Pleasant Surprises

I received a gift in the mail today from a Boston Friend, and didn't expect it or see it coming. 

They left all social media before the summer, and only use texting now. I get random text updates from them, and sometimes late at night and I don't reply. 

Sometimes it is hard to stay in touch. Having a wall of news updates in Facebook or wherever, pictures to gawk at in Instagram... these are ways I keep tabs on people. But they are not participating anymore and that is good for them but weird for our relationship. I should mail her a card for real person mail. 

The package is very sweet, and recently they've been creating tea packets and other crafty things, going to craft fairs around Boston to augment their income. And it is a good hobby... instead of doom scrolling on social media. Gotta say I admire that. 

Better yet, they didn't know my birthday was this week. So this was a bonus to receive such a nice package out of the blue. It was kind of funny because right after we moved, they asked for our address. Not our "new" address, just our address. And today told me they'd screwed up their spreadsheet of addresses for all their personal contacts. Oops. So in rebuilding their sheet, it was simply a timing coincidence that I thought they were looking for the new address after all. Serendipity. Sweet and kind. 

Today was a one meeting day, and a lot of tickets, and some snark with my work son. Geoff made dinner, and it wasn't the best recipe? He over cooked the chicken, and somehow the bacon/onion "sauce" for the chicken was more of a candied bacon, and a solid mass. The taste was good, but the execution wasn't perfect. Lesson learned, and we'll try it again. 

I guess while I was away he made a steak and egg fried rice and Doug said it was excellent. So let's revisit that one next! 

Tomorrow. Bookshelf building and a bank run. Doug got a gift from his mom, and I got a birthday check from mine, so we need to go... and our bank is a bit far. We've been talking about a new bank and now's as good a time as any to take care of this. 

Alrighty then - digits below!  

digits

exercise: 12/12 hours. Indoor walk while Geoff was cooking. 20 min/.91 miles. 10k+ steps by bedtime

blood glucose:

6:45am: 90
5pm: 105
10:45pm: 109

food & meds:
6:45am: jardiance+phentermine
10:15am: slab of banana bread w/butter
2pm: roast beef & cheddar and mayo on 647 white bread; met+glip
6:30pm: 1/2 chicken breast, some white rice, broccoli, and an interesting bacon/onion "glaze." 
8:30pm: met+glip
9pm: 2 cookies from Aldi. white wine.

Phone Cleaning

Last December I got a new phone, and I promised myself I'd move all my images into my Google Drive. I've got phone after phone after phone's worth of pictures that were transferred into this phone, and well.... back your shit up, friends. 

I started doing this last year and never finished. Today my phone told me it was almost full. Doh. Okay. Alright. Okay. 

So after dinner I set to revisiting that task. A good mindless task, but one you have to pay some attention to because you run the risk of accidentally deleting a whole month of images if you're not careful. 

I feel almost better, not fully. I was up early-ish so I did a walk in the house while Doug slept, and then a short walk in the house while he walked Toffee. I've said it before but I need to get back to the gym. I can't just ... keep walking in the house. Or can I? 

Thursday nights has become our football and pizza night. Geoff gets home just before 8 so I order and Doug picks up. He bought me wine and I didn't feel like having any. My head still feels like it is packed in cotton, and the belly hurts, but I did have buffalo bites over a salad, and enjoyed greatly. 

Cleaning off the phone is fun. I realized I never posted pictures here of the Guster Tiny Desk... or on Facebook for that matter. Maybe I'll do that this weekend? 

Bookshelves still not built. Ha. 

Oh - I did manage to take a shower today and thanked myself profusely. 

Digits, below. 

digits

exercise: 12/12 hours. indoor walk early in the day, 15 min/.71 mi. when Doug walked Toffee, 7 min/.44 mi (jogging in the house... ) 10k+ steps by bedtime

blood glucose:

7:45am: 119
4:15pm: 105
10:45pm: 145

food & meds:
7:45am: jardiance+phentermine
1:30pm: BLT Salad
2pm: met+glip
8pm: buffalo bites over a salad
8:30pm: met+glip

This is 59

Ugh. 

I started to not feel well at all on Tuesday night. All day I'd had a headache, and then my stomach started to hurt. Really hurt. Right after dinner, it got incredibly bad. I was sitting on the couch, miserable. I don't even remember what we were watching, some BBC British detective whatever show. Shetland, I think. Maybe. I just wanted to get to decent bed time.

I thought "this is just gas or something, I'll take some alka seltzer and plop plop fizz fizz all set." But, no.

This is not the first time I've gone through something like this, and sometimes it is associated with nuts. I do eat a lot of nuts, and normally they do not bother me at all but. Last night? Hellacious. 

I decided to sleep in the guest room to be closer to the bathroom, just in case, and went to bed after 11. I fell asleep rather easily but woke up 2 hours later in excruciating pain. 

The dog was with me and was very concerned. She's not used to me waking up and turning on lights. Lights! What the heck! I sat up on the bed, pressed on my stomach, burped a lot, heard a lot of gurgling, experienced waves and waves of pain. Stabbing and horrible. It was 3am and I was honestly thinking of going and getting Doug to take me to the emergency room. It was that bad. I laid back down. Nope. Not good, not comfortable. 

I thought, fuck me - do I have diverticulitis? So of course I googled that shit. No. This isn't diverticulitis. 

It's just mother fucking gas, you guys. I took more Alka Seltzer, and eventually went back to sleep. 

Doug told me it sounds to him (Mr. Medical Records Super Knowledge) like a possible hiatal hernia. I'm not sure about that.

I just think it's the season for feeling like shit. 

Today, I felt better-ish. Maybe would have really felt better with a hot shower, but I couldn't rally. I got a lot of work done, had a good weekly check in with my manager, opened up a can of worms with some questions about our CRM and how account records are set up. Which then turned into a 5 way chat in Slack that exhausted me. 

Geoff made dinner for us and I did not want to eat so I just made a pbj sandwich and thought that was sufficient. 

