pm: met+glip
7:45pm: piece of french bread pizza w/feta cheese, black olives, mushrooms
10pm: jardiance