Play Date

I didn't take a nice walk tonight. Our neighbor came by with her dog for a playdate. A year ago, she'd hide under the chair in the yard and was scared of Toffee. But now she's taller and 10 pounds heavier. They play so hard together, and had so much fun. 

No photos were taken either, because they were so fast. 

I was kind of sad telling my neighbor about the house. Honestly, I will miss them. Toffee will miss Meg (aka Megadeath, Megalopolis, Megadon...) and I do hope we never lose contact. 

No word yet from property manager. It makes me nervous. Geoff asked me when he should give notice at work and I told him... not yet. 

Not yet.

I was going to take morning glory pictures but didn't get outside in time. Hopefully tomorrow. We have no weekend plans. It'll all be fine.

It'll all be fine. 

digits

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

blood glucose:

8am: 105
-pm: -
10:30pm: 122 

food & meds:
8am: phentermine+jardiance 
11:45am: pb & low sugar j on 647 bread
2pm: met+glip
2:30pm: ramekin mixed nuts/trail mix w/ m&ms mixed in
7pm: greek salad w/gyro meat (way too salty. meh)
9pm: met+glip
vinho verde

Back to the office again

On Wednesday, I met a friend from high school at my office. There was an event happening that he wanted to attend, so I was his in. We had a blast. I'm glad he wanted to go.  In the last year or two we have spent some good time together. He goes to concerts several times a week, which impresses the hell out of my non-house leaving ass. We have connected at a few Guster shows, which is super cool. We talked about Maine and how his partner has never been there, she'd love to go. I suggested he watch the schedule for Thompson's point for next year. His favorite band is The Hold Steady, so I've been meaning to give them big listens and hopefully appreciate them like he appreciates my fave.

Guster is doing their festival again next year, but if they can get HIS favorite band on the schedule, well then, that'd guarantee he comes up. 

I had gone into the office specifically for the event but then to do meetings in person. Both of which were rescheduled. After my friend hit the road (I should have gone to hang out with him or something, but... work)  I got some good quality time working at work for a change. I have a very nice co-worker who I always plant myself next to, and we don't talk too much, just a little chit-chat once in a while. 

I managed to get a lot of steps in, and didn't walk to the metro in the morning because it was raining. I think if I did, it would have been a crazy amount of steps kind of day. 

Thursday one of those rescheduled meetings happened, and we did a client site launch. We had a semi-contentious team meeting where one of my colleagues doesn't understand why we are being asked to do something, and I was afraid he was going to hyperventilate. I know we're all busy. But. This is small. I felt badly for him but also, just want us to do it and get it over with. 

Our property manager came over this morning and we had a good visit. He looked things over and said paint job and deep clean, and they'll clean outdoors and scale back the yard. We've let some things go out there because it has been so damn hot. But I don't mind paying for it, if they'll let us out of the lease. He will talk to the owner and come up with a good departure date/plan for us. 

I kind of want it to be end of September, but that won't give them a lot of time to paint/clean/etc. I don't really want it to be by Sept 15th, because closing is the 12th, and we would have to have the movers here in 2 days. Or one. I don't know. I'm realizing this is all in like, 3 weeks. Geoff also needs to give his notice at work, so we'll need to know. 

I'm ready to start packing. I kind of feel like I need to take a full day off next week to think about starting to get ready to purge and pack. Maybe next Friday. 

And I hope he gets back to us soon. Tomorrow maybe. Gah. 

Digits below.

Wednesday digits

exercise: 12/12 hours. Three measurable walks involving the Metro and my office. In the morning, off the metro to the office: 12 min/.48 mile. From office to metro: 24 min/.43 (I stopped to talk to dogs); from the metro to the house: 19 min/.95 mi. 12k+ steps by bedtime.

blood glucose:

7:30am: 111
= pm: -
10pm: 163

food & meds:
7:30am: phentermine+jardiance
12:15pm: protein snack bar
2:30pm: met+glip
6pm: chicken fajitas a la geoff
9pm: met+glip
no wine/alcohol
 

Thursday digits

exercise: 12/12 hours. Three measurable walks. 10 min./.47 around house & yard; inside the house, 30 min/1.43 mi. Pokemon walk, 15 min/.68 miles. 10k+ steps by bedtime

blood glucose:

8am: 122
5pm: 111
11pm: 127 

food & meds:
8am: phentermine+jardiance 
noon: leftover chicken fajita mixed up as a chicken salad, in a small 647 roll 
2:30pm: met+glip
6:30pm: bowl of pasta w/sausages and sauce
7:30pm: protein bar
9pm: met+glip

Chrissie Two Walks

Yesterday and today I had to get 2 good walks in to hit the 10k goal. I need to pre-load my day, either do a bunch of steps after midnight or before 8am/working. Or take a mid-day walk. Both nights we took the dog out, and did a good half hour each time. And when I looked at my step count, tonight I wasn't even at 6500 steps while I was eating dinner so I knew I had to go out. 

I didn't take Toffee, she slows me down, and she pulls a lot on the leash and hurts my shoulder so I went solo. Did some little jogging here and there but my hip hurt so I just walked quickly. 

Tomorrow, I'm going to the office which means I'll kill the step count with the Metro Walks. Booyah. I am going in because there is an event at the office that my friend Jeff wants to go to, and I couldn't say no to being his employee escort. 

I have a client site launch immediately after and a meeting  after that so the plan had been to leave work together and go have a beer but. I'll actually DO my work like a good human. 

No picture today - just in a really good mood and looking forward to tomorrow! Digits below. 

digits

exercise: 12/12 hours. Two walks, one with Doug and Toffee before dinner, 31 min/1.29 miles;  and one solo to get to the goal steps, 27 min/1.33 miles. 10k+ by bedtime

blood glucose:

8am: 112
4:15pm: 110
10:30pm: 175 

food & meds:
8am: phentermine+jardiance
10am: entenmann's chocolate donut
12:30pm: pb& low sugar j on 647 bread; Met+glip
6:30pm: bowl of pasta w/meat sauce
9pm: met+glip; pecans
no wine/alcohol

Fly Me Home

Sunday

Linda and I slept in a little bit, got up, finished packing, got out the door. 