Then, I was sad because there wasn't cake. I was okay with not going out to dinner or anything because I wanted to go to the pub that has the best buffalo wings and well. With how the belly feels I did not want to deal with that. 

But I did want cake. So while I was cleaning up the kitchen after the dinner I didn't eat, Doug went to the market and got cake and ice cream. And he remembered milk for coffee for tomorrow. 

Hoping to rally and feel much better for the weekend. Your girl has a lot of shit to do and being a slug is not one of them. Those bookcases are not going to build themselves. 

digits for 2 days below. 

Wednesday digits

exercise: 12/12 hours. 2 indoor walks. First -  15 min/.71 mi. second to make up for lack of steps, 10 min/.5 miles; 10k+ steps by bedtime.

blood glucose:

9am: 137
4:45pm: 106
10pm: 226 (thanks, cake)

food & meds:
9am: jardiance+phentermine
11am: bowl of mac & cheese w/bacon
1pm: met+glip
6pm: pb & low sugar j on 647 multigrain bread
7:30pm: slice of cake w/vanilla ice cream
8pm: met+glip

Tuesday digits

exercise: 12/12 hours. Indoor walk for 10 min/.53 mi. 10k+ steps by bedtime

blood glucose:

8:30am: 106
5pm: 118
11pm: 169

food & meds:
8:30am: jardiance+phentermine
11am: apple w/pb
1pm: met+glip
5pm: large ramekin of mixed nuts and trail mix
6:30pm: spinach ravioli in alfredo sauce with sautéed chicken breast thrown in
8:30pm: Met+glip

Monstera and Shelves

Last night, Doug and Geoff got home and we unloaded the uhaul. There is more that he brought home than I expected, and we'll have to find homes for the things. 

D: Here's a giant basket. Guess who didn't want it?
Me: Your mom, and your sister.
D: Yup. 

D: this is the dining room table from our house before my parents redid the dining room and kitchen the first time. Guess who didn't want it.

D: This is uncle Pete's table. Guess who.....

It'll all go okay. The one gnarly thing is his bureau from his childhood bedroom - it weighs a ton and a half so it isn't going to the basement, and it isn't going up the stairs to our room. It may live in the guest room. It may have to live in the mud room. Time will tell. 

This morning, I started putting together one of the two bookshelves I bought, a lot of parts, little baggies. I know it said "some assembly required but this is a lot more than I thought it would be and I got ... frustrated and gave up. 

Will try again tomorrow. 

In other news, my friend H gave me a Monstera. 

It is one plant I did not have. She cut some off of hers and had it in a jar for a year or so, and we were finally in a place that wasn't a concert, so she could give it to me. It will probably be gigantic. 

It's pretty huge right now. I need to put more dirt in the pot, and maybe find a rock or something to prop up that one leaf that is growing sideways. She's not sick or broken - she's just literally growing in that direction. And I don't want to hurt her, and don't want her breaking off because she's big. 

My coworker has one that is, and I'm not even joking, 8 feet tall. He sent me pictures, with one of his friends standing UNDER it. Dang. Something to look forward to growing, and know just the place I want it to live. 

Nothing else really happening today, Doug took Toffee for a walk, and it was windy and cold so I walked in the house. Our house is big enough that yeah, I can actually jog a bit. So a few songs on the playlist later and we're at 25 minutes. 

I really need to get to the gym and do the treadmill. 

Alrighty then - it's super duper bedtime. I'm incredibly tired. Digits! Below! 

digits

exercise: 12/12 hours. Indoor walk (too cold/windy). 25 min/1.41 mi. 10k+ by bedtime

blood glucose:

7:30am: 155
4:30pm: 144
10:30pm: 109

food & meds:
7:30am: jardiance+phentermine
9:15am: asiago bagel w/cream cheese
1pm: tuna melt on oatnut bread; met+glip
6pm: chili w/cheese, sour cream, fritos
8pm: met+glip; ramekin mixed nuts & trail mix

Girls' Day and Night

A few days ago, I reached out to some of my "GusFam" who live in the area to see if they wanted to come hang out while my family was in Pennsylvania. All three ladies were in. Each are about an hour or so away from me now where I'm living, but we planned on an early arrival and brunchies and they came through! 

I got up early, made a quiche, did the vacuuming, cleaned Geoff's bathroom in case we needed to have two seats at once. I put all the refrigerator magnets on the fridge. I put the oatmeal cookies on a very nice plate.

Home isn't home without fridge magnets, my friends. So happy I found them in a box. Now if I can find two other things that are still playing hide and seek with me, I'll be thrilled.

I drank coffee with a splash of South Mountain Creamery chocolate milk. Toffee and I were super ready for our company to arrive.

R and H got here at 10:30, and S got here around 11:30. Because I didn't want to leave Toffee solo and run to the store, I didn't go out and get mimosa makings. R was down to run the errand and get us supplied. Thank you R!!!

Turns out, three bottles of champagne was not enough. We ended up with a second run for four more bottles. Turns out four is one too many, but now I have a bottle in the fridge chilling for future use and other Mimosa lovin' visitors. Hint. Hint. Hint.

It was also super cute because we each had different juices in our mimosas. 

We had lots of Toffee cuddle time, which R and H were totally here for. Forget about spending time with me... it's the dog that everyone wants. 

S is more of a cat person and isn't exactly sure what to do with a dog, especially one like Toffee who is always up in everyone's shit. But eventually Toffee chose her to cuddle up with and it was lovely. 

And it wasn't only because S had some chips and cheese.

I happily gave two tours (R&H first, S when she got here) and everyone agrees. This is the greatest house ever. 

R said "this house is so you. I feel it. The porches are so you. The upstairs is so you. This kitchen is so you." 

We did the thing where we all told stories, and interrupted each others' thoughts, agreed on so many things went on circuitous routes and journeys, and there was a lot of "no! Wait Wait! Finish the thing you were telling us about Alex! Oh my gosh, how is your mom! What's going on with..." Typical friend catch-up time.

