Cousin Update

Oh hotel beers. I love you. 

It was a stressful day. We had a GREAT travel time coming down here. I don't have the energy to blow by blow talk about the overall stress that we experienced coming down here but as of writing at 9:30pm I'm not stressed and life is fine. 

We're fine.

Things are fine. 

We had dinner with John and his friend Keith, who is interesting. 

I also had a 90 minute call with Jess that brought me laughter and joy. God how I love them. 

So tomorrow morning, we are picking my cousin up at 7am 

yes

7am. 

To go to a bar in Richmond to watch the USA vs. Canada hockey game. I made a reservation at a bar in town for this. 

I have deep thoughts. but for right now. There's this. Digits below.

digits

exercise: 11/12 hours. Missed 1pm by being in the car. Did treadmill in the AM before we left, 15 min/1.04 mi. End of day treadmill, 5 min/.4 mi. 11k+ steps by bedtime

blood glucose:

8am: 121
4pm: 115
10:15pm: 192

food & meds:
8am: jardiance (waiting on phentermine)
10:30am: english muffin w/pb and regular j
1pm: met+glip
4:30pm: peel and eat shrimp; pad thai; beers; Tom kha soup w/shrimp; pad thai w/peanut sauce and shrimp
More beers at hotel, trail mix, and smart food
8:45pm: met+glip

Fractured Cancer Hip is the name of my nu metal emo band

Come see us on tour. 

My sister and I were having a moment and she made the above remark about our cousin's hip, and I added the part about it being the name of my band and we're probably going to hell. 

Anyway. 

There was a moment at work today where we discovered some deep dark magicks written before the modren-era memories and from before I worked for my company because there were all these references in the database to things none of us ever heard of. And my boss remembered because he used to work for one of our clients, and recalled a thing. A suite of things. And they all had names. And one rang a bell for him and he went to the Way Back Machine and found it on his super old version of his website. 

We were all in awe. 

Sometimes there is a wizard, and we suddenly have the knowledge and power we need. 

It was a shining moment. A real breakthrough. And we can safely delete all the shit this thing references and never speak of it again. 

Done, and dusted. 

Part of the joy of my job, you can say. I often want to delete or flush or get rid of things that I feel are remnants of the Olden Works and others say "no no no we should just migrate it over." 

But the database is 50million lines long. no. Flush some shit. 

My experience with the hoarding aunt and my own recent move point to a Marie Kondo this database philosophy. Do not bring it if it does not spark joy, my friends. 

The entire afternoon was wide open for me so I hit the treadmill at 12:15, grabbed a shower. My standing 1pm meeting... sigh. We keep canceling it. My colleague forgets or their mom calls, or they are working on a slide deck, or. Or. Or. 

So with that canceled I reached out to my 2pm to see if she wanted to move up and I'm glad we did. There was a lot to cover, and we found some things I have to bring to the product team. I was incredibly thankful for her eyes and her "yeah, no. You are not losing your mind. That's messed up." 

My 3pm was with a client, who was having a hard time with the Google suite of things. One product is used pretty much exclusively by all of our clients and it is a beast. It is hard to manage, and we technically don't support it because we didn't build it. But that leaves folks frustrated and sad. So I try hard to step in where I think I can fix a thing. 

We got close. We had a good laugh. And on Monday there is more to refine with it. But we did get close. 

Doug and I took Toffee to the dog park, I didn't feel well, was hot and sweaty, and it was weird. Low blood sugar? maybe. But before we left I had a snack and by the time we got back I felt much better. We met a black lab mix and her name is Magic. She reminded me a lot of Dahlia, and the two dogs played together so nicely. It was wonderful. Magic was very good at prancing. Another dog came, her name is Luna and she is an 11 year old German Shepherd. She didn't play much but did engage in some running. And barked at Toffee and Magic when they were wrasslin. 

I wanted so desperately to get a haircut but after dinner, it was dark, and I do not like driving around in the dark. Maybe I'll get up early? Maybe? Who knows. 

Off to Richmond tomorrow. Geoff is on Toffee Duty. Thankful that he is here to mind her. Thankful for my housemates! ha. 

Digits below. 

digits

exercise: 12/12 hours. Two walks. Treadmill for 17 min/1.09 mi. Toffee walk, round trip to dog park; .52 mile in, and the long way home of .78. 11k+ steps by bedtime

blood glucose:

7am: 93
4:30pm: 101
10:30pm: 163 

food & meds:
7am: jardiance (waiting on phentermine)
10:30am: breakfast burrito: One regular carb fajita wrap w/ 2 eggs scrambled, 4 slices of crumbled bacon, some goat cheese, sauteed onions & wilted greens, and a bit of shredded cheddar
1pm: met+glip
5pm: hummus + crackers snack
6:30pm: cheese tortellini w/hot italian sausages, and red sauce
vodka+diet tonic

Housemates

One of the things I truly dislike, and I did it to myself last night, is waking up to dishes in the sink. I'm the default dishwasher loader of the family, and last night I just did not want to deal with it. Just... meh. No. So I set some things up to soak after dinner and said fuckkity bye to it all. "I'll deal with it in the morning." 

And then. There I was. 8:30am, sucking it up and doing the dishes. Before coffee. Be proud of me. And of course, in less than 90 minutes of everything being clean The Boy comes up and makes food. More dishes. More mess. While I'm sighing heavily and trying not to scream at him to not make a mess.

I've gotten after him so much in the last couple weeks about fucking cleaning up after himself. Thing is, he always thinks he did clean up after himself! But then I stand there and point to this thing, and ask why there are onion skins on the counter, and why didn't you wipe this. That. The other thing. 

"But why is there tomato sauce on the counter? Why is there an empty bag of shredded cheese on the counter? Why is there coffee spilled on the counter? And yes, now there are 90 dishes in the sink again. Thanks. Thanks so much." 

There are days, dear hearts, and I don't say this lightly. Days when I wish I lived alone. And yes! Yes I know. I have friends who live alone. They are single (not partnered), divorced, separated, widowed.

They hate it, they pine for companionship. I have one friend that if any of her friends say something negative about their partner situation you get AT LEAST YOU'VE GOT SOMEONE! as a reply. 

Honey, I know. I know. 

We gripe about our "housemates" when others do not have such "housemates." It is only natural. 

Doug and I went to the doctors for some blood work today, 40 minute ride each way. I've cut it close by leaving here at 4pm previously, so today we left at 12:30 and were back by 2pm. 

While we were gone, Geoff brought a whole bunch of books upstairs that he must have know I wanted brought upstairs. He didn't put them in exactly the right spot, but, I don't have to bring these upstairs now. 

So there's that. 

Some days, I'd like to be alone and the only one responsible for cleaning up the kitchen when I am the one who made the mess. And then other days I'm very happy Doug changes the wiper blades on the car, and cleans up the dog shit in the yard that 2 feet of snow left behind for us. And Geoff makes dinner most nights. I don't have to even think about it. 

There are pros and cons to this life. 

In other news, my cousin's birthday is tomorrow. Will make a point to be up early and text. We're driving down on Saturday to visit. And he has some huge agenda of stuff we're going to do for his Big Day Out when all Doug and I thought was we're taking him out to dinner. 

He started blowing up my phone with calls and texts at 10am when I was in scrum. So once his texts revealed this was not an emergency I just let it slide until we left to go to the doctor. 

"What's up?" I texted him. 

He wanted to get a haircut Saturday and DESPERATELY needed me to tell him what time we'd get there. 

"Dude." I replied. "It depends on how fucked up Virginia is between my house and you. 2 hour trip took almost 5 hours last time. We're planning to leave before noon. Don't make a 9am appointment. Aim for 3 or 4. We'll try to leave earlier than 11. That should math." 

Then he texts 900 times about how he really needs us to be there in time to take him and is 3pm okay? Can I make an appointment for 3? (I let him stew there for 15 minutes before writing back). I told him yeah sure go, 3pm make the appointment. 

He made that appointment and then another appointment for 3:45 just in case. 

Doug said to me, "The facility he is in has people who come in and cut hair. I know they do. I worked at nursing homes. Why does he want a haircut out in the world. The facility provides." 