We returned the weed whacker to my friend April and chatted for a bit. I wanted a longer visit with her but not on this trip. We needed to make tracks. 

Over to mom's for last minute things. Measure the shed for replacement, Linda vacuumed. We said our goodbyes. 

Off to Providence. 

For the past couple years, we've made a point to have a post-Guster concert fest meetup with our friend Alex and talk about the shows. This year, Alex couldn't make it so we brought him up to speed on all of the hot goss, the big happenings, and everything. We met at a cute little Taco joint in Providence, and had a lovely time talking about his hiking, our concerting, and everything in between. 

Inside and outside selfies, because we wanted to get his purple hair in the sunlight. 

Linda had to leave for her ferry reservation, but my flight wasn't until 7:40pm. I didn't need to be to the airport until at least 6. Alex took me to Proclamation Ale brewery in Warwick. There was a car show there from the Villain Crew, and the huge parking lot was filled with all kinds of neat vehicles. What caught my eye was a bunch of sweet VW Bugs. Inside was an older Mercedes, and tons of people were snapping pictures and videos of it. I didn't make not of what the model was, but it was rather popular. I didn't take any pictures, and kind of regret it!

We both intended to sit and get a little work done, so we brought in our laptops. But. We got no work done. At all. We talked and talked some more. And it is so nice to have this friendship, to think we were brought together by a band, and over the years have just become such great buddies. He took me to the airport around 5:30, and I got through security rather quickly. Time to kill.

The airport was mobbed. Providence used to be a cute little secret place but lately it has been very busy and full of people. Still, beats the hell out of Logan airport for ease of use and getting around. 

I decided to get a walk in, so I walked from the security area down to my gate, circled around that end, walked back and continued down to the Jet Blue gates, and back again. There were a lot of people in my way, and after 25 minutes I decided it was time to have dinner. There is a Narragansett brewery restaurant at the airport, and the place where I usually grab a bite and cocktail was closed as that side is under renovations. There was a giant line to get seated that wasn't moving at all, but I noticed an open solo seat at the bar. Verifying that no one was sitting there, I slapped my laptop down and waited for the bartender to come take my order. 

I got a cheeseburger and small side salad, skipped the bun (it was super hard pretzel style) and worked on mocking up a page for one of my clients who didn't know how to do the thing she wanted to do. My flight was delayed, then delayed again and I thought oh well... maybe I'll have my flight canceled and I'll have to stay here in Providence, like last year. They eventually got us off the ground. 

The pen at the bar when I paid my tab gave me a good little laugh. 

Thank you, pen!

Doug got me at the airport, brought Toffee with him, and she was thrilled to see me. A couple men waiting had a good laugh at her exuberance. I was out cold by 11:45pm. 

Monday

I think Miss Toffee really missed me.

I got a slack message at 8:05am, usually that's when I wake up, but here we go. Problems with the product I support, and the fast action to get a notification out to the clients. Usually, I'm not working until 8:30am. So I got up, took my meds and my blood sugar, and a cup of coffee. Someone else started the comms and I offered to proofread.  My work bestie was also on vacation last week and she messaged me "Friend, I have forgotten how to do my job. Can you remind me what I do again?"

I kind of felt the same way. 

The day was busy, I had a 4pm meeting that almost put me to sleep, which is sad because normally I'd totally be into it. Geoff cooked dinner, and after we ate, I asked Doug if he wanted to walk the dog. The entire day it looked like rain but the forecast was for no rain at all. So we went. Good stroll, and I kind of know how long most routes are and the steps involved. I knew I'd fall short and walking in the house for about 2k steps was going to be a lot. 

I told Doug I was going to do my final steps of the day, and he suggested I take Toffee. She's such a pain on the leash - every little thing that moves, or leaves, or some shape on the ground... she pulls and cuts in front of me... so we walked in the middle of the road. Fewer things to sniff, away from the grass, and it was cool enough outside tonight that I even wore a sweatshirt. Got those steps in, even if my hips are killing me now. Gotta call the doctor about that. 

Right then. Digits for 2 days below. And a message from a pen. Thanks for believing in me, pen!

Sunday digits

exercise: 11/12 hours missed 4pm while chatting with my friend. Airport walk, 25 min/1.21 miles and walk to get luggage etc, 24 min/.65 miles; 11k steps by bedtime

blood glucose:

9am: 126
-pm: -
11pm: 113

food & meds:
8am: phentermine+jardiance
noon: taco bowl w/meat, guac, beans, greens, etc. 2 small glasses of wine. 2 churros w/ chocolate dipping sauce
3pm: 2 beers, met+glip
7pm: 2 smashburgers, no bun, small caesar salad; 2 beers
9:30pm: met+glip

Monday digits

exercise: 12/12 hours.   Two walks. One with Doug and Toffee after dinner, 30 min/1.31 miles; one before bed to get to 10k, 23min/1.07 miles. 10k+ by bedtime

blood glucose:

8am: 132
5pm: 136
10:45pm: 139

food & meds:
8am: phentermine+jardiance
10am: Atkins protein snack bar
12:30pm: bowl of mac & cheese w/chorizo
2pm: met+glip
6pm: italian sausage w/sauce and cheese in a roll
8pm: pecans
9pm: met+glip
no wine or anything

Get you a Ramble On Rose

Friday

My mom needs a lot of work done around the house and Linda and I made a dent in it today. I sort of putzed around in the shed, as I was trying to find hedge clippers. I found the power trimmer but that isn't what I wanted. Mom insists that she has snippers but I couldn't find them. The shed is full of stuff. There's even the Pack n Play crib that the kids used to sleep in when they were tiny. It made me a little sad. I found a really nice crock from New Brighton PA and that's a direct tie into Doug's family. Not sure where that ever came from into her life. Linda thought we gave it to mom and dad but I honestly don't know. 

We started really cleaning the porch. My dad used to buy tools and collect things, and just put them in cardboard boxes on the porch. We found 9 million screws and bolts, some never opened, some half used. Tons of screwdrivers and other things. We filled two trash bags with assorted messy broken bad things. I put them out in mom's trash without any argument.