We talked about love and relationships, religion, recent shows we've been to. R went to see Ryan Miller with his new side project Bwahaha (which, is the best name for a band ever and I laugh when I see it). We bemoaned that the next scheduled Guster show is August for On The Ocean. There is usually a Thanksgiving show in NYC that a lot of people go to, but nothing on the schedule, or announced, or anything right now. So I doubt that is happening. 

It was a whole hell of a lot of fun. S had to go around 6 and stop and grab subs on the way home for the fam. "You have not one, but two Jersey Mike's within two miles of you house!" 

R & H stayed until around 8 and then drove back to Baltimore. 

We started plotting out the Cookie Decorating night that I've always done with S's family, and I've invited R & H to come too. 

Doug is in for it, I guess. Home Invasion sometime right before Christmas. There will be a lot more laughing and noise. It'll be great. S even said at one point "oh my gosh is Doug home? Are we being so noisy and making him crazy?!" 

Not unless he can hear you in Pittsburgh, hon. 

The only thing missing yesterday was Linda. Would have loved a little slice of some Linda mixed in here. 

After R & H left, I did dishes and cleaned up, let Toffee out, and realized super late that I had not eaten dinner. I also realized I needed to take my evening/dinner time met+glip and forgot because we were having too much fun. 

R & H brought bagels from Baltimore, so I had an asiago cheese one with garlic & herb cream cheese and roast beef at super late o'clock. And then I crashed. Good night's sleep and up to get ready for Doug & Geoff to come home today. 

 Digits below. 

digits

exercise: 12/12 hours. 20 min indoor walk (it's cold, so windy, very gross. so I did this instead.) 1.16 miles. 11k+ by bedtime

blood glucose:

7:30am: 138
5:30pm: 107
9pm: 192* (note time I took met+glip and the dinner choice, will test again later)

food & meds:
7:30am: jardiance+phentermine
10am: 2 slices of homemade banana bread w/pecans
noon: met+glip
2pm: zero sugar yogurt+granola bar
6:30pm: cheesy pasta w/chicken, mushrooms, broccoli. 
8pm: 3 oatmeal cookies
8:30pm: met+glip

Aren't you ever bored alone?

On Friday morning, I woke up 5 minutes before Doug's alarm went off. Sometimes that's my super power. I headed downstairs and started the coffee, fed the dog and let her out, used the bathroom. Doug was surprised to see me up, but I wanted to be helpful for the guys getting ready to go. 

Doug showered, Geoff came up and showered (good thing I was up before both of them so I could pee!) Doug packed his things, Geoff was already packed. And next thing I knew it was 7:30am and they were gone. 

I have a list of many things I wanted to accomplish while they're gone for a little more than 48 hours. Getting through my work day was first, and that was successful.

The refrigerator magnets were discovered when I was on the shoe search, so they all needed to be washed. I ruined a couple of them - water seeped in and they're not the same. That's okay. At least they're clean. 

Jess called to chat me up around noon. One of my meetings didn't happen because the person I was meeting with was out of office but didn't tell me and didn't cancel the meeting. 

I cleaned the bathroom, I got the vacuum out but didn't do it. I swept the kitchen. I did three loads of blanket laundry, very important as it is starting to get chilly. Then a big load of regular laundry. 

My 3pm meeting was over fast, so I took Toffee for a walk. A short walk because she's horrible on the leash sometimes and I rather hate it, and Doug does a better job with her. There was a cat following us, and she was incredibly obsessed with it. And squirrels were everywhere. So I cut things a little short and we came back. 

I baked cookies (oatmeal w/pecans) sorted through some boxes, looked at some books to put up. Thought about the vacuum again. 

Mostly what I really enjoyed was absolute silence. I didn't play music, I didn't watch TV, I talked to the dog a little bit. But it was pretty much absolutely quiet from 5pm to 11pm. 

Tomorrow's entry will be a lot more fun. I had S, R, and H over, and we had a blast. More later. Digits below what I looked like Friday. 

digits

exercise: 12/12 hours. 10 min indoor walk, it was pouring out... , .46mi. 11k+ steps by bedtime

blood glucose:

7:45am: 110
5pm: 76 (checked 2x to be sure)
10:45pm: 192* (see time I ate a bagel below...)

food & meds:
7:45am: jardiance+phentermine
didn't track times, but, throughout the day: Quiche (2 pieces), oatmeal cookies, several mimosas. Met+glip around 11am.
10pm: met+glip, asiago cheese bagel w/herb cream cheese and roast beef

What we did with our Thursday afternoon off

This is the entry I was too wiped out to post yesterday. 

I passed the vision test at the DMV but just barely. Highlight of the conversation was:

DMV Lady: is your height and weight still the same?
Me: I haven't gotten any taller, or shorter ... I don't think. What does it say for my weight?
DMV Lady: 240. 
Me: oh. Oh no. We should update that. I am at about 192. Can you put 190? I bet I'll make it to 190 before the license expires in 8 years. 
DMV Lady: Awww alright girl!

We then had a big discussion about diabetes, taking food seriously, medication. Her mom has it and eats pie for breakfast, 2 sugars in her coffee, and is on meds like I am but doesn't see any downward improvement on the A1C. 

I told her that I struggle with it daily. But. Over the years since we moved here, I'm seeing improvement. 

She did my eye test and asked me to read this little tiny sign on the wall. I couldn't read it at all. Literally no. 

Me: Am I blind? What does this mean. Do I have to get eyeglasses before I renew my license because that isn't going to happen in a week.
DMV Lady: Would you like to use the eye exam machine instead?
Me: Oh, yes please. 

I did much better with that. Could read the smallest line, and she was able to do the peripheral lights test too. Much better deal. And I felt pretty good and less blind. 

License updated for 8 more Maryland years. By then, pretty sure I'll need glasses. After all, I'll be 67 when that happens.

After the license situation was solidified, we went to the next city over to have my blood drawn. 

Based on the discussion at the DMV, happy to see this report this morning. Didn't break the 6.0% as I'd hoped I would but we're close, kids. Just like that 192 is almost 190.

