What Was Done Today

Yesterday I did nothing around the house but play phone games. Oh, actually not true, I did laundry. I did three loads of laundry, so there's that. And I added it to the laundry up on my bed in the bedroom to care about tomorrow. So that's something. 

Today I promised myself doing things. And things was did. 

Now before I write out all of what was did, mind you this - I took a lot of breaks. I started at 11am-ish. I didn't finish until after 8pm. There were plenty of stop and rest breaks. There was talk to Linda on text breaks. There was lunch. There was some outside time because honestly, people, today was gorgeous. 

Here's the rundown. It is very very boring. 

After playing phone games (naturally) and extended Toffee cuddles (again, naturally), and coffee (but of course), I headed to the bathroom. The sink and vanity were atrocious. Doug and Geoff shave their silly boy faces and leave a messy mess. The only thing I do in there is brush my teeth. 

I started at the toilet. I scrubbed behind, the body, the floor around, inside, everywhere. And let me tell you friends, this was difficult! Not because it was dirty or gross, but I'm not the young'un I used to be, and down on my hands and knees reaching around the back of the throne was not easy.

As of late, I'm having a challenge behind my right knee. The internet tells me it is from "over use" so finally Doug is right that "running is bad for your knees. I get it. But my thigh is tight, like where my hammies is. So that heating pad I ordered last night blissfully arrived around noon, and I had some time with it. Not feeling perfect but I'll say a little better? 

Anyway, I didn't do the heating pad until after finishing the bathroom, so this was a semi-painful challenge but we survived. 

After I scrubbed the toilet. I scrubbed the shower. Inside and out.

The rest of the bathroom floor was pretty decent but I wanted to mop everything. 

But first, the sink. 

Wow. I hate the men in my life. I'm going to put the hammer down on them (I haven't given a shit because I've been so work focused but yeah. Not leaving this go...) After scrubbing it all, and Thank GOD for Mr. Clean Magic Erasers, I used Drano to clear the drain because she was stupid slow.  The vanity, the sink, the mirror, everything. Pristine. You could eat off it but I'd call you a weirdo. 

Then I mopped. I haven't mopped anything since we moved out of the last house and I mopped that. But I mopped the hell out of this bathroom. I think the flooring is pergo, and it took forever to dry. In fact, I thought maybe I'd fucked up everything by mopping it with Mop 'n Glo, that maybe it needed its own special bespoke cleaning product. It did dry eventually, much to my relief. And she looks lovely.

Next, the living room. Again, work-distracted brain lately which now is more free to focus on the things of daily life.  As of late, I've been what I'd call clutter blind. I cleaned up all the dog toy stuffing that is all over the place, I put all her dog toys back in her bin, and she pulled some out again, like ya do. The living room table - spotless. Dusted. Perfect. But I'm going to vacuum tomorrow. Everything in the house gets vacuumed tomorrow.

While I was out of town at my mom's Doug rearranged all our knickknacks and doohickeys, put some plants up front that were in the kitchen. He was quite proud of his doings. And I didn't criticize him, but he didn't dust anything when he did that. How do you not dust? I could see the ghosts of where things sat before. No. You dust when you rearrange. Gah. 

It has bothered me for weeks but I didn't have the mental energy to deal with it. So today, I dusted. TV area, the bookshelves, the table where the money tree is, the table where the monstera is, the bookcase at the bottom of the stairs. 

I did the side table by where I sit. I usually let junk mail pile up and things but now I have a sweet little trash basket thanks to the M&D wedding). 

In the treadmill/laundry room there was a bunch of crap that we don't need in there, nor do I think we really need at all (tapes? Old CDs without cases? 900 pillowcases???) So I just moved it all downstairs. Out of the way. Go. Get. Get with ya, Git!

I cleaned the dining table, and weirdly I'm still finding cookie sugar in the cracks of things in the dining room. Even though I've cleaned that room a few times since CCC 2025. 

That must have been some party. 

All of Geoff's shoes all over the house are now collected and placed behind the loveseat where I sit and spend most of my time. Ordered a shoe rack from IKEA, looking forward to that coming. 

And even though I was kind of over it all, I mopped the kitchen at 10pm, so if the floor wants to stay wet for hours, heck. I'll be sleeping.

Rather pleased with all that was done, and the fact it took all day didn't bother me too much. I did it at my pace with little breaks and a lot of happy Toffee time. A very enjoyable day. And that I didn't do it all and have a thing or two to accomplish tomorrow, why that's just fine by me. 

I'll be sitting on my new heating pad, trying to make the back of my knee hurt less. Catch me later, digits below! Well. After these cute pics of Toffee during our cuddle breaks. The fun thing about Toffee is she has to be touching a human at all times, or she'll die. Explode or die, something. 

digits

exercise: 12/12 hours. So much walking in the house today I didn't go near the treadmill. Toffee Walk, 14 min/.7 mi. and it measured my mopping of the kitchen as a walk, 19 min/.37 mi. For the Win! 12k+ steps by bedtime

blood glucose:

8:45am: 118
4:30pm: 197
11pm: 84

food & meds:

8:45am: jardiance + phentermine
9:30am: everything bagel w/garlic & chives cream cheese
2pm: the rest of the curry shrimp & rice; met+glip
6:45pm: english muffin w/roast beef & 2 slices of cheddar
8pm: met+glip
white wine & zero sugar cran

Credit Jobs Apartments Money

I slept in today. Like I haven't slept in for a long time. Toffee was alright sleeping in. We were both very happy. But eventually, it's time to get up to pee. 

I spent a lot of time today thinking on Geoff. He starts school back at his old community college in late August and it should be two semesters until he has his Associates. He's waiting on one class to be scheduled so he knows what days he will have to be out there. 

He had a good interview for a phlebotomy job with a hospital 45 min. west of school. We thought for sure this was all going to click. But the guy is kind of ghosting him. Maybe he's on vacation? I don't know. But Geoff is frustrated. 

It's a chess game. We're herding cats. 

The thing is, I think we'll have to find him a place to live. There is no way he can commute from here. Every Day.

Fun fact, in case you do not know, Northern Virginia is stupid expensive as a place to live or do anything. Absolutely ridiculous. Studio apartments, 1800 a month. And a one bedroom is 2100 or higher. 

Compare to our last house rental in Maryland over the border, 1950 a month. 3 bedrooms, fully fenced yard, great location. 

About a year ago, I told him to sign up for a credit card to start building his credit rating. He didn't. He ignored me. 

He realizes now that he needs a credit rating if he wants to rent an apartment. He did go to a local bank in person to sign up for an IRA (his last job sent him a check and he wanted to roll it into something new, not tied into a work plan, and Doug was mad at him because he could have done an eTrade thing and Doug would have set him up, but, ..... as usual) and while at the bank he applied for a credit card there. 

They rejected him. 

Because he doesn't have a job/income. I think he applied for the wrong kind of card. He needs a baby's first credit card. 

As many know, since we moved he's been looking for work but unable to find any. Well, any that he wants. He has applied to hundreds of jobs at hospitals, health care centers, etc. Medical lab or phlebotomy. They interview him and pass or they interview him and let him know he does not have enough experience (I guess 2 years at a hospital lab isn't enough) and/or he doesn't have an associates degree. 

Even though he's going back to school to get that associates degree. 

He has over 20k in his bank account, nice stash there buddy. But even though he has money and can obviously pay bills until he gets the job, no credit card.

It's all a big catch-22. And it is such an incredibly difficult world for kids to hit the launch pad and go. Albeit, and Doug says this, he's had opportunities. If he had applied for a card while he still had the job, he would have been approved. He could get an apartment. 

Because he has applied for many jobs and go no jobs he finally contacted a temp agency. They hired him immediately for work. He starts Sunday night. 

Doug said to him "why didn't you do that sooner?" And he said he wanted a hospital job. But you could have been working all this time, while you still looked for a hospital job. 

Geoff is sometimes very singular minded. I always point this out to Doug that he literally can't do two things at one time a lot of the time. 

If he doesn't get the hospital job over in northern Virginia he can do this job for a couple months until it is time for school and quit without guilt. 

I just have to admit, I love having him here because he cooks dinner for us just about every night. A few months ago, he went to a concert in Baltimore, and Doug and I didn't have a dinner plan. 

"What are we gonna have for dinner?" I asked him.
"I have no idea," he replied. 

Without Geoff we'll be eating peanut butter and jelly sandwiches or soup stock, if we have it in the freezer and remember to defrost it in time. 

He also mows our lawn, even though he does kind of a crummy job. 

He grocery shops but sometimes has no clue about prices. He buys organic bananas for 1.99 a pound when the "normal" bananas are 80cents. Even though I've taught him how to read the stickers on the shelves at the market to know what the actual price per unit is. Don't buy this tiny bag of dog food, buy the gianormous bag. And also, it isn't like she isn't gonna eat it! 

He walks Toffee just about every day. 

I want him to launch and be successful but ha. I'm also selfish. 

Oh you're making dinner? okay! I'll do the treadmill for 30 minutes! Thanks! 

I've said it before, I'll say it again, we'll get it all figured out. No worries. None at all. 

---

Enough about Geoff. What's up with me! 