So I asked him that and of course got:

1. It is expensive
2. They only come once a month
3. They do a shitty job
4. I don't want to use any of the services at this "facility" 

Okay. As I predicted when I told Doug that he was going to come back with reasons why not, he sure did. 

THEN he says "I thought we could go to the museum when you get here, if it is before 11 (not happening dude) and then get the haircut."

"??????" says I. "What museum? I didn't have a museum visit on my dance card." 

He assumed we'd come down Friday night and stay at a hotel (no. 95 on a Friday. No fuck right off no fucking way) and then we'd be available Saturday morning to go to a museum. 

"The museum is free," he says. 

That's nice. So nice that the museum is free. Not going to a museum. We will be there to take you for your haircut but no promises we'll be there earlier.

I got the impression he thinks this is Ferris Buehler's Day Off with a full day of us motoring him all over Richmond to do fun stuff. 

Bro. For real, Bro, this is taking the piss out of me just to get in the car and drive down to take you to dinner. I'm exhausted already. I've been crazy busy with work. Please do not expect us to take you all over hell and half of Virginia to do things. 

I know he is cooped up, he's bored. And its his birthday. Which we didn't think he'd make it to. And he most likely won't make it to next February 20th.

But please, just ... the haircut and the dinner. That's our joy and celebration with you. It's what I can muster. And then we are northbound and down on Sunday morning. 

He probably wants us to take him to brunch Sunday. To be honest, I'd do brekkie with him. But I want to be clear from Richmond by 2pm at the absolute latest. 

After work today, I hit the treadmill. Then, I did more unpacking of stuff. Organized the books that Geoff so lovingly brought upstairs. I went into the basement into the area I want to make my office and I moved around boxes, and I honestly can't believe there is still more stuff to go through. Why, Lord? Why do I have such stuffs?

I unpacked two other boxes of books and put things on the Gary bookshelf that Geoff stole to the basement. I moved all the pieces of his drum set into the water cooler room and I'm thinking of reaching out to the local FB page to see if there is someone who wants to come help him set the drum set back up. Where our furnace is, there is TONS of storage, so I moved a shit ton of boxes in there. 

I swept the staircase that goes to the basement because I noticed how messy it had gotten. And I also noticed the staircase going up to our room is also kind of in need of a swiffer or wiping. Tomorrow. Not tonight.

For some reason I felt incredibly restless this evening so it is good to feel that way and channel that shit into action. Usually it is baking, but I'm trying not to bake lest I eat all the cookies.

And happily, the dishwasher is loaded and running before bed. Nice clean kitchen to welcome us in the morning. 

Digits below this snugglebeast who insisted on wrapping up into fleecies and usurping my sweatshirt. 

digits

exercise: 12/12 hours. Treadmill, 20 min/1.3 mi; raining so no walk for the dog. 11k+ steps by bedtime (thanks to all my futzing).

blood glucose:

8:30am: 137
5pm: 145
10:45pm: 112  

food & meds:
8:30am: jardiance (waiting on phentermine)
9:30am: apple w/pb; some mixed nuts
12:15pm: met+glip (on my way to the doctors for blood work, took earlier than usual) 
2pm: turkey and muenster on 647 white w/lite mayo
6pm: pierogis, mixed veggies, kielbasa. White wine.
8:45pm: met+glip

Not much to report

Yinz, i'm wiped out today. Just basically wanted to record the digits. I did two walks, so yay me. It was colder out today than yesterday and I underprepared for it, so Toffee and I cut it short and did a little more than a half mile 3 block loop. 

Tomorrow I am supposed to get blood work done, and so I may leave in the middle of the day - no meetings scheduled, so I blocked off the me time. Doug is overdue for some lab work so I'll see if he wants to come. 

My big big project for the day was getting the recycling boxes out to the curb and I did about 80% of what I wanted. Big fat difference down there. Still, more boxes to come...

Toffee is fast asleep and I am right behind her. 

More tomorrow! Digits below. 

digits

exercise: 12/12 hours.  Two walks, one on the treadmill 24 min/1.5 mi. and one with miss Toffee because she needed it, 15 min/.62 mi. 10k+ steps by bedtime

blood glucose:

8am: 127
4:30pm: 126
9:30pm: 123  

food & meds:
8am: jardiance (waiting on phentermine)
1pm: 2 porkchops left over in sauce, topped with more sauce from a pot roast, and the veggies from that 
1:30pm: met+glip
3:30pm: some pita chips and pub cheese 
6pm: some sort of "chicken paprika" that Geoff got a recipe for. Not the best meal. But I didn't have to cook. 2 chicken thighs, some tomato based sauce, onions, garlic; scoop of white rice 
7:30pm: ramekin of mixed nuts
8:30pm: met+glip

Fog Pivot Kismet

Today, I got up super early. I got out the door before 7am. I thought hey. The fog they forecasted isn't so bad. Well. It was. In my neighborhood it seemed okay but the main drag through town to get to the highway, it was a challenge. If you could see the tail lights in front of you, you were lucky.

Once I got near the highway, Waze redirected and told me to go straight, don't get on the highway, take the side road. But with as bad as the fog was, I didn't want to risk it and drive on roads that I'm not 100% familiar with. 

The side road winds up through the mountains, and people drive like crazy. Two exits from where I live, and it said I'd save 5 minutes over all? Sure, but I could risk my whole ass life. 

No. I'll go sit in traffic. Thank you very much.

Thing is. Waze didn't tell me this. I was between my exit and the next one, when we ground to a total halt. It is a 3 mile stretch between exits. Traffic was 100% stopped. 

Just sitting. Sitting. We are all just sitting.

I decided after two hours of this sitting, I would give up and go home once, I got to the exit. 

Truly disappointing - my buddy Jeff was meeting me for the Tiny Desk,  so I messaged him. The GPS said I was not going to get to the metro until close to 10 am, then it is another hour thereabouts to my office once I got on t he train. I asked him if he minded bailing and he was cool with it. 

Once I got near the exit, I was surprised to see emergency vehicles blocking the entire highway, and a fireman directing traffic down to the ramp. 

I sat on the ramp for another 20 minutes because everyone ahead of me was trying to cross the state road and go back up onto the highway. But the traffic over there to get back on the highway was still not moving. Someone should have been directing folks to not try to get back on the highway.

I had to pee. Desperately. 

I thought about driving south down this road to the Sheetz, just to pee, maybe get a brekkie sandwich. Maybe sit and work for the day or at least until all this nonsense cleared up. 

I managed to get to the end of the ramp and turned north to get back on the highway going west, praying that it would stay clear for me. And it was. I got home at 9 something. Messaged my boss who just happened to be at the office to surprise me because he was very excited to go to the Tiny Desk too, and we booed very hard. 

Sometimes shit happens for a good reason though. 

My cousin posted to Facebook that she and her husband were at a hotel, socked in with the fog and waiting for it to clear, about 2 hours down the highway from me over by the Shenandoah Mountains. They basically would be driving right by our house by about 4 miles. 

I suggested they drive-by hug. 

She said she wasn't sure because they had to make tracks (I expected that response) but in the end, they decided to come on by. 

Overall, I think they were here about 20 minutes, and we had a super sweet little visit. 

And if I'd been at the office, this would not have happened. Kismet, right? 

Digits below.

digits

exercise: 12/12 hours.  Took Toffee for a walk. 20 min/1.13 miles. 10k+ steps by bedtime

blood glucose:

6:45am: 132
4pm: 147
10pm: 107  

food & meds:
6:45am: jardiance (waiting on phentermine)
7:30am: protein shake
10am: several homemade popovers w/goat cheese and raspberry jam
1:30pm: met+glip; can of tuna mixed with field greens, bacon, a little mayo
4pm: mixed nuts
6pm: bowl of meatballs & sauce (no roll)
some white wine
8:30pm: met+glip

Still in my unboxing era

Yesterday I did a lot, today I did some more but not as much. I'm trying desperately to get the random stuff that is everywhere consolidated, repacked (if necessary) and stowed away. Part of me says that in theory, I could Marie Kondo some of this, because none of it brings me joy. It's just disorganization that drives me bananas. 