That big drop is January to April this year. She added Glipizide to the mix, and it brought the numbers down. I had hoped to break that 6 and get into the 5% range to see if we could scale back the dosages and then retest in 6 months. But maybe we keep on going. We'll see what she says.

I was in and out of there, Doug was shocked - he took Toffee for a walk and I was locked out of the car. This particular location of our Doctors' office is a lot less busy than our last. And I had an appointment, so the two people waiting had to keep waiting. Sorry dudes. 

Then we drove to South Mountain Creamery. A local hot spot where people can come, eat ice cream, pet baby cows, and spend a lot of money on organic dairy. My work bestie loves it. They drive out from Baltimore a couple times a year for a visit. I thought that was a little crazy, there has got to be a dairy like this closer to the city but she's a super fan.

Let me tell you, I'm sold. It's worth it. I won't go as far as have the delivery of things, have the milk man bring us beautiful glass jugs of milk, artisanal cheeses, and ice cream... but I'm happy to take a ride out there again. 

Doug wanted some chocolate milk, and because I'm trying (harder than he is, obviously) to have less diabetes, I wasn't super interested in it or the ice cream. But. I did want to see some baby cows. 

We took the dog on the journey with us, and "well behaved dog" is not what she was. She was absolutely losing her shit with all the exciting things to see! smell! experience! and I'm glad it is super off season there. 

The calves (calfs?) were very sweet and gentle, they very much wanted to lick me. Some had very tiny teeth. Most were black and white, but a few were brown and white, and one looked just like Toffee but she wouldn't hold still so I could get a nice picture of her. 

Funny to see a Toffee Cow. 

After we went shopping for things, Doug's chocolate milk, some whole milk for me, some ice cream, we headed over to Gathland State Park. "Let's get some steps," Doug said. Speaking my language. 

George Alfred Townsend, who went by GATH, was a Civil War journalist. He fell in love with this area while researching for a book, and built his estate estate here. It includes a giant monument to the Civil War correspondents. 

There is a plaque there for recent news reporters who have died (or have been murdered) covering current wars. Visit this fantastic blog post from 2012 by a gentleman named Allen Browne.

It's all very chilling, thinking about the battles that took place right in the area where I was standing. All the players, the chess match, and the deaths of so many soldiers. 

One of the saddest things there was GATH's empty tomb. He had it constructed on the property to be his final resting place, but when he died in NYC he was then buried in Philadelphia beside his wife, never to return to his beautiful property in Maryland. 

Doug and I talked about how it was very sad that no one brought him "home" here, and the tomb is in disrepair. It reminds us that the best laid plans often go awry. 

We recalled how years and years ago when we attended church in Newburyport, MA we had joked around about what would happen if we were able to reunite George Whitefield's thumb with the rest of his body in the basement tomb. 

Would the zombie Evangelist rise from the dead, freak out about the state of current American Evangelicalism, and start to absolutely run rampant upon all, until 6 plucky young Gordon College students separate the thumb and return it to Drew University's Archives?

What if we were to return GATH to his crypt, finished lovingly with some lottery winnings. What would then happen? What would be the sci-fi horror movie result? 

We had a leisurely walk around the property with a little bit of discussion about that movie plot (also, TM! TM! TM! It's my idea). And as usual, where the Appalachian Trail crosses through one of the places we visit, we walk on it for a little while and Doug always says "here I go, once again, doing the AT!" 

It was magic hour, and I'm sure if we were here a couple weeks ago the foliage would have been spectacular. We will probably return, knowing us.

Home, and Doug and Toffee napped hard. Football, pizza, fellowship. All told a pretty good day for a half day off Thursday. 

Digits below. 

digits

exercise: 12/12 hours. 15 min/.71 mi toffee walk solo. 10k+ steps by bedtime

blood glucose:

6am: 140
5pm: 85
10:30pm: 94

food & meds:
6am: jardiance+phentermine
10:45am: english muffin w/pb
1pm: met+glip
5:30pm: left over pot roast w/some left over mashed potatoes; white wine
8pm: ramekin of trail mix
9pm: met+glip

Just the digits

 Real entry tomorrow, folks. Promise.

digits

exercise: 12/12 hours. Slow, leisurely walk around Gathland State Park. 19min/.69 mi. 10k+ steps by bedtime

blood glucose:

7:30am: 122
5pm: 118
11pm: 100

food & meds:
7:30am: jardiance+phentermine
11am: peanut butter on 647 whole wheat; met+glip (thought it was noon, so I took it. oops)
5pm: ramekin of trail mix; small glass of chocolate milk
7pm: buffalo fingers; white wine
8pm: met+glip

Half Day

Tomorrow I'm taking a half day so I can do my license in person (eye exam required) and go get some bloodwork done. Doug has the day off. He took today through Friday off as he has time he has to use and thought he may have bee going up to his mom's sooner than Friday. 

He had a doctor's appointment at our old stomping grounds, went by our Dogfriend Meg's house to say hi, got the car inspected, and took a 2 hour nap. 

I was only slightly jealous of the 2 hour nap. 

While he (and Toffee) were napping I snuck out to take a walk. Did a little jog here and there but still a solid 20 min. mile kind of kid. Geoff had his job interview today and he thinks it went exceptionally well. Even though it is a per diem job, it has a 90 day onboarding schedule where he'll work a lot more (and get paid for it). 

He didn't ask about the pay or if there is insurance. He thought that was uncool to do on a first interview. Okay. 

He has a phone interview for a hospital in Pennsylvania over the border up the way a week from today. 

Funny how 2 months with no bites turns into a couple. Patience pays off. 

Anyway. Not sure if Doug is going to come with me when I get the bloodwork done, considering he's got the day off and it's in the next city where we can go and have maybe some fun. A good walk. Something. 

No picture today - I should have taken a picture of the sky and the clouds, but wanted to keep moving on the walk. 

More tomorrow. Hopefully with a wonderfully renewed license!