She also needs a new hose - so we'll pick up a nice expandy snakey hose. We're going to bring the patio furniture out and hose it all down, scrub it off, and then probably hose out the porch.

Jess is supposed to come down tomorrow, with Dijon, and we'll get more things done. I am going to send them to lunch and babysit Dijon so they don't have to worry about having a good lunch at mom's favorite place.

Mom's very favorite barkeep's last shift is tomorrow. LB has been my mom's sanity and friend for so many years. The restaurant has changed hands, and LB has no interest at all in working with the new owners. She's going to work for her brother's restaurant, which is slated to open soon. Hopefully we can show mom it isn't hard to drive there, and she can still go see her bestie once in a while. 

We went over to the foodrinkery at 1pm and had a great lunch. Scallops, baby. If you know, you know, as the kids say. 

Back to mom's for more porch cleaning, and I registered her car online since she was complaining she had to do it for September.... and didn't know how to do it online and the RMV is a pain for old people. Done and done. Gimme 60 bucks momz. 

We left mom's house, and thought we'd get in the pool but I passed out on the bed. So tired. So Very Tired. 

Linda came up to the room with a surprise for me. A friend of ours from back home happened to be in the area vacationing, so she... checked into our hotel and we sat up until 1am catching up and talking. 

It was too much fun, and way too late. We had another date with cleaning at mom's house. Rosie said she'd come with us, and we told her she didn't have to, but holy moly I'm glad she did. 

Now, who is this Rose? We didn't know each other really "back in the day," but we reconnected in the Kickball era and have stayed fast friends. Having her show up, crash our party, and make everything wonderful was just the best. We love us some Rosie. I call her Ramble On Rose from the Grateful Dead. A fandom we both share. 

Saturday

In the morning, Ro went over to Falmouth to see the Nobska light house. Linda and I headed to Walmart to grab a hose and some Biofreeze (yes thank you) and made it over to get to working. I had also run over my friend April's house, and borrowed her weed whacker and chat and catch up. 

Jess showed up with Dijon, and after about an hour they took Shirley to her foodrinkery. Dijon stayed with us and was a VERY good girl. 

My cousin and his wife were going to meet up with us but Linda and I both knew instinctively if we went to the restaurant, there would be no work done. None. Nope. 

Just pinot grigio and regret. 

Rose rambled on in after her trip to the light house, and we all were working. Lin focused on the porch. I started trimming the front hedge with hand clippers and switched to the electric clippers and had an excellent time. Baby's first time using electric clippers, my friends! 

Rosie was weeding the little garden by the side of the house, and raking where raking needed done. She made nice big piles of things to put into the lawn & garden bags. I got the weed whacker out, and took care of a bunch of things that needed removed. 

Dijon needed a walk at about 3. She did a very good job of letting us know she needed some outside time. I took her on the leash and we did a pretty sweet 15 minute walk that I would have pushed to 20 if I didn't want to get back to some more yard work. 

While we were out doing walkies, Jess and my mom came back.  

I ate my lunch that they brought me back at about 4:30pm. It was cold and not awesome but wow was I hungry. 

Truth be told, I do not think I've broken a sweat like this in quite a while. Probably not since one of our moves in Massachusetts. I was absolutely soaked. Going in and standing over the vent for the AC was so nice. 

We ended up wrapping things up at 6-ish. I sat through the 6pm hour and missed out on that hour's worth of steps but that's okay. I more than made up for it all day (see digits below). 

Rosie had gone back to the hotel to shower. Linda and I went back and Jess hit the road. They texted me shortly thereafter to say the dog had passed out in the car. Of course she did.... she had the best and funnest day ever! 

Tomorrow, we check out of the hotel, we head to mom's for a short visit then head off for our annual lunch with our friend Alex. This time, we'll head to Providence RI. Lin will leave to go to the ferry to head home and Alex will take me to the airport. My flight is at 7:40pm, so we'll spend some time together before he dumps me off. 

Another busy day. But I'm super thankful today for our friend, her weeding skills, and everything. Digits below mom and Dijon. 

Friday digits

exercise: 11/12 hours.  Missed 1pm by a few steps. 6500 steps by bedtime

blood glucose:

8:30am: 88
xpm: x
11pm: 75

food & meds:
8:30am: phentermine+jardiance
9am: sausage & biscuit sammitch w/cheddar (hotel brekkie)
1:30pm: scallops, pinot grigio
3:15pm: met+glip
7pm and after: at the hotel: snacks, nuts, cheese, pita chips, white wine
10pm: met+glip

Saturday digits

exercise: 11/12 hours.  Missed 6pm because tired. Three measured walks, including a 15 min/.70 walk with Dijon Doggie; 14,000+ steps by bedtime

blood glucose:

8:45am: 126
-pm: - no afternoon reading
10pm: 80

food & meds:
8:30am: phentermine+jardiance
9am: english muffin w/ cheese & bacon
3pm: met+glip
4:30pm: fried chicken sandwich w/ american cheese, mayo, tomato, lettuce
7pm: at the hotel. White wine, diet ginger, snack foods.
8:45pm: met+glip

Slowly back to reality

It felt good to write an entry last night before bed. I think I did need a blogging break and a computer break. I'm still processing the concerts and the fun. I have a million pictures. People are sending and posting pictures. 

It's hard to get back into a "normal" swing of things after such an epic weekend. Here are some extra stories and notes. 

After we left our NY hotel, we motored on up and all the landmarks on the way made me sad a little. I miss living up here. And of course, I took the opportunity to note the following, quoting Homecoming King by Guster.

"The sooner you leave, the sooner you're home. Back in Massachusetts. To your golden age where they tuck you in at night..." 

Every mile brought us closer to Portland, and many of those miles had little landmarks of memories. Oh this was our exit to go home off 495. I waved quietly by each of them.

Thursday morning, before we left the hotel, I took H to the pool so his parents could sleep in. We had an absolute blast. He was reading all the rules and regulations, the "kids under 16 have to be with an adult," and "no running" and one of the rules turned into a huge comedy routine: 

 H read it out and said "In event of an emergency use the emergency phone located on the wall to summon...." a bit of a pause there, "a DEMON who is an on-premise CPR certified staff member."