Doug had brought back a blue bookcase from his mom's and I noticed it was not in the mud room. So yesterday I asked Geoff if he'd taken it to his room and he said yes. 

I sighed. 

Did you think to ASK if you could have it because honestly, I could have used that somewhere else. And it belongs to your dad so you overstepped. 

Doug said 'meh, it's okay.' and it is, because I'm not going to make him unshelf whatever he shelved. 

I made a big dent in the mudroom, and I think once we get the recycling out of the house, it'll feel more free. Doug also brought home his bureau from his old bedroom, which we are giving to Geoff, but I'm going to suggest we keep it up in the mudroom, which is right by the laundry room, and he fold his stuff and keep t-shirts/underpants/socks in there. 

I can't see us schlepping this thing downstairs. 

Today I did a ton of user testing on our product, and I have problems and questions. I have notes. I wanted to say "perfect, no notes!" like one would do in theater. But I have notes. 

We have a standing meeting at 10am daily, and lately it has been going a whole hour instead of the 15 minutes we budget for it. 

I am sore today. Not sure why. And my stomach hurts. Jeeeze I hope I'm not coming down with something. 

Tomorrow I'm going to the office so there will be no unboxing from me. I have a 6am alarm set, shower and go. The bag is packed, the ID is stowed, the only thing I have to do is pack this laptop and the power cord. 

I'm off to bed. A little earlier than usual, but I truly am feeling kind of assy from the something. Not sure what. Hoping to sleep it off. Whatever it is. 

Digits, below!

digits

exercise: 12/12 hours. Treadmill 20 min, 1.27 mi. no attention span for this today but ... did the mile. 10k+ steps by bedtime

blood glucose:

8:15am: 132
4:15pm: 91
9:30pm: 202 (*very close to when I took my meds, I usually test closer to 10:30. we'll see how the morning goes)

food & meds:
8:15am: jardiance (waiting on phentermine)
9:15am: last of the pan banging chocolate chip cookies (no guilt! lol) 
noon: bowl of blt salad w/goat cheese & pepitas
1pm: met+glip
4:45pm: bowl of spicy cajun trail mix & mixed nuts)
5:30pm: creamy broccoli and cheese soup (w/bacon!) a la Geoff
8pm: met+glip
no alcohol

Galentines and Get Stuff Done Days

I was so tired last night so apologies to C for not posting an entry. I know she looks for things to have something to read. But you get a double post today. 

Our girlies weekend kicked off with just a day visit yesterday. I left the house at 9am, stopped at our bank to deposit some checks and traffic made it that I didn't get to S's house until 10:30 when I'd promised to be there by 10. It was funny because I completely forgot there was a branch of our bank right by S's house and I could have gotten her and then stopped. Moving away, you forget things. 

I was very sad to drive past a favorite restaurant and see it closed. Doug said we moved out of town and they went out of business! 

Traffic was merciful to us on the way to H's north of Baltimore. If you know where I live, you know how far I drove from here, to Silver Spring, to north of Baltimore... 

But it is worth it for the girlies! 

My task was to stop and get champagne for the mimosas, so S & I stopped in at a little place near H's house (since the restaurant I mentioned was closed down, so was the beer and wine store that was attached. Such a loss... so sad!) 

We picked up a couple bottles and saw they had these super cute boozy presents, with Cutwater cocktails, candy, little stuffed animals. What a smart thing to have for sale on Valentine's Day at a liquor store as we're on our way to brunch. We grabbed H and R each a bag, and I put the cookies I'd made into each bag. 

It looked very much like we planned it ahead even though we bought them 5 minutes before arriving. 

I am not good at planning ahead for gifts sometimes, so I am your retail point of sale target for cute shit. Keep that in mind, retailers! R had little stuffed animals and candies for me and S. So gifts all around for the girlies!

We played with H's cats, chatted, caught up, and ate. H made a lovely spread for us. Because I was driving, I didn't have a lot of mimosa action, but what I had made me happy. 

You can see H's cat David Wallace up in the window there. Her cats are so sweet. It was nice to get some kitty love. 

After we ate we played Cards Against Humanity. I've never played it so they gave me the run down on the rules. It is kind of like Apples to Apples, which we played a lot with the kids when they were little. But grosser. S said they have "clean" family friendly versions, but they're actually quite boring. A lot of the answer cards in the family version mention pooping or farting, which some families STILL find disgusting and not appropriate. 

I remembered one of my college professors telling a class that he and his wife were at dinner with their three daughters and some of their daughters' friends, and somehow they started joking around about farts. And the girls were screaming laughing. 

Even evangelicals can find fart jokes funny, y'all. Farts are funny. Don't you ever forget that. So I smiled thinking about that memory and played a card where the answer was Donald J. Trump and it was disgusting and I won.

Have to say I did very well, didn't win (R did) but when the goal is to be gross and ridiculous, not just funny, and you make your friends scream because they literally didn't expect you to put down certain cards, I call that victory.

S had made plans for us to do an escape room. Escape rooms are her thing, kind of not mine. But her husband and son were coming up to meet us, and R's husband was coming from their place nearby, and seven of us took it on and beat it with 10 minutes to spare. 

I would kind of enjoyed just playing more Cards Against Humanity, but this was fun too. S and her family are very very very into the escape rooms and solving puzzles. It can be intimidating for me. I'm easily confused and I fail if the challenge is too hard. 

But winning with a team is always fun. We each had bits that we solved. Hen and I found the UV light money, and figured out the password to the computer. 

After the escape room, R and her husband were headed home to get ready to go to the Baltimore Symphony for a date. H, SS&H went to dinner, and I headed home. I got home before dark, which is lovely. It's still light at about 6pm so that worked out perfectly. 

S is planning to host our next shenanigans, whenever that will be, and I'm already looking forward to it. 

When I got home, Geoff had made dinner. Doug did a few things around the house and yard. He replaced our windshield wipers on the mini, cleared more snow out of our driveway so now it is 100% accessible. It was over 50 degrees yesterday so a lot of the snow and snowcrete on the ground is gone. Ready for this all to be finished at this rate. 

I needed to get my mile in for the town challenge so I hit the treadmill after dinner. Kind of a mistake because my belly was full of food and blah. No running, just walking, and getting it done. I crawled to bed at 10 and passed out. 

On Sunday we somehow woke up very early. It was raining, and Doug had a case of the Olympics, and then he went and took a nap at noon. 

I had hoped we'd do something fun, but that didn't happen. So I hit the treadmill, and started futz about with putting some things away. I cleaned up some boxes for recycling, took all of our luggage and duffel bags down to the basement and put them away. Doug had suggested we put all our shoes into this little cubby closet in the bedroom so I put all mine in there (I do not own a lot of shoes) and located all of his from the mud room, and put them in a laundry basket for him to sort through. Some are keepers and some are maybe just lawn mowing shoes at this point. 

Then, I looked at some of the basement situation and emptied out a couple book boxes. I stacked up some plastic boxes that were just hither and dither all over the place to compact things. Geoff has several half emptied boxes that are mostly trash now (in my opinion) and I want him to sort those so tomorrow I'll see if he wants to have at it and get some of the empty boxes up out of the basement. 

Once I have the lingering boxes put away I think I actually have no further excuses, I should set my office up downstairs. A project for another day! All told, a decent weekend.

Digits below the pic of us girlies. 

Saturday digits

exercise: 12/12 hours. Treadmill, 30 min/1.63; 10k+ steps by bedtime (almost 11k, but I just could not. lol)

blood glucose:

8am: 83
xpm: n/a
10pm: 143

food & meds:
8am: jardiance+phentermine
8am: large pan bang chocolate chip cookie
noon: scrambled eggs w/cheddar cheese, 3 pieces of turkey bacon, some fruit salad, 1 piece of toast; 1 mimosa
1pm: met+glip
6pm: piece of chicken parm
8:45pm: met+glip

Sunday digits

exercise: x/12 hours. Treadmill, 31 min/2.01 miles; 11k+ steps by bedtime

blood glucose:

7am: 103
xpm: n/a (forgot to test)
10:30pm: 142

food & meds:
7am: jardiance+phentermine; small piece of pb pan bang cookie
11:30am: bowl of mac & cheese w/hamburger
12pm: met+glip
6pm: 3 slices of buffalo chicken pizza
8:45pm: met+glip
white wine (3 glasses)

Project Managing

In the midst of this big project we're doing, I'm not the project manager but a person on the team. A few people, my boss and another director on the team, are doing an exceptional job herding the cats. 