Digits....

digits

exercise: 12/12 hours. solo walk 20 min/1.1 mi. 10k+ steps by bedtime

blood glucose:

7am: 127
4:30pm: 107
10pm: 151

food & meds:
7am: jardiance+phentermine
8:30am: slice of cheese danish
1:30pm: met+glip
2pm: BLT salad
3pm: handfuls of trail mix (so addicted)
6:45pm: black bean and sausage soup, small piece of rosemary focaccia bread
white wine
9pm: met+glip

The Wizard Mom

In the neverender of unpackingness, Geoff cannot find his dress shoes. I'm was sure they were in the basement. Doug and I had to pack up the things in his area that the movers left behind because 

a) his instructions for what he wanted moved were not at all clear 
and
b) we shoved all his shit in boxes and they're all unlabeled

They're in the basement, but he could not find them. 

My plan for life was to get down there and start to really get that big basement room organized. Books I want - upstairs. Things into the big storage room - moved. Unpack some of the shittier boxes and use the plastic totes, for better packing and organization... 

That was on the list for this weekend and it started today, just so I could help the boy find his dress shoes. And literally, I went downstairs, moved a few things, and found the bag they were in. 

Mom, to the rescue. 

Whenever I put my hands right on something, or fix an unfixable thing, ever since he was little Geoff has said "what are you, a wizard?" And I guess, yes. Yes I am a wizard. Or I just have the executive function/problem solving brain one needs to walk into a disorganized situation and pinpoint the solution. 

He's super excited about this job opportunity. I'm super excited for him. 

Doug has a horrible cold. I'm hoping it doesn't derail his weekend with his mom. He got angry that we had 90 boxes of benadryl and zero boxes of Claritin D. So he went to the market to pick some up while I cooked dinner. 

I didn't get an outdoor walk today, but the Shoe Hunt measured 20 minutes of movement and my fitbit said so. And then while Doug was at the store, I walked around to get steps since I wasn't going to fail at 10k. 

The only other news is I fought with the Maryland Motor vehicles website and managed after 40 minutes to get an appointment to do my drivers license renewal. I'm taking Thursday afternoon off to accomplish this. 

Guess that's it. Oh, I stole this picture from my sister. The northern lights are looking good up in New England tonight. Nothing here - too cloudy. 

Digits below. 

digits

exercise: 12/12 hours. two measured walks. One in the basement, 20 min/.54 mi. while dinner was making/doug was out, 5 min/.23 mi. 10k+ steps by bedtime

blood glucose:

9am: 136
5pm: 94
10:30pm: 143

food & meds:
9am: jardiance+phentermine
11am: english muffin w/pb and low sugar j
2pm: met+glip
3:15pm: bowl of left over chicken soup
5pm: 2 ramekins of trail mix
6:45pm: small bowl of lasagna; white wine
8:45pm: met+glip 

Wow, is it cold out there

Today I had a busy day and at 4:30pm realized I needed to get a walk, get some steps. I headed outside and it was cold! and WINDY! and wow. I missed the hotel treadmill badly. I did a fast loop around the block and got back inside as quickly as I could. 

I knew there was no way I was going back out there, and by 8pm after talking with Linda for a while, I didn't think I'd get the last of the steps in. I needed over 3k. 

I went downstairs and chatted with Doug and figured what the heck, if I can get 1500 outside maybe I can do the rest inside somehow. 

Bundled up. New gloves on. Playlist set to Ghost, out we go. 

No wind. Perfect! It was cold, yes, like proper real cold, but without the wind it was outstanding. I watched the timer on the fitbit, 15, 18, 20, 23, push to 25! yaaaas there she is. 10k. 

It's only November. And it is going to get for real cold soon. And I don't think I'll always be able to do that but. We did it. 

We did it. We got her. 

I have to renew my drivers license, which is usually no big deal but they want me to have an eye exam. And my birthday is next week. So I have to cram this in there somewhere. I just tried to make an appointment online and I need my drivers license number and screw that nonsense, it's downstairs. Feh! I'll tackle that in the morning. I'll see if I can take time off on Thursday or Friday afternoon to do the license thing. Can't let this slide! Gotta have an appointment and all that for the eye exam with the renewal. Wish your girl luck. 

I'm kind of bummed because I really like my license photo. I think I get a new one on this visit? Maybe? 

Doug set up some time for us to have the Mini go in for that check engine dealie so she can get an inspection. But Geoff has a job interview for a per diem lab job at the local hospital at the same time. Doug took off Wednesday to go down to our old stomping grounds and see our doctor and get blood work done, so he needs a car. So we'll reschedule that for ... next week? Maybe? 

Wish Geoff luck. He's been idle since we moved here and a per diem job coming up on the holidays with  his school schedule would actually be outstanding. He could use a win, and a foot in the door at this lab. Hold the boy in your hearts, would ya?

Anyway. All told, even with some work nonsense today it was a nice day. A couple good client calls, a rescheduled one for Wednesday morning. And a bit of a late night kerfuffle with an announcement that needs to go out to all clients that went out even though ... it was in draft mode. So that's annoying! gah. Just when I think I figure out our email communications tool, it messes with my head!

Too lazy for a picture today, so .... digits below! 

digits

exercise: 12/12 hours. one walk - 14 min/.82 mi walk (short because of wind and cold!); second walk - 25 min/1.34 mi (less wind, still cold, but pretty alright out there) 10k+ steps by bedtime 

blood glucose:

8am: 123
5:15pm: 118
10:30pm: 93

food & meds:
8am: jardiance (out of phentermine)
10:30am: bowl of mac&cheese w/bacon
12:30pm: met+glip
1:15pm: protein granola bar
3:30pm: a bunch of pepperoni slices
6:30pm: kielbasa and about 6 pierogi; white wine
8pm: met+glip
more white wine

The Home Things

This morning, we did the usual Saturday or Sunday goofing off things. There was a 9am football game that turned out to be very exciting, and after it was over Doug pitched the idea of a canal walk. 