Today I thought I had booked myself a massage therapy appointment. I went over to the office and it turns out I booked it for July 19th. Um no. She asked if I wanted to keep that appointment and I confessed that I sometimes am not sure where I am going to be, I could be out of town that day. So no. Let's cancel it. 

I asked if the therapist had any openings today otherwise and she said he was booked, but she had a cancelation for a different therapist, at 6pm. Damn. No. That's late. I'd rather not wait until 6pm. 

Sad.

I drove to the market and got some things. Got the makings for some baked meat sauce and shells for when the boys come back on Sunday. I got chicken breasts, and I will make chicken salad and then have something for myself tomorrow. I also have some cluck pucks and there is a surprising amount of nice things in the freezer. 

Hmmm. I could eat for a week just off of what we've got! 

There's a liquor store next to the market so I grabbed a bottle of wine, and some bubbly for mimosas tomorrow. 

My big goal here is to clean tomorrow. Clean and mop. Clean. Clean. Clean. Today I did nothing because I thought I had a massage therapy appointment in the middle of the day. Damn it. 

After the market, I did 20 minutes on the treadmill and had attention span fatigue. I had a podcast playing and it was an hour long, I told myself GO TO THE END OF THE EPISODE! and I made it 20 minutes. I called my mom to tell her that her trash pick up day was changing and she had all kinds of questions about why. I don't know, the email just said next week the day is changing so. That's why I'm calling you.

She told me that she went to put the barrel out yesterday (which she is not allowed to do, damn it). I love when she tells on herself. She is impatient with her neighbors, and on Thursdays sometime in the night/evening the barrel goes down. There are 3 houses of people who grab it for her. When she was taking the barrel down, one of her neighbors pulled into his parking space and told her to stop - he'd take it for her.

She knows she is not supposed to do this. She is going to get hurt.

"No one had taken it down yet," she told me, as her justification for doing it.
"What time was it when you went to take it down?" I asked.
"About 1pm."

Are you fucking kidding me, mom. Everyone is at work. And they take care of it after they get home. From work. After like 5 or 6pm. 

"I do not understand why you get a hair across your ass if the barrel isn't down there early. They don't come to pick up until like 4pm on Friday, so someone can even grab it for you on Friday mornings. The guys never come in the morning. It is...."

I give up. Oh my GOD woman why are you like this?

For dinner, I got a little experimental. We had a bag of shrimp and it needed to be used, so I found the ingredients in the pantry for a curry. It all came together very nicely. I added in a red pepper (also needed to be used) and a ton of parsley (again, needed to be used). I should have used the whole onion, I used about half. Maybe I could have thrown in some spinach since we have a container and I'm the only one who eats it. And I made one cup of minute rice. Geoff buys Minute Rice. I need to go to the market with him and show him there is better rice. But. This wasn't bad.

I ate half of it, when it is supposed to feed four. HA. take that, shrimps! And someone has a lunch for this week if they want. 

I took Toffee for a short walk after dinner. Just about a half mile. She doesn't need a lot but she likes to go. I would have taken her further but my right knee is killing me today. Which is why I wanted the massage. Oh well. 

I didn't take a picture today. So. Digits below! 

 

digits

exercise: 12/12 hours. Treadmill, 20 min/. 11k+ steps by bedtime, Walk 12 min/.5 mi. 11k+ steps by bedtime

blood glucose:

10am: 105
5pm: 124
10:30pm: 107

food & meds:

10am: jardiance + phentermine
11:30am: bowl of plain greek yogurt w/blueberries (to get them out of the fridge before they go bad); teaspoon of splenda
2pm: met+glip
3pm: 2 big celery sticks w/pb
7:15pm: curried shrimp, w/white rice
white wine w/zero sugar cran

Living Alone

I know it isn't the same as other people who actually live alone, but, I'm living alone for these next couple days. 

I find when I'm by myself I do things like talk out loud to me (or the dog) about stuff. 

Loading the dishwasher, it does not need to run, and well, unless I make something serious like cookies, it may not have to run until the boys get back.  (I ended up running it because ... I wanted the baking sheet for tomorrow).

It was a very rainy morning. The trash truck guys woke me up at 5 and I thought I might be up for the day but I mercifully fell back asleep after I went to pee. Then the thunder woke me up around 8:30. I turned the alarm off. I dozed and faded in and out of sleep until around 9am, waking each time the thunder rolled. 

We have a daily 10 am meeting with the developers, so I knew I'd be online for that. I just was not in a big hurry to be online for anything else. 

I didn't even touch helpdesk tickets until 2pm. I had a bunch of meetings, and some yap sessions with pals, just basically eased into it and then it's the typical thing, around 8-9pm I am still working. My brain does not do mornings. I'm much better after noon. 

Several help tickets came in that were super easy, the person just needed instructions on how to do a thing. I realize we need a help document that we can just say "oh thank you for asking this question, please see this help document for instructions. 

I wrote out detailed step by step instructions for one client and then copied them into a text file and literally sent it out 3 more times. 

A few people submitted tickets that made me shake my head. Son, that's not how any of this works. A few are experiencing incorrect data feeds as a result of this move, whereas it wasn't incorrect before. 

And my office is closed tomorrow for Juneteenth, blessed and most adored Juneteenth. I will be working, A little bit. 

After I ate dinner, I took Toffee for a short walk which made her incredibly happy. With Geoff not here to walk her, she was needy. And she actually was very good instead of being a leash menace.

I spent almost 3 hours talking with Jess tonight, yapping about everything. And laughing about Ryan Gosling and Aerial TRAMWAY on SNL. 

I'm exhausted. Here's my dog. Who is also very tired and wants me to go to bed.

Digits below!

digits

exercise: 12/12 hours.  Treadmill run, 32 min/2.13 mi. walk, 8 min/.35 mi. 12k+ steps by bedtime

blood glucose:

9am: 104
4:30pm: 125
10:30pm: 79

food & meds:

9am: jardiance + phentermine
9:30: 5 tiny chocolate donuts (geoff didn't take 'em, so I ate 'em) 
11:45: one slice of super multi-grain toast (the end piece!) w/pb and zero sugar j
2:30pm: oikos 000 yogurt
6:30pm: 2 pieces of left over chicken w/some sort of sauce and peppers/onions
7:30pm: met+glip
vodka tonic; handful of mixed nuts

Off They Went

The plumber came by today and fixed our situation up, and did a cement job on the spigot so she won't wiggle. God is in his heaven, and all is right with the world. 

I had another very busy workday, the product launch she still struggles. But the smart dudes are on it, and I'm answering tickets, and everything progresses. I tried to do a training with a station but all the widget embeds for their site are "empty" because reasons. But. I showed them how to do it. And they are going to try after we give the all clear, and I am very proud of them. Bless Bless. 

Doug and Geoff left around 5:45ish. Allegedly a 3.5 hour ride up to mom's but I guarantee it will take longer. 

Doug (to Geoff): I see that you put beer in the car
Geoff (to Doug): Indeed I did
Doug: Smart idea

If I had not been on a call right then I would have given them a small cooler and some ice packs from the freezer. Lord knows we have them. But. Too late. 

I had enough time to say bye, and ask Doug to reconnect the hose to the spigot for me, so I didn't have to get down on the ground in the carport and try to get back up (Hilarity would ensue, I know it. But no). 

Toffee and I saw them off, and I made dinner. Did more tickets. 

I figured I needed to water the garden and all, since it is hot and no one has been watered in days. So I got that going, happily, and did my Farmer Chris things, with much joy.

I also figured I needed to do the treadmill. So exhausting at like 9:30pm to do that. And I didn't want to take miss Toffee for a walk. Geoff took her this morning, and she is just bad on the leash for me. I prefer when Doug walks her and I can just mosey along playing pokemon. 

Before I got on the treadmill, I could hear someone, a male voice really, outside yelling or screaming... intermittently. Toffee was aware too. It sounded like someone out on the road that runs parallel to ours, or the back of a house in the alley behind our house. Or the other side street. I couldn't pinpoint where it was coming from and it made me worried.

It occurs to me that usually not only is Doug here (and Geoff) but the TV is always on. So this could very well be a nightly screaming and yelling event that I've just never heard because silence has not been something that happens here often.  But no, because most nights I sit out on the patio while the dog does dog things, and I have never heard anything like this.

I kind of very much like the silence. I didn't need the TV on. I didn't want to watch anything. I was plodding through helpdesk tickets, even up to super late. I love Doug but I do not need TV on. 

So screaming.... not something I'm used to. 

I did the treadmill for about 20 minutes, and got off. I had to put a bag of trash out in the barrel so I bravely put shoes on and bravely went out. And then bravely stood there listening. 

The screaming seemed to have stopped. 

But I came inside, and locked all the doors and answered more helpdesk tickets and was nervous. 

I'm sure it was .... maybe nothing. 

Toffee and I are going to sleep in the guest room tonight. Doug dumped 11,000 baskets of laundry on the bed and fuck all if I am just not in the mood to fold shit. 