The concept of summoning for him could only apply to a demon. So we pretended to call on the emergency phone, "Hello? I'd like the on-premise demon to come perform CPR, even though the nature of our emergency may not require it. Because the sign told me they'll perform CPR on whoever is experiencing the emergency." 

We did go on and on with that. 

Somehow he made a reference to decaf coffee and decaf dogs. I'm not recalling what the line of thought was for that, but we did have fun with the concept of decaf dogs. 

At the OTO fest, I'm not sure who's idea it was to put this banner up right by the porta-potties,but so many people had fun pretending to pee into the toilet, doing a certain stance, and getting laughs. M and Linda went over to the sign where she pretended to throw up into the toilet. She wonders sometimes why we let her out in public.

I had a magic hour photo op with Karina Rykman. Magic girl, magic hour.

She's so cute and I'm so blotchy. I also noticed I can really see how much weight I've lost, right in my face. Which is good, I guess. 

There were some weird moments this weekend, where people we know were shitty to people we know. Where strangers were shitty and it left a lot of people confused. Case in point, on Sunday I connected with a co-worker from Maine. He and his family were at the show, and I'd met them there last year too. This felt like a little family reunion for my job and to share the Guster vibe with co-workers was mind blowing. 

We were dancing to Fa Fa, and I got behind them and asked them to turn around so I could take a family picture of them. So fucking cute. Overwhelmingly cute. 

I did 2 shots and then felt something whack the back of my head.

Um. 

I turned around and looked at a woman. She literally just whacked me on the back of the head. 

"Are you done?" she asked. "Are you going to move now?"

Um.

Yes? "I am sorry if I got in your way." I replied. She just glared at me.

Hindsight says I should have said was "WHAT ON THIS EARTH GIVES YOU THE FUCKING RIGHT TO TOUCH ME, OR HIT ME, OR SMACK ME ON THE BACK OF THE HEAD WHILE I TAKE A PICTURE OF MY FRIENDS? FUCK YOU, YOU CUNTY CUNTY WHORE BITCH MOTHERFUCKER *"

I walked back to my friend and told him that the lady behind us smacked me in the back of the head. He laughed and was slightly incredulous, but put his daughter on his shoulders, thus becoming a 9 foot tall human blocker of visuals. 

God, yes. Thank You Andrew. 

This is the picture that I took and I hope it is their Christmas Card picture for 2025.

*Also. An explainer. My sister's friend Joanne often loses her shit and says someone is a cunty cunty whore bitch mother fucker. I do not often say this. But. The wisdom of Joanne rises to certain occasions and I appreciate it. 

Today at work I had a nice meeting with a client and an office hours meeting that went very well. We took mom to dinner at her favorite place, which will soon be changing hands and branding and she's not happy. But we've encouraged her to keep going there and staying in touch with her people. 

It was a good but busy day. Linda and I planned to just go to dinner but mom decided to come with, surprise! And we had a lot of fun. 

Tomorrow I am off. We have a lot to do at mom's, and got over there on the later side today but will step up our game tomorrow. It should be a lot cooler out, and we'll be able to deal with the outdoor stuff that needs done. 

Digits, below this shot of my wineglass at the restaurant tonight.

digits

exercise: 12/12 hours.  Linda and I went in the pool and she noted that for a half hour I did not stop moving, but, that doesn't count on the fitbit if the fitbit is on the chair. 7100+ steps by bedtime.

blood glucose:

8:30am: 95
n/a pm: n/a
11pm: 96

food & meds:
8:30am: jardiance+phentermine
9:15am: 2 sausage patties, little egg, spinach, cheese crustless quiche
4pm: met+glip
5:30pm: buffalo fingers, pinot grigio
through the evening, more trail mix and some wine.

A minimal wrapup of OTO 2025

Previously, I've written long and detailed (and possibly painfully boring) round ups and wrap ups of vacations and trips. This isn't really one of those. 

We left off on Thursday's entry, when I recounted the insanity of Wednesday and the ride up. the 2am+ arrival at the hotel. And to be honest, after that things blur. But here's a run-down of things I remember.

We got to Maine Thursday night and had an amazing meetup with friends. 

Friday, Linda ended up trapped at her job working on things forever and made it to the State Theater for the Guster show just before it started. 

The Friday night show was called Hits & Bits, and to be honest, there were zero hits performed and a lot of bits. That was kind of the joke. Emcee Connor Ratliff referred to the songs we'd hear as Guster's D Sides, or E sides.... and they did. They went deep. They played some songs they haven't played in years. And it was fantastic. The whole night was an amazing joy. 

To be honest, I was initially not interested in going to this show and thought about giving up my ticket so I could drink by the pool and relax. 

I wasn't interested in comedians in between Guster songs. But it worked. It worked amazingly. And aside from knowing there were people in the audience who were honest to God disgruntled that they didn't hear Amsterdam, Demons, Careful, Happier... it makes me laugh even more. 

Saturday we went on a harbor cruise and almost missed the boat. Note to self: Parking in Portland is scarce and pricy! Leave an hour earlier than you think you should. Sara missed the cruise but she dumped us at the dock. 

We took Hen with us, and had a lovely time. Well, once he warmed up to it. It was a 2 and a half hour cruise and it took 2 hours for him to get into it. Still. He did. 

After the cruise we went to lunch with Mel and our friends Brian and Rich. A great mexican joint with a burrito as big as my head. 

We got separated from a lot of friends after getting off the boat, people I wanted to connect with, but it's one of those things that is absolute chaos and you just go eat a burrito with a 10 year old instead of hanging out with pals elsewhere.

After lunch, we went back to the hotel to hang out while S&S were at their next scheduled event - a podcast episode taping with Craig Finn interviewing Ryan Miller. 

The podcast is called "That's How I Remember It," and it is about creativity and memory. If I had not been a little brain dead, I would not have missed the fact that Craig Finn is the lead singer for a really great band called the Hold Steady, and this was probably going to be an incredibly wonderful and thoughtful event. 