To be honest, I wanted a day here in the house futzing about with things that need done. So Doug and the dog headed out, I talked to Jess for like an hour, I took a 30 minute walk and thought about pushing it further but.... I did say. 

I wanted to futz. 

So Futz I Did.

I undressed the beds and put the sheets through the wash. I did 3 other full loads of laundry. I cleaned the shower and noticed it needs to be regrouted ASAP along the side where the faucet is, before water runs down into Geoff's bathroom below. 

There was a mini-emergency at work and one of my colleagues tapped me in so I drafted an alert, and got the rundown from one of the developers on how long he thought it'd be a problem. 

"29 hours, maybe." 

Ope. No. That has to be fixed faster but I think we have to rely on other people tomorrow morning. 

The squirrel dudes came to take down their anti-squirrel contraption and finish the blocking of the attic vent, and I paid them. One of them said he hopes to never see us again, and I agreed that'd be awesome. 

Geoff made a pot roast for dinner, pretty good. I must say! 

While I got a lot of things done I didn't get everything I set out to do done. But I'm sleeping in clean nice sheets and a good blanket. I guess it may snow here. There was rough weather all around us today, mostly to the east back in the old stomping grounds. But all told we had a solid and nice day. 

Anyway. Here are a couple pictures from our fun night out with Alex on Friday. I'm so glad we can tap him into a hang out when we are up seeing mom!  Digits below

digits

exercise: 12/12 hours. 30 min solo walk, 1.55 mi. 10k+ steps by bedtime

blood glucose:

8:30am: 144
4:30pm: 118
10:45pm: 142

food & meds:
8:30am: jardiance+phentermine
11am: bowl of plain greek yogurt w/granola bar crushed up & the last of the blackberries doug bought while I was away (before they went bad!)
12:30pm: met+glip
6pm: trail mix, white wine
7:15: bowl of pot roast
*white wine but with full sugar ginger ale. oops. 
8:30pm: trail mix

Trip Home

I woke up organically at 5:20am, thanks to the water I drank at midnight, so I wouldn't have an alarm go off and wake up Lin. 

We had taken all my stuff to the car last night except my backpack, travel kit, and laptop. So I packed those up, filled my water bottle, put the last of the whole milk in my Yeti to snag some lobby coffee, and I was out the door by 5:35. 

Lin wanted me to wake her up to say goodbye so I did. 

When someone's sleeping in a hotel room, everything becomes 20 times noisier. Flipping the light switch on to check my blood sugar, running the sink to wash my hands, getting a little bit of ice to put in the water bottle, the door latch closing behind me. 

I felt like I was waking the entire hotel up. 

Since I have a rough time seeing in the dark, I was worried about hitting the road so early, just as I had been last Saturday but because Cape Cod is so much further east than where I live in Maryland, the sun started to come up nicely about 6:30. It was very cloudy, so all the clouds held some sort of magic light, and everything brightened up even before I made it to Fall River. 

One note, I don't know why I have it in my head that right across the Connecticut state line from Rhode Island that there's a service plaza, but there isn't one. And I kept waiting for it, and waiting for it, and it is 90 minutes from the RI state line. 

Hey, Connecticut, get you a service plaza east of New London already, okay? My bladder would thank you. 

I made it to Madison, barely, and walked around for a while. I was trying to pre-load the day with steps because I didn't know if I'd miss an hour because of traffic, and wasn't sure I'd get all the day's steps once I got home. Felt pretty sure I was going to break the 33 day streak. 

Each hour afforded time to get out of the car somewhere. I got gas after the Cuomo Bridge, I got out and walked around somewhere in New Jersey. I got chicken mcnuggets at a Loves Truck Stop/McDonalds in a town called Shartlesville, which was making me laugh because I was actually afraid I might .... Shart myself before I got there. 

I'll be sure to giggle everytime I drive through. 

The ride was absolutely delightful, no traffic, beautiful light, tons of foliage. Relaxing. At my pace. 

There were tons of curiosities along the way, one was a park right on the highway in Carlisle, PA for the US Army Heritage Trail. Right on the side of the highway there are tanks and helicopters - and it looks like a cool place. The internet says it is about a mile walk through, with vehicles and equipment from all different eras of the US Army's history. Kind of unique. Maybe will get a stop one day. 

By the time I got to Chambersburg I was ready for the trip to be done. I thought about getting off 81 and getting on 11 and taking back roads the rest of the way, but I stuck with the highway. 

Toffee was incredibly happy to see me. 

And Doug and the boy were too. 

It was about 2:30 when I got home, Doug and I caught up while Geoff went to the store. We decided to head to the dog park, where Toffee had a pretty great time. There's a dog named buddy, and he loves me and Doug, because we have treats. He's not supposed to have treats... he's on a diet. I still slip him one when momma isn't looking. It isn't fair to give 8 other dogs a cookie, ya know? 

After the dog park Doug asked me if I needed to load up on steps and yes, I did. So we took a long walk from the dog park around the way and back to the main drag that comes to our house. All told a pretty good walk, and I needed it after mostly sitting for close to 9 hours. 

Happy to be home, for sure. And I think the bean is happy too. I thought this picture of her when we started talking about the dog park was priceless. 

Digits below. 

digits

exercise: 12/12 hours. Two walks, one to the dog park, 15 min/.67 mi; left the dog park and walked around the park and neighborhood, 41 min/1.78 mi. 13k+ steps by midnight

blood glucose:

5:30am: 87
5:30pm: 139
10:30pm: 97

food & meds:
7am: jardiance+phentermine
10am: apple w/pb
1pm: 10 chicken mcnuggets, met+glip
6pm: small amount of spaghetti w/hot italian sausage & sauce
2 beers
7:30pm: ronnie trail mix
8pm: met+glip

kismet

Way too tired for an actual entry. Will update tomorrow. Had a big full busy day. zzzzz. 

The title is related to the fact we reached out to our friend in Rhode Island and he was free to come hang out so we had a lovely dinner, great time, and it was totally kismet that we had this time together here at the end of my stay. 