It is kind of funny, not my boss but the other co-worker J is very good at sending (somewhat constant) reminders of where I am on certain spreadsheets. Today was "Good news, there are only 40 of these things that still need verified!" 

Considering I was supposed to be done with this earlier in the week, I feel that is an exceptionally kind way of telling me "hey. Finish this, dummy!" 

I'm thankful for his gentle coaxing.

He's also VERY good at filtering the google sheets so what I need to see at the top of the sheet is those 40 rows (hey....!!! Four of them have been accounted for! I rule!) The data are a freaking mess, so a sheet with 2000 rows so many of them "TBD" and that's what I'm supposed to be doing, he has filtered out the "cancel" and "archive" and "active" statuses for me. 

My brain cannot sift through and find the TBDs with all the other things. And several of us are in this sheet, so if I sort things so TBD is at the top, basically, someone comes in and unfilters my filter while I am looking at it. Which sends me spiraling, and usually to the kitchen for a snack, or I pick up my phone and doom scroll. 

I'm not a good project manager, except for the checking in, looking at things, and reminding colleagues "hey. Finish this, dummy!" 

Today was supposed to be a revisit of our fun girlie's day in November, this time with a sleepover and an escape room. Then one thing happened, another thing happened, some bad medical news for one girlie, and we cut out the sleepover. We're still doing the escape room tomorrow, since one of our girlies prepaid it. I'm going to pick S up at 10am tomorrow, we'll go to H's house, R is meeting us there, and we'll do brunchies (H is insisting on cooking for us, even though I offered to chef some shit up) and I'm going to allow it. And I should be home before dark. 

They all know I have a difficult time seeing to drive at night, but I did say this won't be a problem if I'm on the road before 5 because of the snow, it helps define where road is. Instead of everything being grey and dark brown and there not being any street lights and no paint on the road, I feel relatively safe.

I had planned this afternoon off since I thought I was going to get S today. Then I thought, I'll take my time off request back. Then I thought screw that, take the damn time off!... and finally I had enough to do today to keep me crazy and busy, so I worked. In the end, the time off request was taken back. 

That helped me to actually focus on the spreadsheets and the work. The QA user testing, the note taking. It wasn't wasted time. I worked until 4, and then started with some wine.

Geoff made a nice dinner, and I ended up baking more of the pan banging cookies. Chocolate chip and then Peanut Butter. Both are outstanding. I used our potato masher to make patterns on the peanut butter cookies because that's mandatory! 

Alright. Bed. So tired. Up early tomorrow for shenanigans. Digits below this cute picture from A's school of rock show.

digits

exercise: 12/12 hours. Treadmill, 32 min/2 miles. 11k+ steps by bedtime.

blood glucose:

8am: 113
5pm: 145
10:30pm: 91

food & meds:
8am: jardiance+phentermine
noon: a bunch of the buffalo chicken dip left over w/pita crackers (a lot of pita crackers)
1:45pm: met+glip
6pm: 2 italian sausages w/onion and pepper, red sauce and mozz. cheese. I skipped the roll. 
9pm: met+glip
red wine+diet ginger ale

Thinking of Big Things

This morning, the neighbor dogs woke me up around 6am with barking. Toffee woke up too but continued to snooze. I had to pee, but didn't want to get up and go downstairs so I cuddled with her, drifted in and out for another hour. 

Finally, it was futile to stay in bed so up we got. Last night I was working on something for work until 10pm (at least) and I thought our dishwasher was full, that Geoff hadn't unloaded it so I left the dishes for today. I hate leaving the dishes in the sink, but I wasn't about to unload and reload after working so late. 

This morning the dishes welcomed me. 

I fed the dog, I went to the bathroom, I started the coffee, I let her out. Sigh. 

Still thinking that the dishwasher was full, I wasn't about to wait for him to come upstairs so I opened it up reluctantly. 

Well then. 

He had emptied it, not sure when, but good on him. Thank you. I got the dishwasher loaded and running all before my first cup of coffee. 

The dog came back in, and it was clear that it was Cuddle Time and not Chrissie gets on the Treadmill Time. That's okay. I really wanted coffee and the afternoon free of meetings was perfect to get the walk in on the treadmill. Treadmill came after work. 

In other news, The Cousin has been haunting my texts. His birthday is a week from tomorrow and he doesn't want to be alone in the "hell hole" that he is in. Hell hole is his terminology, as well as gulag, concentration camp, among others. 

Doug and I are going to go visit on Saturday. We can't make it on Friday the actual birthday. 

Everything with him is very dramatic and over the top. The nurses are all gestapo, Dr. Mengele tortures him, the hospital is a concentration camp or a Siberian prison. It's a little exhausting to me because while I get it, it is true, his life isn't awesome, it isn't what he thought it would be. It's hard. 

But he isn't one of the 10 million people who died as a result of Hitler's Holocaust of Stalin's Great Terror. 

He is such a student of history, and historical facts are very important to him.  If you say something wrong about the Civil War (ie: Calling it the Civil War is not the right thing, it is the War of Northern Aggression. My response: NO IT ISN'T IT IS THE CIVIL WAR AND I'LL FIGHT YOU ON IT). 

I find this hyperbolic references to these events, well, offensive to be honest. It detracts from the reality of what happened. It lessens and waters down the evil that was borne upon the world just because he is inconvenienced. And it steals from survivors, the few who still walk this earth, and the memories of those lost. 

I told C in an email that I feel like flipping the script on him. Turn the tables and say: "Yeah, you're really in hell! Just like the Union soldiers who were held by the Confederacy at Libby Prison on Belle Isle! Only a handful of Union Officers were supposed to be held there, but then they crammed hundreds and hundreds of captured Union soldiers, prisoners of war, starved them, tortured them, and set dogs upon them to rip them to shreds! Yeah i totally see that." 

I too am a student of history.  

Anyway. Digits below. Oh - my friend Amy posted this picture of us from a visit 15 years ago. She may be coming to visit in March. But I'm noticing how much less face I have now, compared to then. Still, we're cute. 

digits

exercise: 11/12 hours. Missed 8pm because of a TV show. Treadmill: 30 min/2.02 mi. Broke the 15 min/mile pace for the first time! 14.47 min! yay! 10k+ steps by bedtime

blood glucose:

7am: 139
4:15pm: 103
11:30pm: 153

food & meds:
7am: jardiance+phentermine
9:30am: slice of cheese and cherry danish
noon: chicken salad on 647 bread
12:45pm: met+glip
1:15pm: more chicken salad, just on a plate
6:30pm: giant bowl of Buffalo Chicken Soup a la Geoff
8:45pm: met+glip
no alcohol

Olympic coverage

For some reason this year, Doug is absolutely into the olympics. He watches skiing every night. Curling. Hockey. 

I'm sitting here working on a number of things for work and he's got a running commentary about everything. I think he finally caught on that I'm not paying any attention. 

Kind of hilarious how he's just invested this year. He heard one of the commentators say something like "and we all know what happened to her..." 

He yelled NO WE DO NOT! And I just happened to have read an article on NPR about the skier in question  so I told him what happened to her. 

So I am paying attention, I guess. In my own weird way. 

Busy day today. A couple meetings and I still have to have my face in a spreadsheet but I wrote up help documentation for something instead for something completely different that is a lot more timely. I have a friend who was in serious crisis all day, checking in with me, and me checking in with her. In the end things are close to being worked out but she was beside herself all day. 

The treadmill was helpful today. The wind is too wicked, so I wasn't about to go out there with Toffee and walk anywhere. So happy this is here. 