We didn't have tickets, we had Hen, so S&S got to enjoy it and gave us the run down later. We were happy to give them some H free time. And they did really enjoy the interview and the time listening to how Guster writes songs, works on things, and how memory works. Ryan is bad with names but knows faces. And I've seen that in action. 

We all connected and then it was time to go to On The Ocean Fest. 

We have been camping in this little corner by the VIP Mobile Unit and there is shade there, which is very nice. We have our little family. A lot of people have to park themselves on the rail, right in front, and they spend the whole day there. But I have absofuckinglutely no stamina for that. I like the VIP tickets, paying more for space, and to be honest, I can see just fine. 

And I can go sit down in my little chair when I'm tired. 

The Saturday lineup was really great. 2 stages, and on the small stage we got to see our good friend and former Guster band member, Joe Pisapia performing with his brother Marc on drums.

On the rail there were two people in front of me, singing every word to every song Joe gave us. True Joe Fans. I asked to take their picture, and as you can see, it was worth the ask.

 The kind of joy these two had for everything this weekend is what I love most about the festival. Honest to God, this is joy. This is happiness. And these are now two good friends in my life. 

The Big Stage had Frutbats, the Mountain Goats, and Guster. Because I was over in the VIP section for those performances I have no photos. I just know I got to dance like crazy. John from the Mountain Goats is a national treasure. And Guster did not disappoint. The encore at the end of the show of Lido Shuffle was ridiculously fun, with all the bands playing and Craig Finn jumping around hyping up the crowd and just exuding joy. 

Back to the hotel and then Sunday, we took it easy. Our friend M was sharing the hotel with us but he got up super early, hit the car rentals at the airport and went to Lincolnville Maine to visit a general store there that was until recently owned by Phish Drummer Jon Fishman. So he was out the door before 8am and back well in time to get to the Sunday show. 

The Sunday vibe for us was easy going. We didn't sign up for the service projects or for the kayaking (although, I really wanted to but it sold out before I could get in). 

We went to our usual spot in the back corner, and had a great day. I didn't go to the Guster Q&A because it was so crowded and in years past, people just ask the same questions, and I wasn't interested. I wanted to mill about and visit. 

Side stage shenanigans with Karina Rykman and her band were my favorite highlight of the day. 

These two make a lot of noise and I love it. I live for it. I don't know what else to say other than I want to be as happy at my job, every day, as Karina is at hers. When I feel down, sad, depressed, I just put on some Karina video and say "well there. Be that happy. Do it." And it works. 

The main stage had Hanson, of all things, and then Guster. The Hanson thing was a bit controversial. I didn't watch them because I was waiting for Karina to start, but a lot of Guster fans were a bit confused as to why they were invited. I should write a separate post for that. 

Sunday after the show, Lin and M both went to bed. M had a super early AM flight to catch and had to leave the hotel by 5am. Lin was beat. I went down to hang out with S&S and H, because we usually always have some sort of fun hangout together, and up to that point we'd all been all over the place. We stayed up until 2am, watching .... Bluey.

Monday morning we had asked for late check-out. I did have a 9am meeting and Linz had work to do as well. We got organized and out the door on time, and on the road.

We had lunch together, and all hit the road in good time. Lin and I went to C's cabin for some porch life and SS&H got home at 4am. 

That's a lot. 

The entire time I tracked my blood sugar, monitored my food, and did very well but I didn't record everything. Blogging was not going to fit in with all the shenanigans. 

Here's Hoover, enjoying Tuesday morning porch life with me. Before it got too hot to sit outside. 

Digits, below.

digits

exercise: 12/12 hours. Didn't get a proper walk, but did take Jess dog for a 7 minute stroll about before we hit the road (Jess was at work). 7600+ steps by bedtime

blood glucose:

8am: 116
n/a pm:n/a
10pm: 124

food & meds:
8am: jardiance+phentermine
11am: protein bar
2pm: met+glip
5pm: some not so great buffalo wings, side salad, and some of Lin's chicken fingers
at the hotel: wine
10pm: met+glip
11:30pm: last chicken finger & some onion rings left over from Lin's dinner

quick update

 I started an entry thursday that is still ongoing, have to go back and fill in the blanks. Suffice to say I'm having a great time. All the friends, all the fun. 

Jess is coming up to see us for Breakfast, so I'm off to shower and get ready. More later. 

Get Some Smeep

The title comes from a text a friend of mine sent to us at 1am. Get some smeep is a great typo. 

Another insane work day.  I'm always so thankful for my co-workers who make it so I don't lose my mind and run screaming into the night. 

We did a client's website launch and it did not go well. It should take 15 min for the internet to catch up to our changes. 2 hours, 3 hours, 5 hours later... still no site. It finally started to show up but we were so pissed off. And she was nervous. 

but we got her there. Such a struggle.

I had several meetings all day, all internal. Helpdesk documentation meeting, meeting with our big boss, helping teach a 2 hour training with my work son, just. A lot. And of course I didn't pack. And of course I only folded SOME of the laundry. 

Just.... wishing I had taken today off instead of working. 

2:45am at the hotel

We got on the road at 6. I knew what time it was because I should have done my 6pm steps before getting in the car. The Traffic Gods were so with us until we got to Ft. Lee NJ, and we spent an hour not moving trying to get to an exit to take to get off the big highway and on to the Palisades Parkway. 

At the hotel, we had a nice hang out but S and I came down to my room for elongated hangout where I shared about my cousin, and she shared about her dad and mom, and her messy childhood.  

She has a meeting at 9:30am. I'm going to take H to the pool. Her husband can sleep in... and we'll hit the road at noon. 

Our car ride was full of hilarious moments, including some song parodies that we absolutely have to record. 

Gotta get some sleep maybe. Digits! Below.

digits

exercise: 11/12 hours. Missed 6pm. Doh. 7600+ steps by "bedtime" which leeched into the next day.... with more steps!

blood glucose:

8:30am: 116
4:30pm: 107
11:45pm: 136

food & meds:
8:30am: jardiance+phentermine
noon: Atkins protein snack bar
2:30: met+glip
4:30pm: english muffin w/pb
7:30pm: some popeyes chicken strips; met+glip
11:45pm: white wine & diet ginger ale, some Combos for snacks
2am: some beef jerky nuggets (left over from colorado!)