The plan is to get up hella early and hit the road. Linda is going to spend an extra day here and do some cleaning at Shirley's. Hopefully I'll be home before dark.  

Gonna miss this jerk.

digits

exercise: 12/12 hours. 10k+ steps by midnight

blood glucose:

9:30am: 140
4pm: 183
11pm: 122

food & meds:
9:30am: jardiance+phentermine
noon: scallops+fries; met+glip
4:30pm: high noons
8pm: chicken tomato tortilla soup
9:30pm: met+glip
white wine

Check Engine Light

My check engine light came on in the mini yesterday which pissed me right the hell off. We just had a butt ton of work done to it for all the seals in the stupid engine because she was leaking oil. And we have to get the brakes done, that's next. She has 143k miles, she's a go kart with a BMW engine. She is fun and good and I like her but. 

Shit, bitch we just took care of you so much so hard. The hell? 

Because we're at a hotel, there's stores and stuff all around us, and after work I took her over to the Auto Zone to ask if they could read her, let me know if the code was benign or deadly. 

Turns out it's somewhat benign, but it will need to be fixed before the end of the month when she needs to go for her emissions test. Fair. The guy told me "there's nothing for you to buy from us, just take her probably to a dealership for this one, not a regular mechanic. That way they'll get it all figured out for you." 

No charge. A saint, a gentleman, lovely. 

Today I had an afternoon of meetings, and Linda went over mom's to work over there, take her to lunch, and possibly go through mail and futz with some cleaning. She said mom didn't need anything cleaned really, she didn't have a lot of laundry. So she was able to get work done while I talked in meetings. 

She brought my lunch back late, so that was dinner. I pondered just ordering delivery or running over to 5 guys but there wasn't a big enough break time between meetings. The hotel internet went out right before our Office Hours for work, so I ran downstairs and the kid behind the counter and I did things, tested things rebooted their router in the office, and he ended up calling tech support while I pulled the meeting up on zoom on my phone, after downloading the update, and re-authenticating into the platform blah blah blah. Only 5 minutes late. Not too bad. 

Lin and I played videos and songs, listening to the Trans Canada Highwaymen, a bunch of Tiny Desk, I introduced her to Muna (both in Tiny Desk and in "real" format) and Foxing. 

Before we knew it, 11pm got up on our faces. Bed time.

No picture today. Probably stuff tomorrow. I am taking the morning off, I haven't pulled my weight with mom this week, and I'm sure there is shit I can be doing before my 1pm meeting, 2pm meeting and 3pm meeting. 

Digits below. 

digits

exercise: 12/12 hours. treadmill for a quick break 15 min/.82; 10k+ steps by bedtime

blood glucose:

8:30am: 127
4pm: 91
10:45pm: 129

food & meds:
8:30am: jardiance+phentermine
10:15am: apple w/pb
1pm: met+glip
4pm: buffalo fingers over a small salad w/bleu cheese dressing
6pm: small piece of cheesecake
6:30pm: bowl of trail mix
7pm:met+glip
wine+diet gingerale 

BBQ Ride

Today we drove over to the new restaurant one of mom's favorites (and one of our favorites) is working at. LL wasn't happy with the situation when the foodrinkery that mom loves changed hands. Her brother opened a BBQ place (he owns a food truck but was ready to stop rolling). 

Mom has only seen her once since she left the foodrinkery, so we wanted to take her over. And we'd get to see her too. 

It was further than I thought, and I ended up taking a 2 hour lunch but made up for it by working through the evening. 

We had a lovely visit, it was great catching up. LL looks super happy but she misses everyone from the old place. Her brother is a lot of fun, full of stories and loves to tell them. 

We bought "merch" because he had t-shirts and sweat shirts for sale. And we got a slice of cheesecake (LL bakes all the desserts!). 

I highly recommend the joint, if anyone is on the north side of the canal in the Buzzards Bay/Bourne area. Get the cheesecake (we are saving ours for tomorrow). 

Digits, below. Mom and LL, and a fun whale.

digits

exercise: 12/12 hours. Treadmill this morning, 15 min/.88 mi; after lunch 10 min/.46 mi; finishing the day, 20 min./1.03 mi. 10k+ by bedtime

blood glucose:

7:30am: 124
5:15pm: 140
10:15pm: 132 

food & meds:
8am: jardiance+phentermine
9am: 2 sausage patties w/ american cheese on english muffin
1:30pm: pulled pork sammitch on a nice roll w/coleslaw and a lil'bite of mac & cheese; met+glip
5:45: bowl of trail mix
wine+diet ginger ale

Lunchies with Mumsie

We had a pretty busy day. Lin was spreadsheet crazy and I only had one meeting, but there was a lot going on. I left around 12:30 to go get mom to go to the foodrinkery, and one of her friends was sitting there at the bar so we joined her. A favorite bar tender, a favorite waitress, people coming over to say hello. There's a guy who hangs out there who is a Steelers fan so he and I always like to catch up and talk football.

I had her home before 2, and I asked her if she wanted me to hang out. She said no, it was naptime. 

I stood in the driveway and watched her as she made it to her front door and unlocked it. Just to make sure she didn't trip up the steps. 

Back at the hotel, it was back to work and crafting an emergency alert for the team. I am (I think) getting better at this. I hate the process. It is complicated and easy to mess up a step. I prefer to write the alert and let someone else send it. But it worked and I was glad. 

Lin was still working so I went down to the treadmill. I didn't walk around as much as I usually do at home, so I needed a lot of steps to hit the goal. Made myself go 30 min, and if I made myself go to 40 min, it would have been 2 miles easy. But the goal is met. 

We didn't order dinner. I was still pretty full from lunch, and Linda had a pizza I brought back for her, so it was snacky snacks and winey wine for supper. 

Tomorrow another adventure. We're going to have lunch where one of mom's very favorite bartenders has moved to. No bar at this location but it is a BBQ joint, and hopefully lunch will be stellar. And it will be nice to see one of mom (and our) favorite people. 