Digits below! 

digits

exercise: 12/12 hours. Treadmill. 32 min/2 miles. 11k+ steps by bedtime

blood glucose:

8:15am: 154
4:45pm: 103
10:45pm: 182 (thanks apple pie. lol)

food & meds:
8:15am: jardiance+phentermine
10am: protein shake
1pm: met+glip; bowl of mac & cheese w/ ground beef
6pm: geoff's fried rice, with bacon (no other protein available)
8:30pm: met+glip; slice of Apple pie w/whipped cream
no alcohol

Outside Walking

The electrician came, fixed a breaker in the panel that had a short wire. So far, so good. We then spent about a half hour talking about metal music, Guster, WWE/Wrestling, and cartoon network shows we love. 

I wanted to just give him Geoff's phone number and say, "He hasn't found his people here. He could use a friend, and you're the closest thing so far that we've found."

So far, our electrical situation is smooth. We still need to figure out our icemaker, and there is one more troubleshooting thing Doug wants to do for it before we give up and disconnect the water and just ... make ice forever. 

Until the fridge dies and we replace it. Who knows when that may be! 

Work was so busy today. I got swept up in a late in the day ask from a colleague that turned into a whole "you've got to be kidding me, why didn't you ask us to test this a month ago?" moment. 

After futzing for a half hour, I said to him (and the entire thread, including my boss) "Okay. I've got to take my dog for a walk or she will die. I'll test this when I get back." 

I closed the laptop, leashed her up, and off we went. I had wanted to be done at about 4 but there I was after 5 still working... I don't mind it, I just thought I'd get a good walk in and come back and finish up another hour. As is, it was getting dark, I wanted an outside walk for Toffee, and it just had to be put to a stop. I had to think of us and our needs. 

I also wanted a walk outside for me, not just her, to be honest. 

Finally it was over 10 degrees and not windy. This was the day if ever there was a day, to get some miles under the feet. It was a good walk.  Where the sidewalks were clear it was fantastic but there are so many houses where the people just did not shovel, so we had to loop out onto the road. And people drive like absolute idiots. So it was a bit frustrating.

There's a stretch of the walk that I like to do where there isn't a sidewalk, so you're walking on the shoulder of the road. But that's not plowed or shoveled. So we cut it short about a half mile sooner than I planned. Still, more than a mile, Done and dusted. 

My dog also acted like she completely forgot how to walk on a leash. Take that discipline away for a week or so and she goes feral.

I got back, I built a web presentation for what I think things should look like. Sent it to the team. Said... well, we won't know until tomorrow morning if what I built works because we have to see if it magically updates when the content is updated. Cross your fingers.  It is supposed to show up on multiple other websites that have subscribed to that content. 

But it may not work. It may be all for naught. And I'm so mad no one talked to my team before building the thing they built. 

How many years have we been doing these things? sigh. 

Geoff made a great dinner but not enough protein in it. I need to nag him about doubling the chicken or beef in recipes. 

A good day all told. And we do it again tomorrow. 

Digits.... below. 

digits

exercise: 12/12 hours.  Walk with Toffee (finally "warm" enough outside). 25 min/1.36 mi. 10k+ steps by bedtime

blood glucose:

8am: 92
4:15pm: 102
10pm: 154

food & meds:
8am: jardiance+phentermine
10am: breakfast tart
1pm: met+glip; roast beef + swiss on 647 white
6pm: chicken and rotini in vodka sauce a la Geoff
8:15pm: met+glip
vodka & diet tonic

Electrician

We need an electrician now. 

I feel like it is one thing after another per usual, when you buy a house. You already know we replaced the dishwasher. We replaced the hot water heater last week. Our washing machine is making a squeeking noise when it is running so maybe she's on her way out. Who knows. We're waiting for our new microwave to arrive. The ice maker on the freezer stopped working, we cannot figure out how to get it started again. But I can make ice with ice trays. 

It's always something. 

But the electrician. Here's why. 

A couple weeks ago, a breaker tripped. The one that runs the fridge, dishwasher, and under cabinet lights. Geoff flipped the breaker back for us. It happened again. And again. I came down the other night and I thought that the under cabinet lights had burned out (which, I hope they never do because I don't know how we'd replace these things). I told Doug and he said "oh, the breaker tripped. Ask Geoff to take care of it. 

Well, it was 5:45am. I wasn't going to go downstairs and bother him. Or text him. I decided to wait. The fridge had not been opened, so everything was safe until he could take care of it (oh - the electric panel is in his bedroom). 

So he did. And it tripped again. 

And. Again.

Yesterday was four times. 

It doesn't matter if the dishwasher is running or whatever. It just goes. 

So I checked the list of contractors and stuff that our realtor gave us and the electrician on that list did not return my calls. 

Google is my friend. So I found an outfit not too far from the house and called. The person who answered the phone was super nice, got us set up with a visit tomorrow between 10am and 1pm. I told her I have a hard stop at 2 pm so if he'll be later than 1 we can reschedule. 

I gave her my Capital One card and it got rejected. Which has been happening a LOT lately any time we try to use it online or do something over the phone like this. I know Capital One is trying to protect us from fraud and shit but come the fuck ON. 

She and I joked around about how fraud-ish I was being right then to line up an electrician. I said "well, I appreciate them protecting me from fraud but it SUCKS when I'm trying to buy concert tickets on Ticketmaster and I get a two factor authentication screen, and I am waiting for a code and it doesn't arrive until AFTER TICKETMASTER CANCELS MY ORDER and I lose my place in line." And she did the whole OH I KNOW!  and told me how she lost second row seats to a show in Baltimore recently that she really wanted and ended up getting kicked back in line and it sold out before she could get back in. 

We both shook our fists together and it was funny.

I gave her my bank card, and it went right through. We're trying not to put things on that card. And I told her yeah... we're looking for a new bank because the bank we have, well, the nearest office is in Frederick and like, I have to go in person to deposit a check that their ATM rejected last weekend for some reason and I hate having to drive all the way to Frederick to do banking, so we're looking for something local to switch to. 

She said "Oh! Well. If you don't mind me suggesting. You don't know me and it isn't my business but since you mentioned it. My wife works at XYZ Bank and is a new customer account representative, her name is [redacted] and you should reach out to her and get hooked up." 

Reader.

This gave me pause. 

And I immediately loved her.

She doesn't know me. She doesn't know if I'd be all uppity about her having A WIFE!!!??? How many people might just flip out at her? 

A Wife!? For fuck's sake! 

But no. Not me. 

Honestly. I felt like that was something that could be dangerous to say to some people. There is so much hate in this world about who people love, or how they spend their lives and time. And she didn't bat an eye or hold back or anything. She told me about her wife. 

I told her I'd take that under advisement, because Doug had already decided on a bank locally but we hadn't gotten our shit together yet to go open the account. She said she totally gets it. And this bank is a little bigger than a "local" bank. "Local banks are super great but they sometimes get bought." 

"Yes, that's exactly what happened to the bank that we used when we lived in Silver Spring. They got bought by another bank, and if we were still down there it wouldn't be a pain but now? We're far. And thankfully there's Frederick but we'd like a nearby banking experience. 

She texted me later to give me her wife's name and the location of her branch. It is literally less than a mile from here. 

Maybe that'll be our bank. Gotta check with Doug about what he was thinking. 

And reader, I had a really good feeling today. I felt like honesty and openness reigned today. It brought me great joy to have this conversation. 

And I hope their electrician kicks ass and knows why the hell we're tripping balls up in here with our breaker. 

Digits, below.

digits

exercise: 12/12 hours. Treadmill, 30 min/2.01 miles. Was trying to break a 15 min per mile pace, but fell just short. Good effort though! 10k+ steps by bedtime

blood glucose:

8:30am: 132
4:30pm: 150
10pm: 84

food & meds:
8:30am: jardiance+phentermine
12:45pm: bowl of ham and bean soup, 2 small pieces of crusty italian bread
1:30pm: last of the soup; met+glip
6:30pm: 2 boneless pork chops in a mushroom cream sauce (a la Geoff)
8:30pm: met+glip
9pm: ramekin of mixed nuts; vodka & diet tonic

The day of the superb owl. Long may he fly

Doug's cousin and his wife came through today on their way home from the DC area. Their son plays water polo so he had a big scrimmage or game or meet or whatever they call it. I can't believe how much he's grown. He's literally a giant human grown up man. I remember him being a tiny baby. 