Procrastination

I have many loads of laundry to fold. I would like a pedicure. I need a few things from the drug store. I have to pack. I have to do work things still. My brain is tired. I have some time in the middle of the day tomorrow, I can pack then, if everything is folded? 

My work wife asked me once before I was leaving for a trip if I was packed yet. It was a full 10 days before departure. Who packs 10 days in advance?! Well, she does. But I can't. I need to wear these clothes. hahahahha .... oy. 

And on top of it all...

We put an offer on the cute house in Hagerstown, fully expecting they would counter or reject. And we weren't interested in countering or arguing. 

They accepted it. So that was a little surprise for us. We thought for sure other people would bid on it. We must have been the very first to do so, and they took it. The house was on the market less than 1 day. 

I mentioned to C that I often wonder why people do what they do with houses. Like the one we looked at in Brunswick with the absolute shit plumbing/heat pump setup on the outside.  What was the motivation here for snapping the offer so fast when we offered 15k below asking? Relocation and a bridge loan? Getting the kids into a new school in a timely fashion? I thought for sure they low-ball listed and we would be outbid by another family, and we weren't going to get into a bidding war or anything. 

Absolutely surprised they accepted. 

I'm leaving tomorrow to go to Maine so I need to put Doug in charge of all the inspections and stuff. I am sad I won't be there with for the home inspection. I reached out to the same guy who did our last one, we really liked him. I like him enough to not want to need his services again though. 

And after the home inspection is a go (she will be) I need to contact the property managers to break our lease. 

I think if this one falls through I want us to pause on searching until the spring. I do not want to move in winter. 

Cross your fingers for us. I'd like a win.

Anyway. Today was a busy day. I backed my work son bestie ride or die up as he did training. We're an excellent team. I think we should just do this together all the time. There was a big kerfuffle with something for one of the clients that started last week, he knows how to fix it but we didn't get to it today, so I blocked off time on my calendar for tomorrow for him to teach me how to do the thing. 

I started folding laundry. I started packing my bag. I realized I need a trip to Target or CVS so I'm actually going to send Geoff in the morning with my list. We have a client site launch at 9am tomorrow, and she's in Alaska so it'll be like 4am her time. I hope she shows up. This was her idea. 

I just got back from a quick walk with Toffee. I took myself out after dinner to do a pokemon walk and extended it so I'd get more than the usual distance. I should have kept going another 10 min. It was nice enough out, . But. I then had to jump into email and comms with the house situation. 

Doug was not feeling like taking Toffee for a walk after dinner. I realized I had 2k steps left for the day, which is too much to do around the inside of the house (it's like 15+ minutes worth of walking to do that many steps) so I grabbed the leash and the dog and went out. 

She's a joy to walk when there are no other dogs around. She did see a bunny but I got her to redirect and keep walking. Miracle. 

I wonder if bunnies are a big deal in Hagerstown. 

Linda wants to get pedicures and possibly massages on Friday when we are in Portland. I started to do my research on where to go, and wanted to be near our hotel and not in downtown. And I can't remember where our hotel is. Duh. So that is something I can take care of tomorrow. 

Anyway, off to bed. Morning is going to come super soon. Gotta be ready to greet it.

digits

exercise: 12/12 hours.  One pokemon walk 25 min/1.22 miles.   a toffee walk, 11 min/.53 miles. 10k+ by bedtime

blood glucose:

8:30am: 107
6pm: 125
11pm: 99

food & meds:
8:30am: jardiance+phentermine
10:30am: English muffin w/pb and apricot preserves
2pm: slice of sourdough bread w/ tuna fish, piece of american cheese, bacon
3:45pm: met+glip (totally forgot to take at 2pm) the rest of the tuna salad
6:30pm: 2 small pieces of french bread pizza w/ shrooms/onion/pepperoni
vodka & diet tonic

Patio

Hey everyone. 

Yesterday and today it was cool enough to sit out on the patio. Yesterday I pretty much just vegged inside, but today, I went out. 

It was delightful. 

I even offered to grill dinner so I could be outside again. 

I took a walk and the dog came with me. Aside from seeing too many rabbits and cats, we had a nice short walk (doug took her for an hour walk in the afternoon while I was still working). 

It is the beginning of August and I'm not used to it being "nice" here. 80 degrees, no humidity, this is nice.

The patio is kind of a wreck, lots of weeds coming up, and so many wild ass plants all over the place. Not going outside in the back for WEEKS it just gets that way. I wish it wasn't so hot here. 

But today? Oh today. 

Farmer Chris watered the plants, drank a glass of wine while the burgers were cooking, and was thinking of having a bonfire but no one else wanted to come with me. 

I just had to share that I was very happy out there today. Look at my dog. 

digits

exercise: 12/12 hours.  2 walks. indoors 25 min for 1.2 miles; pokemon walk w/dog 10 min, .44 miles. 10k+ by bedtime

blood glucose:

8am: 151
4:15pm: 181
10pm: 80

food & meds:
8am: jardiance+phentermine
12:45pm: bacon quesadilla, low carb wrap, shredded cheddar, 5 pieces of bacon, mayo. 
2:45pm: met+glip
7pm: one cheeseburger, no bun
white wine
10pm: met+glip

Brunswick and Hagerstown

Doug and I once again headed out to look at houses on Saturday. 

First stop was an open house in Brunswick, MD. We like Brunswick, it's a gritty little town with a nice brewery and coffee shop. It is very hilly, an adventure to drive around! And there is a hugely active train depot there. You can get the MARC train into DC, if you're lucky it is actually running. They notoriously cancel trains (from what I understand...).

The open house was at a place where from the front it looks like you have to climb up 900 steps, but, there's an alley in the back for parking and that's much better. In fact, there's no door on the front of the house except for kind of a small basement door that leads into the grimy basement, so, you wouldn't want to come in the front. There's a lovely porch, but no steps up to it. Back door is the way to go!