No picture today but the digits are below.

digits

exercise: 12/12 hours. Treadmill, 20 min/1 mile (mostly walking) 10k+ steps by bedtime

blood glucose:

8am: 104
4:15pm: 98
10pm: 108

food & meds:

8am: jardiance + phentermine
11:30am: turkey and 2 slices of cheddar on english muffin 
noon: met+glip
4:30pm: tiny little chocolate donut (just one)
7pm: BLT Salad, met+glip; white wine

In Orbit, but Wobbly

Our product launch has not been perfect. But. There is no going back. No rollback on this one!
Nope. We're committed to the bit. Doin' it! DOIN' IT!

It goes without saying, I'm so very thankful for the team that I work with. Honestly, when I look back on some of the project managers, product owners, developers that I've worked with previously.... I'd have run screaming into the night if it was't for this team. 

At our scrum yesterday my work son pointed out this was 18 months in the making. I didn't even get brought into the process until the fall of last year. 

We were bombarded with tickets right out of the gate. We had an outage where the product just failed and fell over sideways before we even told clients they could get into it. Turns out, people saw the icon live on their dashboard and they started jumping in. Oooops. There was a load limitation on the product while it was under construction because we didn't need to be paying a bajillion dollars for the site to be hosted, and that neeed to be adjusted when more and more people started getting on the platform. 

Oops. OOOOOOPS!

Momentary panic but it worked out. 

We have discovered some bugs, which are now "known issues" and are being tracked by my boss so we can tell the clients "we know about the XYZ thing doing the ABC thing" or "Yes, this is missing thank you, we know." so they don't have to submit more and more tickets. 

And we are getting feature requests for things to do differently or display differently.

And there are some issues being reported to us that we have had to jump on immediately. By we, I do mean our wonderful developers. 

My work son and I were talking about this, and how we're so thankful for [just about] everyone on the team. I reminded him of a fight, and actual yelling fight, I had with a developer on another product when he just kept disagreeing with me and saying that something could not be done the way our clients (and I) felt it should be done. My expertise in something should mean something to the devs I'm working with, and my knowing how it should go down, how it should work, should not be met with derision. Respect my experience and authority, please. 

He ended up getting taken off our product and put with some other company, I got a new dev who saw what I meant and I was talking about, and in the end I was 100% right and it worked out great. Thank you. 

Work son totally remembered this. 

And I pointed out to him that the 6 or so guys working on this project are so good. So good at listening, so good at follow up and follow through. They treat me like I know what I'm talking about, because honestly, I do!!!  I've supported this product for 11 years. Call me a subject matter expert. 

So I gave them some severe praise to the person at my company that oversees the product team. They deserve it. I hope she shares it with them.

I got up this morning super early, not at 4am but before 6, and I started working immediately. And at 8pm I was still working. New tickets flowing in, Chris answers them. 

In other news. Because our outdoor spigot isn't working, I cannot use the hose. I hand watered everything except the veggie beds. But those were nice and wet after I watered them the other day. My contractor isn't able to fix it (he winced and said "I'm not really good at plumbing" .... sir thank you for your honesty), so he referred me to a buddy of his that is able to fix it, and he is coming by tomorrow morning. 

Doug and Geoff are going to his mom's on Wednesday. This was a comedy of errors in planning. It was going to be Thursday but he called an audible to go up tomorrow after work, which upset her apple cart and her plans and whatever, so there was just a 40 minute discussion of the plan. 

So help me if he decides NOT to go on Wednesday after work. Ha! 

Also, I was going to go if Geoff opted to stay home, he floundered back and forth and decided he would go after all. Which additionally confused and confounded her.

I'm kind of glad they are going together, because I am just going to put on music, drink mimosas, and CLEAN! With these two guys totally out of my way, it'll be bliss. Oh, and answer helpdesk tickets. That will continue through the next couple days.

Here's a picture of tomato babies! Digits below!

digits

exercise: 12/12 hours. Treadmill; 120 min/1.37 mi. Walk, 18 minutes, .96 mi. 11k+ steps by bedtime

blood glucose:

6:45am: 165
4:30pm: 125
10:30pm: 117

food & meds:

6:45am: jardiance + phentermine
11am: english muffin w/pb
noon: met+glip
2pm: some sort of pb/chocolate "protein" meal bar
6:45pm: chicken w/white bean sauce (a Geoff recipe)
7:15pm: met+glip
8pm: remainder of the chicken stuff
white wine

It's Like NASA Sometimes

Right now, today, tonight, this moment - this  is the last night of a product I've been the support manager on for .... 11 years. It's crazy! I can't believe we are retiring this. Years in the building and planning, my work son and I have been the best besties. My manager has been an amazing colleague and support. 

Someone said something in passing (and this someone has not been part and parcel to all the work we've done) that he heard a "rumor" that our launch was going to get scrapped. He posted it  in Slack and no one replied. 

I direct messaged him, cause to be honest this was a surprise to me, whatever the rumor was that he heard, and I asked him what was going on.

"I'm not sure! I just heard something in a meeting! So I thought I'd go into the slack channel and ask" was the basic vibe. 

So there I am, at 11am, slightly panicked. We already moved the launch back once from May to June, I cannot disappoint the masses. WE cannot disappoint the masses. 

Thankfully my boss knew exactly what he was talking about. He allayed the fears, and I immediately felt calm again. I felt like NASA folks must feel when everything is so close to coming together and there's a thunderstorm coming. Something you can't control. Something that grinds it all to a stop. Would it be a 24 hour stoppage? We've been in a code freeze all day so the team can prepare migration. 

My boss is sending out an all points communication at 11pm (soon) and I'm wondering if he needs me to proof it. He hasn't messaged me, I'm online. He can see me. So he will tag me in if he needs. 

Once that note goes out it is "Pencils Down" for all the users of the product. And we anticipate the "all clear" to get into the new product will go out by 10am. 

Wish our team luck, would ya?

I didn't sleep much last night. Couldn't fall asleep, couldn't stay asleep. My handyman called me at 7:45am (ugh) to say he'd come by this afternoon and then did not. I didn't reach out and bother him. I worked until after 6, almost 7. Doug took Toffee for a walk and when they got back I realized I should have gone with them. So I took her on another walk. Cut a corner, missed 1 mile. Doh.

Tonight I am hoping for better rest. I took some Zquill, I put the biofreeze on all the sore spots (I ran yesterday and today after a week of NO running so. Ouch). 

If I wake up at some ungodly hour, I'll go downstairs and pick up the laptop. I'll even shower first seeing as I didn't take the time to do that today. 

Let's Go. 

And here's a "What Toffee Thinks of Soccer" picture for ya. Digits below. 

digits

exercise: 12/12 hours.  15 min on the treadmill, 1.06 mi. 24 min walk with Toffee, .96 mi. 10k+ by bedtime

blood glucose:

8am: 175
4:45pm: 125
10:30pm: 158

food & meds:

8am: jardiance + phentermine
11am: small bowl of mac & cheese w/hamburger
12:30pm: 2 pieces of multigrain bread toasted with pb & no sugar j; met+glip
6pm: white wine; kielbasa, pierogis
7:30pm: met+glip

Wet Dry Vac Adventures!

(Saturday and Sunday)

Saturday
My friend H has a wonderful house and two guest rooms and two cats and a lot of kindness and hospitality. I stayed there Friday night. We had a lot of chat time, girl time, fun. A great yap. We didn't get a selfie or anything, it was just purely organic hangout time. I did take a picture of her cat David Wallace (yes, he's named after a character on The Office). 

Saturday morning, she ordered doordash breakfast from a bagel shop near her house that I really like (Asiago Cheese bagel, big chef kiss). Her company offers some extra double-time pay when workload gets to be too much, so she woke up at about 6am and started working. I came out around 9, and we sat on the couch, chatted while she worked. I would have brought my laptop and worked too if I knew she was going to take advantage of the extra pay! I have things I could be doing. 

Around 1pm she had a date to go over a friend's house and babysit her 1 year old so the friend could go get a haircut and grocery shop. I hit the road. Traffic going home was much better than getting there. And I am reminded that even though we are "close" to Baltimore, it's still a heck of a trip. 

While I was at her place, my fitbit battery died. I don't know if it has anything to do with the update of the app by Google (they ruined a perfectly good app) but I notice my fitbit vibrates more frequently, unexpectedly, unwantedly. And I had 20% battery when I left the house Friday and it was dead by 11am Saturday. And, of course, I did not have a charger. So I had to live without it, without checking if I did my steps, without seeing how many more steps to 10k. 

Kind of a freeing experience. Recently I told myself maybe I need to stop focusing on getting the steps and beating the 10k and whatever but I rely on it when I run to know how far I go. So I'm not quite at the point of giving it up. 

But I did take a complete break from it, as you'll see in the digits below.

While the fitbit was charging, I took a big nap. I used to be the queen of naps, but in the past couple years daytime sleep eludes me. Not yesterday. Not sure why I was so tired... but it felt good to do a snooze. 

Geoff made a really good dinner, and we thought it would be great with orzo or couscous so he noted that for future opportunities. Sometimes he finds a recipe randomly online and it just really works. 

Sunday
I slept in. The drone of the AC and the lack of a dog hogging up my side of the bed was nice. Doug had gone downstairs sometime after 3am, and she followed him. I woke up organically without an alarm, sometime between 9 and 9:30, and just relaxed until I had to get up to use the bathroom. 