Here's a mirror selfie from today. Digits below! 

digits

exercise: 12/12 hours. 30 min/1.83 mi on the treadmill; 10k+ steps by bedtime

blood glucose:

8:30am: 146
5pm: 150
10pm: 104 

food & meds:
8:30am: jardiance+phentermine
9am: egg mcmuffin-ish brekkie sammitch in the hotel
1pm: chicken cutlet sandwich w/lettuce, tomato, american cheese, onion rings; glass of pinot grigio
2:30pm: met+glip
7pm: trail mix, some cheese & pita chips; wine+diet ginger ale
8pm: met+glip

Sunday and Monday at the South Shore

Sunday
Lin and I woke up Sunday morning at stupid thirty because her body at 6:30am said it was 7:30am because, you know. We flopped around the hotel room and at some point I said, ya know, I will go now to the treadmill and get it out of the way. 

Good plan. 

We had some fun together here at the hotel and before we knew it, time to go over to mom's. She normally does not go to the foodrinkery she's fond of on Sundays but called us to tell us what time we should go. 

We pointed out it was Sunday but okay. We'll go out of turn. The restaurant recently changed hands, and there has been a lot of staff turn over. But one of our favorite long-timers is still there and she was behind the bar. We love her. I left her an obscenely large tip and we held down the corner of the bar for quite some time.

Jess came down and met us for lunch, which was nice. After lunch we took mom back to her place and she was ready for a nap so we felt it was good to leave and go hang out at the hotel. Jess hit the road and got home around 9.

Gotta say, it was super fun watching a Patriots game with a ton of Pats fans because it got wild there at the end!

Linda and I then spent the evening listening to music and talking. I introduced her to The Frames and Glen Hansard, Fitzcaraldo still kills me every time I hear it. 

Monday
I didn't take time off of work this week except for Thursday when I'm driving back home. So both Lin and I set up our laptops and started working. I always try to bring the lap desk so can lounge on the bed! I kind of regret not taking the whole week off or anything, but there's a lot to do. 

Hit the ground running today with our devs who were working on the problems of one of our products last week. Had a couple meetings, very productive. Linda and I basically didn't leave the hotel room, it was just all work, all the time. She had a late call with her boss and we decided to just walk across the parking lot to the 99 restaurant. "The Nines" as the kids call it, I guess. 

On our way down, we discovered the pool was drained and being worked on. That's disappointing! We were hoping for some pool time before I go home Thursday. Alas. Well. Next time, pool! You heard me.

Dinner was good. We bitched about the gubbmint. 

Found ourselves forcing awakeness until 10pm, because bed at 9 is dumb. I went to the treadmill at 8pm because I was over 2500 steps away from the 10k, so that was a good choice and I crushed it. I even was trotting. Not jogging, not running, trotting. Like a great big horse. Thump, thump thump... 

Daylight Saving messes me up so very badly, I swear. 

Tomorrow, lunch with mom. We didn't go see her today. Just basically worked our asses off and ate dinner. 

So Excite. But hey. I did it with my sistew. And that's all that matters.

Here's a picture from Sunday lunch of us hanging out! Digits for two days below. 

Sunday digits

exercise: 12/12 hours. Treadmill early in the day, 31min/1.83mi; 10k+ steps by bedtime

blood glucose:

9am: 107
xpm: forgot to tak a reading
9:30pm: 150 

food & meds:
9am: jardiance+phentermine
mimosa morning
9:30am: small plate of scrambled eggs, sausage patty, slice of cheddar 
I forget if I took met+glip at some point. Didn't record it, won't say i did.
2pm: buffalo chicken salad
8pm: met+glip
trail mix from ronnie
white wine (a bit too much)

Monday digits

exercise: 12/12 hours. Short treadmill walk waiting for lunch delivery. 15 min/.78 mi; 8pm revisit, 22 min/1.25 mi. 10k+ by bedtime

blood glucose:

8am: 139
5pm: 107
9:30pm: 167 (wanted to wait to test after 10pm but could not stay up... )

food & meds:
8am: jardiance+phentermine
8:30am: hotel bacon and one small egg and veggie "frittata"
1pm: buffalo chicken wrap (delivery from local pizza joint); met+glip
7:15pm: smothered steak tips (w/onions & peppers) broccoli, mashed potatoes, gravy; white wine
8pm: met+glip

Before 5am after Midnight

Woke up at 3am, per usual. Too early. Didn't have to pee. Made myself fall back asleep. 

Woke up at 4:10, also per usual. Had to pee. Decided to get up. I hit the bathroom, started the coffee, put the cookies in a container, unloaded the dishwasher, loaded and started the dishwasher. I wanted to be on the road by 5am but I sat down on the couch to finalize laptop loading and Toffee got all cuddly. 

I didn't have the heart to just boot her. So we had some time here, and I started this entry. 

Good morning. 

I was on the road at 5:15am, a brand new way to drive up this way that I've never gone. And it was beautiful and still very fall. Didn't run into nonsense until Connecticut (which, you know, how much I love). Made it to mom's at about 2:30. I tried to nap while Linda was on the way but there were leaf blowers going. 

We had dinner at the 99 with mom, and after she left we got into our hotel to hang out, listen to music, and we talked to our cousin Jimmy a lot. A lot. 

And I'm exhausted. Thankfully the clocks turn back tonight so we get an extra hour of sleep tonight because your girl is exhausted. 

More tomorrow.

Here is a picture of a cat that showed up at our front door and Geoff took this picture for me. Hi cat. And my breakfast. Digits below.

digits

exercise: 11/12 hours.  missed 9am. Managed to hit all the hours otherwise and the treadmill. 25 min/1.34 mi. 12k+ by midnight 

blood glucose:

4:30am: 149
4pm: 87
9pm: 120 

food & meds:

4:30am: jaridance + phentermine
8:30am: sausage, egg, cheese croissant at Wawa
11:30am: met+glip
1pm: 4 chicken mcnuggets
5:30pm: buffalo chicken fingers & cole slaw; white wine
8pm: met+glip
one chocolate chip cookie
white wine+diet cran