The alley has a nice level 3 car parking slab off it, and a sidewalk to the back patio. Entering in through the kitchen, it's cute. She's cute. There are 3 nice rooms in addition to the kitchen, a first floor half bath and a big laundry room with hookups. The front door goes out onto that patio with no staircase down, which would be a gorgeous place to sit and enjoy coffee daily and watch the quiet street and the view. Toffee would be nice and safe chilling on the porch with us. 

The middle room of the three on the main floor has a beautiful wood stove and hearth. They didn't rip everything out and shove in a stupid gas fireplace the way so many houses have now. I'm not a fan of gas fireplaces.

Upstairs there are 4 bedrooms and a very small full bath. Strangely enough, the bathroom vanity is only thigh-high, not waist-high. We had a good laugh at that. 6' 2" Geoff standing 4 feet above the sink for brushing his teeth would be amuzing. 

One of the bedrooms could easily be converted to a really nice, large bathroom. If one wanted. Which I kind of would.

No usable basement at all. It was gloomy and musty. I wouldn't even want it for storage even if I had shelving and everything off the floor without a dehumidifier running all the time. Geoff would have to live on our level with us which takes his privacy and ours. 

So this wasn't the house for us. Oh, and also, they're asking way too much money. 399k is way crazy.

We did a drive-by on another house, Doug was curious about the yard and the street, and I'm glad we came by. Very crowded street with another staircase up to the front door, but nothing like the last one. It has all very fresh vinyl siding and it seems to be a 2 family without separation between the units, which is weird. Like someone was in the middle of a house flip and gave up or ran out of money? 

A second floor unfinished unit with a private bedroom, private entry, and full bath seems nice for Geoff, to be honest. And then when Geoff doesn't live with us, we could rent it out? But wow there are problems with this house other than the lack of completion for the project. 

We have NO idea who installed the heat pumps on this house - the hoses are all exposed, holes drilled into the walls and expanding foam filling the gaps. It looks like someone said "oh I can install this shit" and they bought the heat pump kit from home depot, didn't know what they were doing, and committed a crime against humanity. Every other house with heat pumps has had a lovely finished box around the hoses to protect them from the weather. Again, did someone just run out of money, time, energy to complete this? 

The backyard was an absolute mess. We're not afraid of an outdoor gardening project but really, ugh. The alley in the back ends abruptly, right before getting to the house, and it crumbles down the hill to where people have thrown garbage over the years. There is a shed at the back of the property that is just about to fall down, but someone thought to install a really nice set of double doors with a locking mechanism on it. Too bad whatever you want to get out of this shed will probably result in your death if you step on the little deck/platform by the door. 

Top it all off with the fact that the house next door was the site of a major fire at some point. No wonder it has all new siding, the side of this house probably was destroyed when the neighboring property burned. 

All told, this was a big no from both of us, not just the house but the neighborhood. All the houses are so close, you could reach out your window and get a cup of sugar from a neighbor. Way too tight. I was not comfortable with the setup.

Next, off to Hagerstown again. A different neighborhood than the last (we love the North End where the other house was, and this is much closer to downtown). 

Our broker took us to this cute house (at our request) which truly is delightful. It has everything, updated, new, wonderful. The only thing is the oven/stove which look like it could be replaced. 

As someone who uses their stove every single day, looking at the family here, they obviously do too. Six kids! And probably the most organized space I've ever seen. In the mud room, they had a wall of lockers like a school would have. Genius. Gets all the shoes and coats and nonsense off the floor! With six kids that's a feat. The mud room has the washer dryer in it, with a ton of storage and shelving. It's well done. I would want a nice bench and shoe rack, we don't need lockers. 

Walking into the kitchen, I noticed that they had notched the kids heights into the door frame coming into the kitchen. It made me think of the first house we had, where we had our kids measured up, and our neighbor kids too, in the doorway of the garage. I was remembering Matt and Megan in that moment, knowing Megan has passed on years and years ago now, it made me a little sad. It's the one thing I kind of wish we'd pulled out of the first house we owned. I wondered about this family, with all their kids (and mommy and daddy) on the door frame. Where are they moving? What is their plan? Hopefully a bigger house so bedrooms can be a little more private for the kids! 

The attic has two bedrooms (not separated by a door, it's not there) for four of the kids. A small music area, desks, and nice closets. The parents' room is on the main floor, with one full bath right there. The kitchen is so cute, and rather large, and a separate dining room which used to be a bedroom at one point, but obviously with six kids, you'd want a good place to sit for a meal. 

The living room has a lovely setup, very nice inlaid wood in the floors, and a gas fireplace. As mentioned, I hate gas fireplaces but Doug pointed out that it's nice to have one because if it does get cold out, the heat pump systems that everyone has around here usually struggle under 30 degrees so a supplemental heating source is a good idea. It gets cold around here, so I just don't understand why heat pumps are so freaking popular instead of actual furnaces. Mystery to me.

The basement has a large living room area where they had a big couch and video games. There is a really dry storage room, another half bath, a kids bedroom with a set of bunk beds, a Man Cave, and a really cool office.

The backyard is fully fenced, it has a back alley with a gate to it too and the alley is in excellent condition. And they have a trampoline, swing set, and fun playhouse that we wouldn't need but could ask to have removed (if they would do that concession). If they didn't want to take them I'm sure we could give them away on Marketplace or Nextdoor.com or something. They're in excellent condition.

Doug and I talked about converting the 2 bedrooms in the attic to a primary suite with giant bathroom, and we could live in the bedroom on the first floor for a while. 

And one of Doug's favorite things is glass "bricks" which this house has plenty of, but, the light doesn't shine through them. Which is weird. Still, they have them all over the front of the house, and it was delightful to see.

And the front porch is the cutest damn thing I've ever seen. The back porch is also incredibly cute. Porch Life in the front and the back! 

Anyway. 

We chatted with some neighbors who were having a yard sale, they were super cool and very nice. They offered me plants, if we buy the house, all I have to do is come back by and get some. We set off to check out the big park around the corner, which has a lot going on. It used to be the fairgrounds, and now has a BMX track, dog park, tons of playground area. And then a drive around the city to get acquainted with parts we had not seen yet. 