Around 10:30 I went out to water the garden, front and back. It's wild - I went away a couple days and it is like things went into high gear out there.  I sat outside drinking coffee, aware of how hot it was but also not letting it bother me that much. Doug came out to join me, and we chatted about everything. 

Right after we ate lunch Geoff came upstairs and said "we have a leaking pipe in the basement." The room where I keep threatening to set up my office, right where the spigot for the garden hose comes into has a pipe that decided to start leaking. 

Ohhhhh no. That's where All My Treasures are. I have posters, Guster memorabilia, all the photo albums (they're in plastic bins), my future desk, my future office chair, boxes of books. Crap. 

We headed downstairs and Doug turned the valve off that feeds the spigot. Easy stop to the problem. None of my stuff was wet, one box with some books in it had started to absorb water but I emptied it out and chucked the box into recycling. We have a stairway runner carpet remnant that I put flat on the floor when we moved in to help it stop being rolled up and funky, and that was soaked. 

I told Doug that I'd go upstairs and get all the crummy towels. Thank goodness we keep all our crummy towels! 

He said not to. 

"I'll go to Lowes and grab a wet/dry vac as an investment in the estate of our home. And the thing for the inside of the toilet so it'll stop running." 

He did, and I moved anything out of the way of being in danger of getting wet. 

When he got back, I tackled the basement and he fixed the toilet. Within 90 minutes, nothing but victory. 

The wet/dry vac is small. He could have gotten the next size up but he opted for this one. Four trips upstairs to dump out the water, and I think it is a 5 gallon container... Good grief. That's a lot of water when you think about it, but it could be worse.

Thank goodness for Geoff hearing the hissing sound and wondering what it was. When I think that we could have just still been sitting here tonight watching hockey and that would still be happening... 

Water is such a jerk. 

Digits below this picture of my new best friend. May I not need to pull him out for service anytime soon. I will post garden pictures tomorrow!

Saturday digits

exercise: 5/12 hours*. No walk, no effort, big rest day!  2k steps by bedtime

blood glucose:

9:30am: 194
xpm: n/a
10pm: 110

food & meds:

9:30am: jardiance + phentermine
10:30am: beautiful asiago bagel w/cream cheese; giant iced coffee
11:30am: met+glip
3:15pm: Oikos zero yogurt w/granola bar crushed in
6:30pm: some sort or chicken and peppers in a nice sauce (A Geoff creation); met+glip
8pm: 4 Aldis "monster" cookies

Sunday digits

exercise: 12/12 hours. Treadmill 25 min/1.77 mi; 11k+ steps by bedtime

blood glucose:

9:30am: 145
4:30pm: 103
11pm: 77

food & meds:

9:30am: jardiance + phentermine
12:30pm: 2 slices of multigrain bread w/pb and zero sugar j; met+glip
6:30pm: spinach & cheese ravioli in Alfredo sauce
7:30pm: met+glip
9pm: mixed nuts; vodka tonic

Home and Gone Again

This entry covers Thursday and Friday and is technically published on Saturday ... early

Thursday night driving home it was a very interesting experience. 

I left the office at 5, about 3 hours later than I wanted. Being on a very full Metro was something I'd forgotten about. I got to the stop near where my car was parked and it was 98 degrees outside. I opted to walk over to the pub for some refreshment, and summon an Uber.

Remember lessons learned. Heed them. Obey them. 

It would be a 15 minute wait, so, I had a second drink and talked to the guy next to me about how cool the music was in the 80s when we were growing up. Whatever music system they had running was playing all our favorite childhood hits from ABBA to ZZ Top. INXS and A-ha. 

It was getting close to Uber time so I settled up the tab, left a giant tip, and hi-fived the dude at the bar who sang along to the Beastie Boys "Paul Revere" with me. 

The Uber and I met right on time (technology can be amazing) and I got in. I told him I felt like an idiot for calling him but he said in a very wonderful accent from wherever he was from "No! Do not feel shame! It is hot out. I've done so many half mile, one mile trips. People who usually walk to the market and back, all their things will be melted by the time they get home. No. It's no shame. Stay hydrated too!" 

Excellent advice, sir. One mile later, I'm putting stuff in my car and getting ready for the ride. It is 6:30pm. ETA to the house, 90 minutes. 

Except the weather had alternate plans for me. As I was driving to the north, to my left the sky was angry and ready to kick ass. To the right, sunshine, lollipops, puffy clouds, angel songs. And I needed to turn left. 

I got right to the rest area (and needed to pee, thanks to the G&Ts) and made it to and from the bathroom right before the sky unleashed the furies. Glad I was not trying to drive through that. I called Doug to let him know where I was (approximately 10 miles from my front door) and that I would be waiting it out for a little. He said it was done at our house, so it probably wouldn't be too long. 

Guster kept me company, and I kept the car running so the AC would keep me comfy and the defroster would keep it from getting too foggy in there. 

Back on the road, home, happy to see the dog, happy to see the fam, happy to watch hockey and sit and eat leftovers on my couch. 

Doug informed me that he and Geoff were going to be going up to see his mom next weekend. Oh, okay. I didn't remind him that I told him I was probably maybe going to go up to my mom's that weekend. Mostly because it has been about 6 months since he went there last, and it would be a very good thing for them to go up. Maybe see if she needs more help at the old house. She does want a new phone, and she said her tablet keeps overheating, so she wanted to maybe get something new. I told him to invest in an actual laptop for her.  

This morning, I didn't set an alarm. No one made noise, and I woke up organically at 9:15am. With my dog. I got up, futzed in the kitchen, futzed with laundry, and picked up the laptop to remind my team I was OOO today. Set my out of office, which I'd forgotten to do. And then I did helpdesk tickets, and a check in with my work son because he was not at the conference and we missed each other. And there was a lot of drama at his end which I wasn't looped in on. 

Glad to have been oblivious for a bit. 

I watered the garden and the indoor plants. Geoff went to the market and took my bank card so I hit the treadmill for a bit to make sure I keep up on steps. I hit the road to head to my friend's house in Baltimore about 2 hours later than I intended but. Made it by 6pm. We immediately headed to where the venue was, ate dinner, connected with S & H. 

I have said it before, and will again and again, Amythyst Kiah is a national treasure. What a fantastic show she gave us tonight. Before the show, I got a call from the venue. I'd asked if it was okay when I bought the tickets if an 11 year old was in attendance because there was no age guidance on the website. I never heard back. But they called to say they wanted to know the name of the 11 year old, so I told the woman that H had met Amythyst previously and told her he "played keys" so they gave her a note to see if she'd shout him out from the stage. And she did. Delightfully. 

The last two songs of the night H and I went to kind of the back and we danced, Empire of Love and Black Myself - anthems for a new age. 

We waited after and he got his CD signed and we took some pictures. And I asked the venue for copies of the poster, and they gave me four. 

There was another kid around H's age there, so I handed him a poster. He was thrilled and had her autograph it. 

When H talked to Amythyst, he specifically asked about her cat, and I think Amythyst was especially entertained by that. His name is Zuko (like from Avatar, the Last Airbender) and because he is Orange and Naughty. 

Gotta love it. 

We went out for more chinese food after the show because that was the only restaurant in the neighborhood still open after. And we had a mini dance party to some Guster songs when Hallie asked them to play something on their spotify or whatever service they had. 

Back at Hallie's very tired, very bedtime. Wondering if her orange cat will come see me. I left the door open for him.

Digits! Below.

Thursday digits

exercise: 12/12 hours.  three measurable walks around DC, don't feel like digging out the details from the fitbit app. 12k+ steps by bedtime

blood glucose:

7am: 141
4:30pm: 153
10pm: 118

food & meds:

7am: jardiance + phentermine
9am: 2 frittatas (goat cheese! asparagus! sausage!) some hash browns
2pm: met+glip; roast beef & cheddar on whole wheat wrap w/ltm
6pm: 2 G&Ts
8:30pm: chicken thighs & some dirty rice; met+glip
1 beer

Friday digits

exercise: 12/12 hours.  20 min/1.5 mi on the treadmill. 12k+ steps by bedtime

blood glucose:

9:30am: 124
4:15pm: 110
after midnight-ish: 146

food & meds:

9:30am: jardiance + phentermine
12pm: small bowl of mac & cheese w/bacon
1:15pm: met+glip
6:30pm: met+glip, chinese food; a couple beers
at the concert 2 beers
after the concert: more chinese food, 2 more beers

Conference Day 3

 Will include Thursday digits in an entry tomorrow but I just wanted to post that I got home safe, there were some hellacious storms across the region tonight and yeah, I pulled over and waited them out. 

My glucose monitor is upstairs and I have to remember all of what I ate etc, so that'll be part of tomorrow's post. 

I had a great trip. I love my co-workers. I love my work family. I love my projects and doing support. I liked going into the office for a couple of days but honestly I can live without doing it on a regualr basis. Happy to visit, don't want to live there.

Also, today is Jess' 34th birthday and I just wanted to think on how very much I love them and the good human they are. I'm so proud of the humans I brought into this world. 