I started the day early with a run on the treadmill, and then dishes and folding laundry. I thought about baking cookies to send home with the cousin but my mom called and she derailed those plans. 

The cousin fam arrived around 12:30. We had a great visit and initially the plan was we would all go out to lunch and they'd head out from there, but they confessed they were not hungry. The hotel had a big giant awesome breakfast that they all chowed down on. And that was perfectly fine. We pivoted.

After they left, Doug, Geoff, and I headed out for lunch, since we had shoes on and everything. We hit up the Broad Axe in downtown Hagerstown. I didn't want a full meal or anything because I was saving my appetite for snacks. 

It is Super Bowl Sunday, after all. Geoff went to the market for our game snacks and dinner fixn's for a couple days. Doug crashed with a big nap. And when Geoff got home I whipped up buffalo chicken dip and pigs in blankets. 

And the Patriots whipped up a big bowl of ugh for us. That was not a great game. I didn't think they would win but I didn't think it would be this bad a loss. Seattle is legit. Tough defense all that jazz. 

Long week ahead with a lot of work and I have to focus and buckle down with my friends The Spreadsheets. Several client meetings during the week, one of which I feel like I'm going to say "okay, so what is it you want me to do because none of this is going to work" as I crush someone's dreams. It's like that somtimes. 

No picture today, but the digits are down below.

 

digits

exercise: 12/12 hours. Treadmill, 33 min/2.11 mi (I was working towards the end of a song so that's why the numbers are whack). 11k+ steps by bedtime.

blood glucose:

8:30am: 122
5pm: 101
10pm: 181

food & meds:
8:30am: jardiance+phentermine
9:45am: pop tart from Ted's Bulletin
1pm: met+glip
2pm: buffalo wings, 2 crab balls, 2 beers (at Broad Axe in Hagerstown) 
4pm: 1/2 of one of the big pb/chocolate whoopie pie cookie I bought yesterday for the boys
2 beers
during the football game: pigs in blankets, buffalo chicken dip w/celery; vodka and zero sugar cran (1) 

A DC Saturday Adventure

Saturday's entry on a Sunday morning

Yesterday I planned the treadmill in the morning first thing but didn't. Before I realized it, time had come to thinking about starting to get ready so I got a shower, got all figured out how I was going to get to DC. Doug and I talked about if I should metro or drive. I was leaning towards driving since it was a Saturday morning, and probably would be easy parking once I got down to 14th street maybe. He said that from what he'd been reading, the DC streets and sidewalks were covered in ice concrete, or "Icecrete" as people have been calling it. It is unmovable, solid, and everything is hard to deal with in town. Metro it is! So I  headed out at 10am thinking I would get there well before the 12:30 start time. 

I got there at 1. It was not as bad as Planes, Trains, and Automobiles, but it was DC Winter frustration. 

As I drove down the highway, someone recently lost control of their car in Montgomery County and the rescue teams were there, blocking the right lane off. It was around the bend so no one in the right lane could SEE the situation and get over so that was a challenge. We got past the accident as the ambulance was leaving and a couple of tow trucks were trying to figure out how to get the car out of the trees. 

Truth be told, I hope they did because it was a sight, and someone driving fast would have come along and seen it, and it would have been a big distraction. There was a crew dropping salt melt and things on the lane. I guess it melted just enough and froze solid again in that area. 

Wicked dangerous! 

After getting past there, I got to Shady Grove metro which is the closest metro station to me. It usually takes about an hour to get there if traffic is moving nicely but we were way over that. I parked, ran to the entrance, charged up my metro card, and waited 10 minutes. 

Everything got better for a while, the train was moving, things were good. But when we got to until we arrived at the Van Ness metro stop we were informed the trains were single tracking due to work being done, so we waited another 10 minutes. I'm sitting there, envisioning arriving after Henry is completely done with his songs. Well, I'll be on time for lunch!

Finally. Moving again! We got to Gallery Place where I was hopping on the green line, and they were only going to McPherson Square, 2 stops away from where I wanted to be. Something about electrical problems ahead.

Now, mind you... NONE of the single tracking or power issues were mentioned on the Metro website or the App. Which I used in order to make my decisions on how I was going to go from point A to B. 

I'm standing in the metro station, looking at my watch, already 15 minutes late. The fuck. 

Okay, pivot. Let's walk. Google maps told me it was a straight shot north, and should take 23 minutes. I bet I can do it in 20. But oh no, oh God, OH GOD it is so cold and windy. WINDY!!! The wind was taking layers of skin off my face. And um, yeah. Um. The sidewalks. The sidewalks are covered in large boulders of ice. There's nowhere to walk. I watched a guy trying to walk his dog past the convention center. 

Nope. Uber. Let's Uber. 

I fire up Uber, which. I cannot remember the last time I used it. Oh... of course. Let's install an update from Google Play. Oh yes, let's reverify our identity with texted codes. And yeah. What's your password? Don't remember your password? Here's an email to reset your password. Okay! Password reset. Finally. 

The uber was requested, it said he was 5 minutes away so I ducked into the Subway sub shop (to clarify so no one reading this who speaks different mass transit language thinks I ducked into the Subway aka the Metro) to keep warm. 

The guy literally showed right up. He got me up to my destination. 

I only missed two of Henry's songs. Not bad. Not bad at all. 

They played until almost 2pm. There were several kids missing so others filled in for them. Henry plays with the teen group even though he's just 11. And the teens are super impressive. The singers could use a little how to rock and roll and have some stage presence lessons but other than that it was wild watching these kids perform. 

Henry did great, sounded great. Flubbed a little bit at the end of a Talking Heads song and kept playing when the song was over, which was kind of cute because it was like he was in the zone and rocking it all out and unaware of the rest of the band. 

After, Sara had made reservations at a restaurant so we could celebrate Hen's birthday with Sean's family. Usually Sean's family comes to things and they don't go out to eat with us after but this time they were in. We had a blast, I really like Sean's brother in law. He's great to talk to. And their toddler is really cute. Her language skills are amazing. She's 2 and speaks in full sentences and just talks to people like a grown up. She's super into the solar system right now and told me the sun is too hot to step onto so we can't go there. 

I started to think about what I was going to do in order to get back to my car. S&S live close to where we used to live at the other end of the red line and I thought about driving over that way to park just to get the ride home with them but opted to do the west end of the red line instead. 

I could uber to a red line station. My original plan was to walk back to the green line stop that I was headed to in the first place but no - there's probably no way I'll get from that stop to a red line stop to get home. 

Sara said, without me asking, that they were going to drive me back to my car. I told them that was crazy, out of their way, but she said her office is right near there and getting home from there is no problem. Sean agreed. So we went, and for some reason the GPS sent us through Georgetown instead of some smarter way, and straight to a bridge that is closed and under construction. Kind of a shit-show, and an unwanted detour around Georgetown, which was so poorly plowed, with people trying to parallel park giant SUVs the size of aircraft carriers, and all kinds of shenanigans. 

They got me up to my car a little after 5pm and the ride home from there was a piece of cake. 

One must have an exceptionally strong constitution in the first place to deal with getting around DC. And yesterday was a perfect example of that. Thankful for Sean and his skills in the adventure. 

When I got home, Doug had done a goodly amount of tidying up. The boys had not made dinner or anything so it was decided there would be pizza. 

I brought home pastries from our restaurant where we had lunch and I overbought. But everything looked so amazing that I could not resist. 

Digits below. No pictures of Hen playing because we were too far away for good shots. But he was great. So great. I love seeing him improve and evolve as a musician. 

digits

exercise: 11/12 hours.  Missed 5pm driving in the car. Treadmill: 22 min/1.38 mi. 10k+ steps by bedtime

blood glucose:

8:30am: 132
xpm: n/a
xpm: 114

food & meds:
8:30am: jardiance+phentermine
9:45am: Protein shake
2pm: met+glip
3pm: French Onion Cheeseburger: double burger patties on brioche bread, topped with gruyere cheese, and a small bowl of french onion soup onions (w/a little soup in the bowl). side salad. I wasn't going to eat the roll, but I used it to dip in the soup and have no regrets. Several of Henry's french fries
7pm: buffalo chicken bites
9:30pm: met+glip
no beer/wine

Out on a School Night Tired on the Next Day

I had mentioned recent posts that our microwave died on Monday. Doug ordered a new one online, did his price comparisons, shopped for the best deal, and ordered one up for us to be delivered today. 