After a while, Doug said he was very hungry so we grabbed a quick BK burger, and headed to a brewery we hadn't tried yet. Thick n Thin Brewing is in another part of town away from the Hub Brewery we've visited 3 times now. We weren't sure what the food action was around there but they have a permanent food truck and we could have had a much much better burger than what we got at BK, I'm sure. 

The beer was nice, the staff was very friendly, and it was the first Saturday of the month which meant it was karaoke night! 

We watched the regulars all start to file in, lots of hugs and handshakes, lots of laughs and smiles. Doug isn't big on karaoke, so we finished our beers and headed out. I was tempted to look at their listing to see if they had any Guster songs. Maybe another time.

I met this sweet couple and their dog Harpo. I loved their shirts and asked for a picture. Harpo's first visit to the brewery according to "Sweet," which she told me goes with her name Caroline. and he's Sour. It's a joke with their grandchildren. They aren't grandma and grandpa, but Sweet and Sour. I appreciated chatting with them.

Sunday we both woke up rather early. Talked about the house. Our realtor texted to see if we are going to make an offer since Doug had wanted to sleep on it. With me going away on Wednesday, if we put in an offer Doug would be on the hook for going to the home inspection within 5 days. 

I can electronically sign things and pay the stuff that needs paid like the home inspection and termite inspection etc... 

But he'd be in charge of stuff and appointments and sometimes he's not the best at that, so I'd be pushing him to go go go. 

We'd use the same companies we used for the first house. Everyone was wonderful. I feel like this house would pass inspection in a heartbeat with flying colors and no worries. 

He's also not sure about Hagerstown overall, and is looking around at other spots. Back to Front Royal. We're in no hurry to find a place, so if this one is lost to us we'll be okay. 

I think we'll decide tomorrow what we'll do. 

The day was a lot of nothing. I watered the plants, Geoff went to the market to get a couple things for dinner tonight and tomorrow. The weather was gorgeous but I didn't go sit outside to hang out at the patio. Doug took a big nap and took Toffee for a walk while I made dinner. Doug tried to get ahold of his aunt because he wants her to decide what she's doing with her storage unit that we paid for on moving day. Today was the last day to cancel. She didn't return his calls. So I guess we'll pay another month and he's going to up his game with her to get a plan while I'm out of town (good). 

Not a lot else to report, off to bed! Digits below. 

Saturday digits

exercise: 11/12 hours. Missed 1 hour by being in the car. "dedicated 10" walk in the house while Doug was showering. 7000+ steps by bedtime. 

blood glucose:

xam: 156
n/a pm: n/a
11pm: 169

food & meds:
xam: jardiance+phentermine
11am: several slices of roast beef & some provolone cheese
3pm: met+glip; double cheeseburger from burger king
7:30pm: giant bowl of mac & cheese w/hamburger
10pm: met+glip

Sunday digits

exercise: 12/12 hours. 3 measurable walks, 2 for 15 min each about .72 miles each. One to the pokestop down the street, 11 min for .42 miles. 10k+ steps by bedtime

blood glucose:

8am: 197
4:30pm: 126
10pm: 176

food & meds:
8am: jardiance+phentermine
11:30am: pb& low sugar j on 647 bread
2pm: met+glip
2:45pm: protein shake
4:30pm: a couple cookies
6pm: chili, 2 beers
8pm: met+glip

Under the Weather

I got a tremendous headache yesterday around 4pm and went to lie down. For a bit.  I woke up in time to do the 5pm steps, and right into 6pm. Geoff was making dinner, so I laid back down again. 7pm woke up. I'm trying to pinpoint my trigger on this headache and it could be dehydration. It could be existential. 

It also could have been weather related. We had an absolute storm-filled day all day yesterday, giant thunder and lightning storms. So much rain. The phrase "under the weather" made so much sense to me as a result. 

Today, it is not even 70 degrees today but it is damp and drippy.  Storms are over, I feel better, and have been drinking a lot more water. 

At work today, my product colleague asked me to present for our team in our sprint review. He usually does but left for a long weekend in NYC last night. I'm always slightly nervous when I fill in for him, but it was a small part and fun. I felt loved by the product and development team. 

I had a check in with a colleague who used to be in that guy's position before she moved off the team in 2023. She had a baby last December and just came back. She's miserable, hates working, hates being away from her baby, feels like she can't make a decision in life without her husband, mother, and mother in law contradicting her. She needed to cry. I was happy to give her an hour of my time. It's super hard to be mom and working mom, and dealing with three other opinionated bodies while someone very small demands all your time and energy. Because she was with him pretty much exclusively for close to 7 months, the baby is mad because he does not like Grandma (who babysits him during the day) as she is Not The Mamma. 

She has decided to look into actual daycares and put him on several lists in their neighborhood. 

Babies have to get used to things Mommies have to let babies cry sometimes. 

It's hard. 

Tomorrow we're going to an open house and a showing. There is one house out of our price range in Hagerstown that I really love. We're quietly watching it to drop hopefully another 25k. It might. Who knows. 

Off to bed. Busy Busy day and weekend! 

Thursday digits

exercise: 12/12 hours.  kind of a 5 min. walk inside. meh. 5600+ steps by bedtime

blood glucose:

8:30am: 101
6pm: 96
11pm: 130

food & meds:
8:30am: jardiance  (out of phentermine, waiting for refill)
1pm: English muffin w/pb & low sugar j
2pm: Met+glip
3pm: 2 kielbasas
7pm: some fancy fried rice dish Geoff found online (really good)
9pm: ramekin mixed nuts 
10pm: met+glip
white wine & diet cranberry

Friday digits

exercise: 12/12 hours.  No walk (gotta get back in the groove!) 5k steps by bedtime.

blood glucose:

8:30am: 145
5pm: 129
11pm: 186

food & meds:
8:30am: jardiance+phentermine
11:30am: English muffin w/pb  (no j because i couldn't find it)
2pm: met+glip
7pm: chicken alfredo lasagna (thanks to Geoff!) 
9pm: met+glip
3 beers