Doug let me know that he and Geoff are going to visit his mom at the end of next week. I thought maybe I'd go visit my mom the end of next week but okay. He hasn't gone since November so do go. Do. Go. Go visit. 

I'm going to bed. More tomorrow. 

Conference Day 2

I massively overslept this morning. I had an alarm set for 7 and turned it off but thought I was resetting for 7:30. Woke up at 8:15. I had signed up for the early check-in desk slot, at 8am. 

Oops. I messaged the team and they told me they had it covered. Good. Nice. Okay. I jumped in the shower, had a bitch of a time cutting the tags off my dress that I wanted to wear, and almost came here with them on but finally succeeded without destroying my outfit. 

Today was a day filled with swag, and getting to meet some of my heroes. And finding out I'm someone's hero. 

Sometimes moments like this energize me and fill my sails. Overall these events are a giant drain on my social battery, but this felt fantastic and I needed it in order to get through today. 

At about 4pm the sky opened up. I was ready to go back to my hotel but swing into the grocery store for some hot bar stuff for dinner for myself. We have really good restaurants by the office, walking distance, but I knew I wasn't going to want to go to the hotel and go back again. 

After I left the office an older couple was coming towards me. I smiled, he smiled. She looked exhausted and he looked like he could go for days. Around the corner, I stopped in at the market and there was nothing good on the hot bar. So I walked around the corner to a restaurant that I've been to many times to have dinner solo. They were standing outside, he was looking at his phone, and she was leaning against the wall. 

So again, I smiled. She did smile back, while he was focused on the phone. I stood at the front counter and was completely ignored, so, I gave up and walked back out. They were about to walk in, and he said "oh, are they full, is there a wait?" 

I said, "no. I waited and they ignored me so I'm going elsewhere." 

"Oh," he said "Where's elsewhere. What's good around here?" 

My favorite game. I love when tourists ask me what to do. I loved this in Boston, and love it in DC. I told him about the brewery. "They have great beer, and really good food. You guys look beat, otherwise I'd send you another couple blocks up to the right to Union Market but you need to take a load off right now, am I right?" 

She smiled and nodded. 

"She's got a couple new hips and I've walked her a whole lot today, so you are absolutely right. Let's follow you to the brewery." 

He asked if I lived in the neighborhood, I said no, but my office is around the corner and I'm here for meetings.

"Are you a lawyer?" 

First time anyone has asked me that. Do I have lawyer vibes? I mean, I am wearing a dress and cute shoes. Maybe I could be a lawyer. "Nope. I do technical support." They're from Chicago and they're in town for the 50th anniversary of their friends in Virginia. They came a couple days early for some sight seeing. "We were here 40 years ago," he said. "She was pregnant with our first son. He'll be 39 next month." 

"It is a whole different city," she said.

We came in and I explained how ordering worked, and I asked well, what kind of beer do you like?

She said she didn't like beer, so I said they make craft cocktails, they have wine, not a big selection and tea, sweetened and unsweetened. He said "I like an IPA but only really Hazy IPA." Well then sir, have they got the beer for you! 

I ordered my beer and a burger, and leaned in to the beertender "I'm buying their first round, these people behind me. Don't tell 'em." 

He very cutely winked and me and said "I hear ya!" 

I turned around and told them to enjoy their time, and there was a table with 6 of my co-workers and I went over to join them. 

Didn't see them again before I left, but I do hope they enjoy their visit. And I like that he knew her needs after a long day of walking around. Get that woman a cocktail! 

It was a great day. 

Last day here tomorrow, I'm looking forward to home. As much as I love being here, I also love my house and my family and I'm very happy to be going home. 

Geoff sent me this today. Digits below. 

digits

exercise: 12/12 hours. Three walks that were measured by the fitbit but i'm too lazy to look up how long / far. 11k+ steps by bedtime

blood glucose:

8am: 118
4:45pm: 103
11:15pm: 117

food & meds:

8am: jardiance + phentermine
9am: small little container of overnight oats w/berries and spinach? it wasn't bad but very small. one sausage pattie, 3 strips of bacon
12:30pm: some chicken and veggie teriyaki, lots of green beans
1:30pm: met+glip 
4:45pm: chocolate chip cookie & some trail mix
6:30pm: cheeseburger & some fries; 2 beers

Conference Day 1

I woke up about 20 minutes before my alarm. I had left the window shade up overnight, and the mood light on inside the shower. I should take some pictures in this room. I did take some down the lobby while getting steps.

It's a vibe. 

My cel phone dinged, and my work wife said she was getting off the train in downtown. I knew she had to go to Dunks to get some donuts for the team so she dumped her stuff off at the office and walked to me. 

I had wanted to do that gym thing, but here I was scrambling to get ready to run downstairs to get with her. 

We got our donuts and coffee, came back here to drop me off so I could get ready. Shower. That whole thing. 

I got to the office at 9:30 in time for our team meeting, and donuts. We headed to the lobby, and clients started to come in. Registration, chats, catch ups. A client from the Eastern Shore was especially happy to see me. This was the first big in-house conference she'd attended and we had a great time catching up. Her boss showed up and they were scheduled for a private tour of the building. 

More clients. More co-workers. 

Everyone went into a group session and I opted to sit at registration instead of going to the big group session. 

The day was kind of a blur. Lunch. Sessions. Chattings. And then Dinner and cocktail reception. 

I sat with a client from Kansas who I saw in the morning walking around with his wife and kids early. We had a great catch up and chat about how they drove all the way here in 2 days, the wife and kids were doing the absolute tourist thing while he was tied up with us. They are leaving Friday morning and driving to Santa Claus Indiana, there's a water park/holiday themed holiday destination and there is a german restaurant that, he's not kidding, he's driven 11 hours to get to and stayed at a hotel next door so he could eat there several times. 

I guess I'll put that on my "maybe let's go there" list. 

Around 7pm, my social battery was asking for me to check out of the scene, so I did. Back at the hotel, I realized I should have gone to the market and grabbed something, because I'd be hungry by like 8. Sadly, I did not. And by 10 pm I was mad at myself, but I didn't want to go walking around the neighborhood to the market. 

That's okay. 

In the morning, I'm supposed to head over early to meet with a client from Guam. They are here for the conference and having tech support problems. Considering that when it is 13 hours ahead of us there, having them in the same time zone is a joy. So I can tackle some of the issues and problems that they have, and have breakfast. Alarm is set. 

I didn't get a good picture, but, I am reminded of how I love this neighborhood in DC. I did see a man wearing a top hat walking 2 pitties down the street, and ... I resisted saying hello. 

Digits below some pictures from the hotel when I just went on my last steps of the night journey.

digits

exercise: 11/12 hours. Missed 3pm because I was sitting chatting with a client and lost track of time. no measurable walk. 11k+ steps by bedtime

blood glucose:

8am: 110
5pm: 119
11:30pm: 154

food & meds:

8am: jardiance + phentermine
11am: 1 dunkin donut
12:30pm: turkey & bacon sandwich w/mustard and veggies; met+glip
two Coke Zero
6:30pm: tiny cheeseburger slider, a lot of buffalo chicken dip and crostinis. One beer 
7:30pm: met+glip
2 beers back at the hotel

Sometimes just call the Uber

I had big plans for this morning. 

I knew Doug had to be up early, so I was going to wake up same time do stuff blah blah blah. Good lord. It didn't happen. 

We both were up around 2 and went to the bathroom. He went to the guest room so I knew I wouldn't be hearing his alarm go off.. My alarm was set for 8:30 just in case I didn't wake up at the same time as Doug... and I didn't get up. I didn't hear him get up. I didn't hear him come upstairs to get his clothes, his laptop, anything. 

When my alarm went off at 8:30, I heard him close the front door and go. A half hour later I think than his original plan. 

Got my coffee and my dog and I went out to the patio. I answered some tickets, did some other work, attended scrum, and got to finishing my packing up. 

I got in the car a little after 12, realized I had forgotten to water the houseplants. That's okay, they'll be fine until I get back. sensitive little babies that they are, they're pretty tough. Made it to S's house a little before 2, and started to walk to the Metro. 

On paper, it said it is about a little over a mile. But, I kind of didn't go the most direct way and it ended up over a mile and a half. And it was hot. And I was dragging my wheely bag behind me. Regretting that I thought to myself "it's only a mile. I can do this it is only a mile!" 

When you don't go the route that is only a mile, and you accidentally put yourself another more than half a mile, Jesus. Don't do that to yourself. Call an Uber when you have your suitcase. 

I made it to the pub next to the metro, I had to pee. So I went in, used the bathroom and ordered a Gin & Tonic. I earned that. Sweating my ass off, finally cooling down in the AC, I ordered a second one. I deserved that one as well. 

Metro into town was super easy, hotel check in smooth. The hotel is cute, but the rooms are all really small. King bed but it is tucked up against the window, and if this was a room I had to share with Doug it would be a challenge. But solo, this is nice. 

There was a baby shower for one of my colleagues here at the office for this conference, so I ran over to connect with that. Some of my other teammates were also at that little gathering so we decided to head over to the brewery by the hotel, and we are all staying at the same hotel. 