Wednesday night he got an email from the company that they canceled our order. No reason. Just. Canceled. C and I had a whole email discussion on just buying shit you need on demand from Amazon. Doug shopped on Amazon and found better prices outside of Amazon and decided to go that route instead. Even driving across town to Walmart, this was cheaper even with the shipping.

As of late, Doug and I both have been making a concerted effort to shop locally, and not just order a bottle of HP sauce from Amazon to have it shipped when you can drive over and get it at the British Market the next town over.

For the most part, this has paid off well for us. Getting to know the local area, supporting local businesses instead of the Bezos Empire. 

Unfortunately. This is the second or third time that this has happened where he's ordered something from somewhere (not Amazon) only to have the order delayed horrifically or canceled. He had ordered an industrial nutcracker for the walnuts from some farming/hunting company, and it was delayed for months - and he finally canceled it out of frustration. I wondered on that one if imports and tariffs were the reason for the delay. Not the company's fault but also, shit. I had wanted fresh cracked walnuts to candy and send out to friends for Christmas. So. No. He still hasn't picked a new nutcracker for our needs

And then this one, canceled with no reason given.

Amazon was looking better and better. So I asked him if he wouldn't just buy one from Amazon. He said no - and told me that after work he wanted to just go over to Walmart and pick one up. Okay. Great. Let's go. 

On Thursday he was looped into a big meeting, and had to do a slide deck and part of the presentation. The meeting was at 5:30pm. Then he looked at the agenda and the meeting was running until 7pm, and his team was ... at the end. Of course. 

I did a quick walk on the treadmill after I was done working around 6:30, nothing fast. I had on my jeans so it wasn't a workout. He came down at 7:05, ate some dinner, and we left. 

It was weird to be going out this late to go microwave shopping, but we had a list of stuff to get as well, and we had a nice time. Big date night out, right? 

They did not have the microwave he wanted in stock, so he was disappointed. We got what we wanted to get otherwise. 

Shopping builds up a big thirst, and in the plaza next to Walmart there is a local brewery. We've gone a couple times but hadn't been in months because this is a little out of the way, not like the brewery that is in downtown that we could literally walk to if we wanted. 

We pulled up and they looked closed. All the screens were turned off, there was one guy at the bar, and a girl behind the bar. The lights were dimmed down, and it looked to me like they were wrapping for the night. The website said they were open until 10, and it was only 8:30. We tried the door and it was open. 

The girl said they were open for sure, but usually if there are no customers they wrap things by 9pm. We asked if it would ruin her night if we had a beer and she laughed and said no - come on in.

We ended up staying there until after 10. The guy at the bar and the girl beertender are best friends. We all got to talking, she works days at the local gym running the front desk and the office, I forget what he does for a job currently, but he used to work in a local coal mine until he got pinned by one of the train cars and broke his spine. He showed off his scars from the surgeries he had. For such a young person, what a horrible experience. They couldn't have been older than Jess. 

She told me about her dog - a Great Pyr mix, 6 months old, 70 pounds. She shared video of her playing and it was such a good time. I think when the snow is gone we may try to meet up for a play date. She said she needs to socialize her (her name is Poppy) and I can think of no better way to do it than with Toffee in our yard. 

At some point we talked about this donut shop, Krumpe's, that is the stuff of legends in these parts. They're only open to the public at night, 7-11pm. I said to Doug "we should totally go there, it is on the way home." And the two of them were "HELL YES you should go there!" Getting that vote of approval was enough for me.

So we did. I didn't realize how close it was to the gym where I was going before we got the treadmill. It is tucked down an alley way, in a residential neighborhood. Good thing they're only open at night or I would have been stopping on the regular!

The donuts were great, very homemade, you could see the how ancient all the equipment was. The kids working there were super sweet. I mentioned we were new to town, this was our first visit and the kid handed us each a small glazed. Just to tease us into the dozen we were going to buy anyway! 

A customer came in and an older man, maybe the owner, came over to talk to him and shake hands and catch up. 

Worth it. Totally worth it. When we were leaving there were aboug 7 more cars pulling up. The kid at the brewery said that at 7pm, the line is around the block to get in, so we went at the perfect time.

My blood sugar kicked my ass so I fell into bed and fell right asleep. Dreaming of donuts. 

Today, Friday, was a quiet day. Doug flex timed the morning and loafed around until maybe 11am. I had a pretty wide open morning and I did a lot of tickets and work on spreadsheets for this afternoon. I didn't get as much done as I liked which is actually good because we ended up changing what I'm doing with the spreadsheets. Lucky me. 

tomorrow I get to go to DC to see Henry rock out. Very exciting. It should be a treat. I'm hoping I get up early, hit the treadmill first, and then shower and go. Not sure what time I'll be getting home and if I'll be up for doing the walk. 

Digits below Donut.

Thursday digits

exercise: 12/12 hours. easy slow walk 1 mile/21 min. Additional 3/4 of a mile walk inside Walmart over a 30 min period. 11k+ steps by bedtime

blood glucose:

7:30am: 135
3:45pm: 101
11:45pm: 210

food & meds:
7:30am: jardiance+phentermine
12:30pm: apple + pb
1pm: met+glip
5:30pm: spaghetti and meatballs
9pm: beers at the brewery
10pm: a couple donuts from the dount side quest
10:45pm: met+glip

Friday digits

exercise: 11/12 hours. Somehow missed the 2pm hour by a few steps. Miscounted! Treadmill, 2 miles/35 min. 10k+ steps by bedtime

blood glucose:

8:30am: 180
4:30pm: 112
10pm: 165

food & meds:
8:30am: jardiance+phentermine
9am: donut from krumpe's
9:30: protein shake 
11:30am: bowl of mac & cheese w/bacon
1pm: met+glip
6pm: some sort of "tater tot taco" casserole Geoff made in the slow cooker. Surprisingly good. Hungry enough for 2 bowls after the treadmill.
9pm: met+glip
no beer/wine

The Early Option

I woke up to go to the bathroom at about 6am. Then went to the guest room. Doug came downstairs about a half hour later to do the same, and he fed the dog. 

At 6:30am.

Like, 2 hours too early. 

So I came out of the bedroom and asked why he did that. "She asked for breakfast, so I fed her," he said. 

I went back to the guest room, he went back upstairs. 6am is my "too early to actually really be awake" hour. And Toffee came back to bed with me. 

I drank a pint of water, and woke up naturally at 7:30, thanks glass of water! An on purpose alarm clock. I knew my day was meetings up the wazoo, so I brewed the coffee, I got on the treadmill, I got that out of the way. 

And then was on my ass except for the hourly steps for the rest of the day. It's nice to pre-load the day with close to 4-5k steps! But at 10pm I was still under 10k (how'd that happen!) so I made up for it and walked around the house. 

Toffee had a serious case of the zoomies tonight. A giant dog like her with the zoomies is a lot of fun but also can be slightly dangerous! She pushed our mattress off the bed by running and jumping on it. She ran down the stairs and crashed at the bottom. She ran back up the stairs and it was like a herd of elephants. 

She's been so cooped up. I keep saying, maybe tomorrow will be a good day for a walk...

Speaking of tomorrow, I'm going to take some time in the afternoon to drive to the clinic for some blood work. I may take the whole afternoon off. 

sigh. 