I basically was feeling wiped out, opted to head back to the hotel instead of going to watch the Knicks game with the gang. They're texting me about how much fun they are having, and a "cute little DC rat ran through the outdoor beer garden." 

"He's so little, not like a New York City rat." 

Okay. Ha. 

I'm very happy I'm in my hotel. 

They have an iPad to control everything, change the lights and vibe, control the TV, put up the blinds, put down the blinds, all the fun stuff. 

Tomorrow, early start. I think I will do my best to get up and run in the gym. I packed my bathing suit but there is no pool. They do have a gym. If I'm able to motivate myself to go, that'll be a good thing. But even if I don't, I'll still get a lot of steps in, I am sure. 

Digits below this picture of the DC metro map. 

digits

exercise: 12/12 hours.  a couple measured walks but the big one was 35 min/1.56 mi. 15k+ steps by bedtime

blood glucose:

8:30am: 129
4pm: 153
10pm: 143

food & meds:

8:30am: jardiance + phentermine
11:45am: english muffin w/pb & low sugar j
noon: met+glip
3pm: 2 g&t
4:30pm: slice of baby shower cake
6pm: chicken fingers and 2 beers
8:30pm: met+glip

Farmer Chris the Chaos Gardener

The previous tenants had an RV that they parked in the yard, it killed all the grass, and left a wasteland. This spring, giant horse lettuces and thistles took over the spot. I didn't take a before picture of this for you so you can see what this was like, but. Let me tell ya - she was full.

We put out the 2 raised beds, which, by the way, are making great progress. But the rest of the area, oh my goodness. Doug has hit it with roundup, Geoff mowed it, and finally I got so sick of these shitty things that I decided to pull them up. Weed that shit. 

Now, I hate weeding. Absolutely hate it. But I was in a rather determined mood. Doug was napping, and I just put on the headphones, cranked up the Decemberists, and had at it. 

It took me 90 minutes to get this far. I had picked up gloves at ACE hardware, and I'm very very glad I did. Even with the gloves, i got a nasty blister on my palm, and on my thumb, and somehow managed to cut the back of my middle finger,  all on my right hand. If I didn't have these dumb cheap gloves, I probably would have given up after a few minutes.

This, dear hearts, was hard. These stupid things have deep ass roots, and they network together. I bent my trowel and after 90 minutes I said "why am I sitting on the ground using my trowel! I should get a shovel!" 

But the shovel was not helpful. The ground was too hard. And at that point I was too over it. I'm standing up, no longer on the ground, I'm out of here.

Honestly, this kind of task needs professional skills. Some dudes would have had that whole big ass rectangle cleared in a half hour. 

But I did the level set best a girl could do. And I got filthy doing it. Sometimes that's the fun part. 

Doug was on the treadmill when I came back inside, I sat on the porch drinking as much water as I could. He took a shower and headed to the market. While he was in the shower, I hit the treadmill, I think it was 15 minutes. I just knew that I had a lot of movement and activity but not a lot of actual steps all day. The 15 minute effort got me well into the 10k point well before bedtime. 

And then I showered. 

And it was a great shower. You know the feeling when you are just so dirty, and stinky, and just have dirt all under your finger nails. Scrubbing your skin and watching all the brown head down the drain. I laughed because yesterday I cleaned the shower so I ended up having to do it again. No worries. Clean showers rock.

Doug went to Aldi to get things Geoff forgot to get (and, also forgot to get a couple things Geoff forgot!) and made dinner. After dinner, I went out and sowed wildflower seeds, I mixed up a bunch of potting soil and two packets of seeds, and just threw them all over the cleared area. I poured 3 full watering cans of water on them. I said a blessing. 

Go little seeds, go! 

The packets say 43 days to sprouting which is a long time. I probably should have done this a month or so ago. 

But that's chaos gardening by Chris. It's been a while since we've been able to do any sort of gardening, chaotic or orderly. When we owned the house that we lost to the bank, we had a giant semi-circle in the driveway and Doug would order bags of wildflower seeds and just go out and huck'em into the island. Minimal work prepping the ground, maybe a hoe, some raking away of the pine needles. Expose the dirt and give her seeds. I feel like I need more seeds. Like do it the total Doug way from the island. He called it Darwinnian Gardening. Throw out seeds and let's see who makes it! 

While I was sowing the seeds he was mixing up a concoction. Green drinks are also the best drinks. 

Tomorrow, I have to go to the office. I'm already exhausted from even just thinking about it. Doug also has to go to his office but he's leaving at 8am because traffic. I'm going to leave around 11, drive to S's house, park my car and walk to the metro from her place. It is a little over a mile walk, so hey, I'll get my steps in!  I'm staying at a hotel near the office, and will be there until Thursday when I check out. I already miss my dog. And the maker of green or blue or pink drinks.

Digits below. 

digits

exercise: 12/12 hours. did a treadmill run, about a mile. Phone is upstairs so I'll edit for accuracy later. 10k+ steps by bedtime

blood glucose:

9:00am: 112
4:30pm: 112
10:15pm: 119

food & meds:

9am: jardiance + phentermine
11:30am: potato roll w/roast beef & 2 slices of colby jack
1pm: met+glip
6:45pm: one piece of french bread pizza w/pepperoni & mushroom
7:30pm: met+glip
some sort of green cocktail concoction by Doug

Rock you like a hurricane

Today was a helluva long day. I didn't set an alarm and woke up at 8:30am, which is when I usually start working, but after a few minutes of panic, I realized hey, it's Saturday. Alright! Okay! Alright! 

I had to pee so out of bed I got. Doug was already up and he and Toffee were on the couch doing the morning phone/cuddle thing. 

I farted around the house and he started farting around outside at 10. I took a shower, and realized the shower needed a scrubbing so I commenced to doing that. I got out of the shower and the toilet looked gross, so. I commenced to doing that cleaning thing. 

Pretty soon it was 10:50 and I knew I had to leave so I whipped up a quick lunch. Gotta eat something since I probably wasn't going to see food until after 2pm. 

Dout was washing the cars when I went out so I said "oh, okay? I was gonna take a car?"

He seemed confused even though we talked about me going 900 times. So. He rinsed off the car with air conditioning (the Mini needs some help and I refuse to drive her until she has AC). And I hit the road. I remembered that I needed gas.

Mind you.

Mind everyone. 

It is an hour and ..... 10, 15 minutes to where I'm going. Henry's band goes on at 12:15. I'm now not going to arrive until 12:30 if I'm lucky. 

I texted S to let her know and she said it was okay if I didn't come. But no. What kind of Auntie am I if I'm not coming down. 

"I will just be late so I know their sets go for like 45 min. I won't miss .... much?"

I got there at 12:29. 

Ha! 

I did miss his keyboard part on Girls Just Wanna Have Fun, but S was sure to record it for me. It was very very good.

We very much enjoyed cheering for all the kids, not just Hen. Pictures will be at the bottom. 

At the end of the show, Hen said "Well, it's pretty much tradition that we go out to eat after one of these shows!" S told me I didn't need to join but I wasn't going to miss out. Especially because his real blood auntie and his grandparents once again left and didn't join us. 

It is tradition. I love traditions.

Hen said he didn't want to go to the place we usually go to so I suggested we head to Brew Belly. Hen had not heard of it, and I said "I think you may like it." And he did. 

I ordered myself a cheesesteak, but shared it with him. S was objecting that his food was coming and he could wait, but my food was there and I wanted him to save me from the roll. 

"I'm a Breadaholic," he said to me, as he chowed down on 1/4 of the roll, with a bunch of the cheesesteak stuff on it. 

"Well my friend, once upon a time I was too." 

We had a grand time, yapping about all the things. I showed S's mom pictures of my dumb face from when I fell. S hadn't seen them since I didn't put them up on FB. Everyone was screaming. 

I have to say, it was kind of fun. Like, Look at me, I survived myself. 

I headed home, traffic was great, I was blasting Guster and missing my sister sitting in the passenger's seat to sing harmony with me. I'm always Ryan, she's always Adam. Gusther. 

As I approached my exit, there were the storms. Everything was sunny and beautiful back behind me, Frederick and Montgomery County. Shit this looks bad. Sing louder.

Getting off the highway, the road I come on to is a two way highway split down the middle. Trees were dancing, roadside signs were airborne. A tree landed on a woman's car where she was making a left by the Walgreens. I was in the far right lane, any other time I may have stopped but I saw the car behind her, the guys got out and ran to her. I knew she was in good hands. 

The traffic lights had no power. I wasn't sure if we were in a Derecho, I just knew I was a mile from my house and could make it no problem. And I did. 

Here I am, Rock you like a hurricane. That was one of the songs Hen's group played. They did a great job. 

Our power was out, Doug was napping and Geoff was sitting in the living room with Toffee, who was very happy to see me. 

About an hour later we got power back. Geoff made dinner and I left for a walk. I needed the steps so I leaned into it and headed out on a loop walk that I coulda extra looped but man I was feeling tired. 

Like I said, this was a long day. 