Here's a picture of the amaryllis we got at Aldi the day before the blizzard. It smells so amazing. Digits, below!

digits

exercise: 12/12 hours. Treadmill, 30 min/1.64 mi. 10k+ steps by bedtime

blood glucose:

8am: 154
4:30pm: 98
10:45pm: 127

food & meds:
8am: jardiance+phentermine
9:15am: protein shake
1:30pm: giant bowl of BLT salad w/Tuna salad mixed in
1:45pm: met+glip
3pm: part of one of the big chocolate chip cookies
5:30pm: some sort of dirty rice/chicken thing that Geoff whipped up (it was a little dry, so I'll see what his recipe was and make notes/suggestions) 
8:30pm: met+glip; ramekin of spicy cajun trail mix
no beer/wine

Pan Banging Cookies

I woke up early this morning, around 7:30. I had one cup of coffee and decided to do treadmill before work. Got a good walk/jog in, showered, and was still on time for getting things done. 

The day was pretty busy and before I knew it, 5pm was here. I felt like baking cookies or something. My work son told me this past weekend he made these bomb ass chocolate chip cookies, and he sent me the recipe. Here's the link. They're called Pan Banging Cookies. I've never heard of this method of baking cookies. My life is changed. 

I mean, these cookies. Unbelievable. 

You only get about 8-10 of them depending on how big you make them. The recipe says to make about 4 3 inch balls or 3/4 cup scoops of the dough, freeze it, and then bake. The recipe says "trust me," and so I did. I've never heard of baking cookies part way and then "banging" the tray so they collapse and spread. 

I used chocolate chips because I didn't have the kind of chopped chocolate she recommends. And I should have done the little sprinkle of extra Kosher salt on the cookie top while it was baking. But. It was all good.

My buddy Brendo said to take the tray out of the oven and drop it on the counter top or stove top for even "banging," and that was my plan anyway before I started making them. The instructions say to reach into the oven and lift one end of the tray up about 4 inches and drop it. 

Nope. 

I took the whole tray out and dropped it 3 times on the stove top, put it back in 3 minutes, take it out, do it again. 

10 minutes for the first round of baking, and 3 removals and drops. Perfect! Success! 

Pictures, and digits below! 

digits

exercise: 12/12 hours. Treadmill before work, 40 min/2.5 mi. 11k+ steps by bedtime

blood glucose:

7:45am: 125
4:15pm: 83
10:30pm: 147

food & meds:
7:45am: jardiance+phentermine
9:45am: english muffin w/pb & blackberry preserves
1pm: met+glip
2:30pm: ramekin of mixed nuts
4:30pm: some spicy cajun trail mix
5:45pm: piece of a chocolate chip cookie (split w/Geoff)
6:30pm: bowl of fettuccini w/ mushrooms, tomatoes, red pepper, olive oil, roasted chicken breasts; 2 big assed cookies
8:30pm: met+glip 
no beer/wine

Hardest thing you have to do all year

This morning we had our hot water heater replaced. It didn't go as smoothly as I'm sure the kid thought it would. 

First, his boss showed up to help him. His boss is the guy I thought was super funny last time. I guess he can be kind of a pain in the ass. 

After the boss left, the kid told me that when it came time to drain the hot water heater, instead of doing the pump and hose over to our toilet in Geoff's area of the basement, the boss had a cunning plan. 

We have a small dehumidifier in the basement, and there's a hose that goes into a tiny hole drilled into the cement floor. 

Where does the hole lead? Where does the water go? This I do not know. Every house I've lived in has had a drain in the floor that's like ... a real drain for where water can flow out of the basement if need be. You probably have had that too. 

Well, not this house. Just a tiny hole, just a thin garden hose, just a little dehumidifier. 

So the boss wants to drain the water into this hole. Kid says "I don't think that is a big enough hole, and, we don't know where the water drains to."

Boss says yeah, yeah, yeah it'll be fine. Only it wasn't. 

The amount of water flowing into said tiny hole overwhelmed it, and, the water started to back up into the basement. 

As they say in the midwest.... "Ope." The boss left. And a little bit later I went down because I'd made a cup of coffee for the kid. He was sweeping water. towards the hole, and I was visibly surprised. Boss went to get a Wet-Vac, and I said I would get some towels after checking to make sure none of the boxes on the floor were wet/damaged. 

None were. He explained the situation, and I said that's fine as long as, ya know, none of the water was getting anywhere other than right where we saw it. 

Wet-Vac arrived and they set to cleaning up, and the pump and hose were deployed to get the water out of the tank. 

No harm, no foul overall. And it's funny because the kid obviously was annoyed because if they had just done things the way it was supposed to happen there would be no water on my floor. 

But there they were, cleaning up and draining the tank. 

After a while the boss left with the Wet-Vac, and I could hear the hose pump working. Mission back on track. The kid came up to let me know that he was sorry for all of this. "This is taking longer than I thought it would." 

"As long as I won't be charged for that extra time, I've got no problem." He nodded, yes ma'am. 

And he came up a little while later to let me know he couldn't get all the water out of the tank. 

"There is calcification in the bottom of the tank, about 10 inches, so the water won't drain all the way out," he reported. 

Oh dear. That sucks? "Well, what do we do? You're pretty strong, can you work with your boss and get her out?"

"I think it weighs about 500 pounds right now, to be honest. I have an alternate plan to get more water out. You may hear a lot of noise." 

"As long as whatever water that's left isn't going to end up on the floor too," I said. "You do you. You're the expert. You know what needs to happen." 

He kind of laughed. "Yeah, I'm not feeling very expert right now." I really felt for him. It was okay, nothing was damaged, but I could feel his frustration. 

Boss came back and the two of them got more water out of the tank, enough that it was able to plop onto a dolly. They brought it upstairs, and the boss showed us a couple points on the tank that were corroded because of the calcification. 

"It is a very good thing you had this done now," he said, "I won't say she was about to blow but this isn't good, and hot water spraying everywhere would be really dangerous. 

Well thanks. Thank both of you for the work you put in. 

The new tank, she's lovely. And the hot water came on almost immediately. 

Another home improvement project done and dusted. 

Now to replace the microwave that literally caught fire this morning at 6:30am, get a new toilet seat, caulk the tub. You know. The usual. Joys of homeownership! 

Digits below!

digits

exercise: 12/12 hours. Treadmill, 25 min/1.66 mi. 10k+ steps by bedtime

blood glucose:

6:45am: 109
5pm: 70* recheck 6pm: 111
10:45pm: 125  

food & meds:
6:45am: jardiance+phentermine
9:45am: english muffin w/pb
1pm: met+glip
2:30pm: can of tunafish, w/mayo, tomatoes, diced onion
5pm: 2 cookies (see blood sugar above); ramekin of cajun peanuts and spicy cracker thingies
7:15pm: bowl of left over ham and bean soup w/ some cheez-it crackers on top
9:20pm: met+glip
no beer/wine

Rock Concert

I got an earlier than usual treadmill time in because Geoff was lollygagging, and I knew I had to leave around 1pm to get to A's rock concert. I made it there just in time, over an hour trip to the venue but thanks to an accident on 70 westbound, we had rubber neckers trying to see what was happening. 

I missed most of the first song but totally loved the rest of it. Compared to his last show, he's doing so much better. He absolutely killed the bass part on "Sunshine of Your Love." We had a nice visit all together after, and they went to Baltimore to get ice cream. I stayed later to listen to the House Band. They absolutely killed it - I think it was an all girl ensemble (the bassist may have been male or trans, not 100% sure but who cares, they were amazing). 

They even did a song by local legends Turnstile called Blackout. And Turnstile won a Grammy tonight so good for them! 

I'm not allowed to post pictures of my little buddy on the internet per mom's request but I got some really good ones. 

Got home and Geoff was making dinner. Dishwasher was running, it was nice to not have to lift a finger. 

Digits below! 

digits

exercise: 12/12 hours. Treadmill: math, a 10 min. run which I'm measuring at .5 miles (based on the treadmill reading); 25 min/1.5 miles on the walk setting. 2 miles total. 10k+ by bedtime

blood glucose:

7:30am: 119
5:30pm: 115
9:30pm: 116  

food & meds:
7:30am: jardiance+phentermine
10:30am: zero carb soft taco wrap w/pb & j
1pm: met+glip
3pm: 2 beers, buffalo fingers, some french fries
6:30pm: bowl of chicken cacciatore (chicken thighs, mushrooms, tomatoes, peppers, carrots in a tomato sauce) over some egg noodles
8:30pm: met+glip