Digits below.

digits

exercise: 12/12 hours. Post-Thunderstorm walk. 30 min/1.51 mi; 10k+steps by midnight

blood glucose:

8:30am: 106
5:15pm: 143
10:30pm: 96

food & meds:

8:30am: jardiance + phentermine
10:45am: left over chicken in cheese sauce
2:30pm: part of a cheesesteak, some poutine, 2 beers, met+glip
7pm: meatballs
9:15pm: met+glip
red wine+diet ginger ale

Buggy

Again, up very early. I suppose it is good and fine, because I actually slept through the night, which you know is odd for me. 

But at about 6:45, it was time to get all the way up instead of just thinking about trying to fall back asleep. 

I did my usual morning things, Dog came down to brekkie, I brewed coffee, and we went outside together.

 It was already warm at 7am, testimony of things to come. I walked over to the raised beds and things are looking well. 

Insert Bob Bencher's voice when he talks to his veggie garden:

Hello peppers, hello tomatoes. Hello cucumber that my dog stomped on. Are you doing okay today? Oh hello little lettuce thingies popping on up. Everyone is looking so nice!

I wandered over to the pansies in the planter and started to deadhead a few of them and ... weird? It looked like the bricks were MOVING but that is not possible. Closer look, with glasses on.

It.

It was ants. 

A million billion ants, all moving furiously into my planter. I looked at the wall, and it was covered. Ugh. 

The previous owners left a can of ant/roach spray for us.

 How polite? I guess this was a problem for them too? 

I went to the pantry, grabbed it, came back out and went absolutely scorched earth on these dudes. 

Absolute little motherfuckers but I am glad I saw them before they came inside.

We get bugs inside, too. I'm not sure how some of them get in, but, they are unwanted bugs that I slap with the nearest shoe. Fuckers. 

Doug is going to buy some diatomaceous earth to sprinkle everywhere. I have fond memories of his pappy spreading it all around their house in Florida to keep all the pests out. So we'll be getting some of our own as Doug becomes his grandfather. 

We had a really good day today. Every three weeks we have a big team meeting with the digital teams, and everyone gets 7 minutes to say what they did this "sprint" and what the next sprint is going to entail. My work son presents for his (and my!) team. And literally, "IT'S HAPPENING!" was the theme of his presentation with this clip from The Office.

 In in 2 weeks, we launch this new product. So everyone, STAY FUCKING CALM!!!! 

We had no other meetings today so it was a lot of help tickets and yapping with each other. He left early for a doctor's appointment, and to head to his parents' house for the weekend. So we did a Zoom and combed through some things that are resolved, I brought some new junk to his attention. We had a laugh.

Tomorrow, another School of Rock show, this time it is H on the Keys. It may be hot as hell out there, but I'm looking forward to going and supporting my little buddy. 

Digits below!  

digits

exercise: 12/12 hours. Quickie Treadmill run. 15 min/1 mile; Walk later in the day, solo, 25 min/1.27 mi. 10k+ steps by bedtime

blood glucose:

6:45am: 154
4pm: 147
10:30pm: 95

food & meds:

6:45am: jardiance + phentermine
1:30pm: left over salad and chicken from dinner last night; met+glip
5:30pm: one cheeseburger, no bun, a few french fries, giant slab of tomato w/mayo
7:15pm: met+glip; mixed nuts at some point
red wine

Tell Your Friends

This morning, I found out my friend Kim's husband passed away Friday. I also found out a Guster Fan Friend also died. 

Another Guster fan friend just was released from the hospital after 13 days post-appendectomy and septic infection. Another Guster fan friend had spinal surgery. My friend Deb's boyfriend had an aortic valve replacement today, and, talking with my friend in Phoenix she tells me a college friend of ours is in a major NYC hospital with like, heart and lung failure. 

Damn. 

That's a lot for one day. I mean, 2 deaths and 4 major hospital thingies is an absolute lot. 

It puts me in my feels. 

Anyway. I woke up at 6am, was fully awake at 6 am, got up, had some Toffee Time with Coffee, or Coffee Time with Toffee. I went and watered the gardens, up front and out back. I got a shower, and I was all done before 9am. 

Getting up early has a good side. 

The bad side was that by 4pm I was absolutely ready for bed. 

I set up a marinade for chicken and tossed together a nice little salad with feta, tomato, and cucumber with a tzatziki sauce. I hit the treadmill after work but didn't get on soon enough to get a good amount of time in. So I grilled the chicken, ate the dinner and was pondering doing the rest of my steps (since I was 3k short for the day) before 8pm when all I really wanted was to get in bed. 

My friend Amy called from Phoenix. Know anyone looking to buy a house in Phoenix? She needs to sell her house so she can relocate here to the East. 

I put my ear buds in and went for that walk. We had a fantastic talk, and I'm looking forward to her moving here to the East where she will be about an hour and a half away. Fantastic. 

I missed the hockey. But. Connecting with a friend is important, because you never know. Someone may die unexpectedly, someone may need surgery and almost die, and someone else may be in a hospital, waiting for an organ. 

There is a song by a band called Dr. Dog called "Tell Your Friends," and the last line is "Tell all your friends you love them, you don't see them every day." 

So. 

I love you. 

Here's the video if you are interested. Thank you Eric Slick for this very interesting little piece of music. 

Digits. Below. 

digits

exercise: 12/12 hours.  quick treadmill run before grilling 15 min/1.04 mi; walk while talking to Amy Reb, 25 min/1.2 mi. 11k+ steps by bedtime

blood glucose:

6am: 137
4:30pm: 154
10pm: 218 (cookies?)

food & meds:

6am: jardiance + phentermine
9am: baby bel cheese
1pm: pb&j sandwich; met+glip
6:30pm: grilled greek chicken w/ feta, cuke, tomato salad in tzatziki sauce
7pm: several of the little cookies i made the other day (mistake?)
7:30pm: Met+Glip
no alcohol 

Mountain Meadows Massacre

We listen to a lot of podcasts, a lot of history based podcasts to be exact. Some of these are very good for putting me right to sleep. But sometimes we get one, and I listen to the whole thing, and I'm very awake as a result. Last night was one of those episodes.

When we went to bed last night the first podcast Doug pulled up was Dark History's episode about the Black Dog of Bungay. Very interesting but nothing new to me, I fell asleep rather quickly.  Doug sets the Spotify to turn off at the end of the episode. Which is okay, when I actually am asleep by the end of the episode. Sometimes, I'm still awake but I know he's asleep, so I won't start up another. 

At some point between 2 and 3am, Doug and I were both awake at the same time. I went down to the bathroom and he started another podcast. True Crime Historian is one we've listened to for years, and the latest episode concerns the Meadow Mountains Massacre. 

It isn't often that I hear a story or a podcast about a topic I know nothing about. But I'd never heard this or knew about it. A lot of history podcasts go over the same topics, over and over, but no one I knew had covered this one. 

And it got my attention. 

I listened to the full episode, and after it was done just ... laid there in the dark thinking about how horrible it was. The sky began to lighten, it was 6am. I got up. 

What an absolutely shitty thing. What a horrible atrocity. And like, I had no idea. 

The last time I learned about something super epic and horrible was the Tulsa Oklahoma Black Wall Street Massacre, which just marked its 105th anniversary. Again, no idea of this piece of history. 

There are things that have happened in this nation that a lot of people want to just simply cover over and forget. To "Make America Great Again," as it were we just focus on the good stuff! The COOL Stuff! Yay! Huzzah! Siss Boom Bah!

But to be honest, and let's get some real talk here, this nation has done a lot of super shitty things. These two examples, among many others, things perpetrated by our government and leaders all the way down to neighbor versus neighbor. 

In this 250th year of the country, where everyone (well, almost) is working hard to celebrate all the awesomeness of US (US. us) we can and should acknowledge the deviation from awesomeness straight into the realm of downright evil. 

I'm having a rough time with all this Make America Great Again business. Great for whom? Great when? Great when we didn't let black people drink from water fountains or sit at lunch counters in Woolworth's? When we denied children education because of their skin color? When we strung humans up in trees for crimes they didn't commit? 

What era was our "Great" era? 

Anyway. There is a lot to think about, and people get hackles up on both sides of any argument. I'll just say that I'm feeling the excitement of this. 

Not a super uplifting post, I will separate the digits from this and post this solo. You deserve a better post than me bemoaning history.

Baby's First Global Running Day

I guess today is Global Running Day. Had I known earlier in the day I would have pushed my treadmill run to a 5k in honor. But. Dinner smelled really good and I was happy I did my requisite half hour after wanting to quit today after 15 min... 

Because I've never "run" or "been a runner," I have no idea on the culture or things or like how anyone knows it is Global Running Day. I only found out about this because someone at work posted it in Slack. 

So I shared my contribution to mark the day. I work with some serious runners. Marathonners, under 10 min. mile people. Jerks. But they're very supportive and loving. I appreciate that.

One of my friends posted on Instagram that she "ate shit" on her trail run today, and added pictures of her cut up hand and her completely swollen knee. We chatted and I sent her the pictures of when I also ate shit a couple weeks ago. She said as long as we're all better by August for the Guster 5k, that's all that matters. Yes indeed friend. I'm worried about her knee though. Oooof. Knees are important, but, she's 35. She'll bounce back. 

Nothing substantial to report. I was happy to get that in today because it was a busy one, I tells ya. Maybe next year I'll have a better grasp of the celebration and get in a bigger contribution. I started out the run in an under 13 min. mile pace but got tired and ended up walking the last 10 minutes. So I wouldn't have done a 5k anyway. Not at all. 

The image below is to mark the pace, and see where we are next year. Who knows. Mark your calendars. 

Digits below! 

digits

exercise: 12/12 hours. 30 min treadmill run, 2.1 mi.; 10k+ steps by bedtime

blood glucose:

7am: 152
4:30pm: 132
10:45pm: 153

food & meds:

8am: jardiance + phentermine
noon: left over mac & cheese w/hamburger and extra hot queso dip mixed in (ouch!)
1pm: met+glip
6:30pm: some sort of chicken in a creamy cream cheese/cheddar sauce? a la Geoff with sauteed asparagus.
through the course of the evening, 3 beers
9:15pm: met+glip

Check In On The Kids

I haven't written much about the kids as of late. Mostly, because they are adult humans, they could tell their own stories. But there are things going on. Here's the haps.

Jess
Today was a big day, Jess moved house. 

The place they were living in got sold, and after some stops and starts and unsure of moving dates the closing is happening, and the moving commenced. 

I offered to come up and help, I felt like when we were up recently they were underprepared for where I think I would personally be for a move in two weeks. But. They waved me off and said "I have lads, and Shane is going to come help with Dijon day of, so we're covered." 

Movers were hired (no one was available on the first, of course) and so it was good to go today. 

I also am thinking of C, who is Jess' landlord. This whole move was a saga in the making! The house was sold, and 2 of the 3 units had to vacate. C had to move first, so the first guy had a place to go, so Camp was the destination for C. Makes sense until the fall. 

Good, right, okay. 

Then, Jess. Where's Jess gonna go. 

C has a house that had a unit under construction (and it had been under construction for ohhhhhh, forever). That unit had to be finished, and a guy in one unit in that building would move in there, and Jess would take his unit. 

But. 

The under construction unit really had to be finished. It was maybe 98% finished as of this weekend. The kid moved in there, okay okay okay great super okay, and Jess was able to move today. 

His unit will hopefully be fully finished this weekend when he goes out of town. Sending good vibes for completion. 

So in offering to help Jess, and getting waved off, what I should have thought of was what C would have to do to get that unit ready for Jess. 

A lot of work went into painting and freshening that up, C really went all in on it. And I feel like I could have been helpful. 

With as not-exciting as our anniversary was, yeah. I could have gone. And maybe another week at mom's if I drove up. Or something. 

But. things got done and the chessboard is set, the Rook moved there and the Bishop is here and now the Knight can be over here and the Queen is in her camp, and we'll know where C will end up in October. 

Apartments are expensive, and C is so good to her tenants. The going rate for things, for one or two bedroom apartments is outrageous everywhere. See Geoff's update below.

For instance, we rented a whole ass house when we moved here for 2300 bucks. A DC apartment is 3000 for a one room, english basement style in kind of a crummy area of town. 3500 for something in one of the hi-rises. A studio in one of those is well over 2k. And this was before the pandemic. Since then, things have gotten wilder. And people pay it. 

When Doug and I were looking to move here, we were frankly astonished. And that was in 2017. 

Jess called at around 7:30. One more trip back to the old place. The guy in the next apartment laughs at TV loudly and this honestly confuses her dog. Which is sort of funny. WHY! WHY IS MAN LAUGH! WHYYYYYY! 

Jess told me their movers didn't come until VERY late. They were scheduled for 11am-1pm, but arrived at like 3pm. Which had Jess in an absolute tizzy of panic. But. They came. The movers were, as they put it, "bangers." And the apartment was empty and moved over to the new place in an hour. 

One of the movers felt sick, and almost passed out. Jess was hyper concerned (like, I mean, I would be) and had him sit down, gave him crackers, water, asked when he last ate, and he couldn't remember. "My dude, you did a move this morning and now you're doing this like.... you need to eat. Food. Important." 

He was concerned with dropping something and Jess was like "my stuff is just stuff. It's just stuff. I am worried about you." 

Honestly, this kind of thing makes me extra proud of the kid I've raised to adulthood. Just, don't drop my 80 gallon fish tank though. 

I hope they (both Jess and Dijon) are able to settle in tonight, really relax. I was surprised they didn't take yesterday, today, and tomorrow off but I guess they have a week off in 2 weeks so they didn't want to press their luck. Moving is hard though, and just trying to get everything done while only blocking off one actual day off, that's rough. Very rough. 

I raised my kid with too strong a work ethic? or something? Maybe? Anyway. 

I need to call my mom to make sure she didn't mail Jess' birthday card yet. I told her to wait and I'd get the address. So. Just put a meeting on my schedule to do that in the morning.

Geoff
Last year, the boy missed the deadline to apply for his associates degree at the community college where he got his certificate. He said "oh well" and was unbothered even though Doug was a little ... furious. He had a job, he was perfectly happy doing that. And figured he'd wait until this year.

Well. For this year, we moved two hours away from his school. I will say, if he had gotten into that program, we'd probably still be back in Silver Spring there. This house never would have happened, or at least, not yet. Well, this specific house wouldn't have happened. Personally, I'm not mad that he missed that deadline and we did what we did.

He had his plans upset by us, but, we figured it was workable. He could go to the community college over by Winchester. A year out. He commenced to applying for jobs. Tons of interviews, no offers. He has had some lessons in geography. Gettysburg and Harrisburg are way too far away. Don't apply for jobs there. Or Baltimore, for fuck's sake. Just because there's a highway that goes directly there from here, no. that's like .... 80 miles or some shit. Jesus. No.

It has been frustrating for him, because he has the marketable skills to get a damn job but he's applied for things and applied for things, and nothing. Bupkis. 

In the fall, he did take one class through the community college he got his Certificate from, at a location much closer to our house. But still a long long ride. Once a week was enough for him to know that.

So there he was. In February, he applied to the community college close to us but still in Virginia. He got accepted, but then... they emailed him to say they were not running the program after all. Sorry. And oh, they may not be running it in 2027 either. Not sure if not enough applicants or what. But what a let down. 

The next nearest program is where he went for the certificate, way back east. Way. Back. East. Like a 2 hour drive. 

I told him to reach out to that program, see if they had a spot, even though it was past the application deadline. Again. You can't tell if you don't ask. This was through no fault of his doing. They accepted him, they had him lined up and ready to go, and then boom - rug pulled out. You can't tell if you don't ask. You can't tell if you don't ask.

So he did, and they did, and they had him apply. 

There were 2 open slots, 3 applicants, and the two students from Virginia would have right of first refusal.

Geoff is a very negative person sometimes. He said "Those two Virginia students are going to take the slots so. Oh well. That means another year. I'm almost 30. I live with my parents. I can't find a job. My life sucks." 

You live with your parents and have a safe place to be. You are greatly appreciated here. Everything will work out. Everything will work out. 

So sure enough, one of the Virginia students declined the offer - the space was Geoff's for the taking. 

So now here we are. He's working with the college to figure out what his class schedule will be. He is still applying for jobs, here and closer to the school. In fact, he applied for a job at the hospital where Doug works. Which is actually aligned with the academic program he's going into. 

It would be nice, really nice, if he got that job. 

The one problem then is honestly, he'd have to move. 

If he had a job out there, and school out there, yeah. He'd not be commuting from here.

Problem is.... 

Rent. Rents in the DC area, especially Virginia are outrageous. Rooms for Rent, outrageous. We'd probably be better off if he only has school to put him in a hotel one or two nights a week. 

But Jesus, I've asked this before. How the hell do young people get a start these days. My first apartment (and yes, I'm an Old. And I'm crotchety). My first apartment was $400 a month. I could barely afford it. But I did. And I lived by myself. And I worked my ass off. 

So we'll see how things go with him. I kind of feel like No Job is the best solution, and ... figure out the housing. He has money in the bank, the only thing is he'd have to build a credit history in like 2 months. Ha. I could always co-sign on a lease. Something. Whatever. 

Or do the hotel thing and have him come back and forth but stay a couple nights during the week, depending on his schedule. 

Anyway. Those are the updates on the children. I pray for them daily. It is a hard world to get your feet in, and under you, and stay upright. 

Digits below this excellent picture of Jess' friend Shane who came to help today. Because Shane knows, blue drinks are the best drinks. 

digits

exercise: 12/12 hours.  Treadmill run after work. 30 min/2.15 mi. Thought about pushing further but dinner was ready. 10k+ steps by bedtime

blood glucose:

8am: 140
4:45pm: 174
11pm: 190 (check the strawberries and ice cream dessert below)

food & meds:

8am: jardiance + phentermine
noon: english muffin w/pb
1pm: met+glip
through the afternoon: four nice little chocolate chip butterscotch chip cookies that I baked 
6pm: some sort of shrimp and bacon concoction with a heavy cream tomato sauce over shells. Really good. 
8:30pm: met+glip; bowl of low carb vanilla ice cream w/ a strawberry sauce that doug whipped up last night (before the 2 pints of strawberries went rogue). Really good. 
red wine