Happy Early Birthday

I used to work with a girl who knew when everyone in the office's birthday was. Unless someone was actually celebrating a birthday she'd come in every morning and tell everyone "happy early birthday."

Any day that is not your birthday is your early birthday. 

The day before and the day after are your early birthday. 

She never told anyone "happy belated birthday" because she'd rather wish them a happy early birthday for next year, the day after the person's birthday.

Kind of weird and quirky, and my goodness she was a lot of fun. I will never forget this fact and I think about her every day (she didn't die - she lives in Philadelphia now. Make your own joke, I guess?) 

So if you are reading this, hello, and happy early birthday (unless, you know...) 

Today is Jess' early birthday for their actual birthday tomorrow. They are coming to visit and should be here around dinner time tomorrow. Not sure a plan yet. Going out, grilling, ordering delivery, we'll call an audible for what to do. But I kind of want to go get a little cake or something, to make it for reals. A for reals birthday. 

I truly miss spending time with them. I can't wait until they arrive. And after they leave I will be sad.

There's a lot I need to do before they arrive, like change the bed sheets and vacuum, the usual cleaning stuff. The bathroom needs a quick wipe down, I cleaned it last weekend so it is in good shape except for the sink and toilet. 

I also want to either go out there and finish the manual weeding of the patio or finally convince Doug to do it. He's gone for a nap. And after the nap, a walk. 

We got up early this morning and instead of burning the day we got out early to the Farmers' Market the next town over. We picked out a ton of strawberries which are delicious and fantastic, but didn't come home with anything else. We took a walk around the town to play Pokémon because it's a great little town to do so in, and noticed a little restaurant we'd never been too (way too pricey) is gone and a taco restaurant is opening soon. Looking forward to the little taco restaurant! 

This little town is known for a lot of little somewhat high-end antique stores and what some may consider "junk" antique shops. There was a lovely 3 tier plant stand that I could see in our yard but not for $70. A little too dear for something to put outside in the weather.

We went to two bookstores, one is an English bookstore with an entire floor of French and History books, and people rent the upstairs for meetings, tea parties, D&D. It's very cute, and they have wonderful cards, posters, and gifts. The other one is a Russian/Ukrainian bookstore with english translations of some of the more famous works. They used to be located in the basement of what looked like a medical office building, and we never visited because we weren't sure what the deal was with it. But now they are in town, and while not on the very main drag, they sure are easier to locate. 

We had fun chatting with the owner, and looking at the books which were mysterious to me. Even books with familiar covers (Richard Scarry Busytown books, Eric Carle, and Harry Potter). I was thinking about how I don't know what any noises are that the letters make. I have no idea. I look at them and I don't know is this a Shssxx sound or Rrr? 

Foreign languages that have "our" letters, well, I can figure them out and try to pronounce the words but I have no context for so many languages on this planet. It almost makes me sad. I'm looking at code, secret code, and I don't have the key. 

Almost inspires me to learn but I feel like I've lost enough time in life not learning languages, starting now is weird. 

I went to the craft store and bought more beads (I have yet to make a bracelet, y'all) and talked to a girl working at the store about some ideas for my necklaces

Here are two pictures I took today at the bookstore. I thought the guy on the cover of the book next to Obama was Beck. I don't think he is. But. And I want to know what is going on with the octopi, why is the jellyfish sad, and what dire warning does the crab bring?  

Digits below.

digits:

exercise: 12/12 hours of 250 steps. dedicated 10+ on our pokemon walk,

blood glucose:

8:45am: 157
4pm: 150
11pm: 143

food:

coffee, water, iced coffee
11:45am: 2 left over kielbasa, metformin
4pm: carrots+hummus
6:30pm: chicken breast marinade in orange juice, rum, and a bunch of other things, grilled. over a large bed of field greens, diced sharp cheddar, salad sprinkles/nuts/craisins/etc. blue cheese dressing
7:30pm: bowl of strawberries in milk, sprinkled with real sugar (I thought doug was using splenda but. he used the real stuff). 
9pm: klondike heath bar ice cream, the no sugar added version (still 23 g carbs)
vodka tonic

Cheese Sandwich

I was talking with a friend (hi, Friend) about "kids" who work for you when you run a business. Or, interns would also be applicable in this case. 

Sometimes you get a young'un in your workspace for the summer, and they are eager and hungry to learn the thing. Go getters! Just ready to work and learn. 

Sometimes they don't really care about the thing but they are there because a parent made the arrangement for a summer job or internship and they have to take it. They may half ass it but they take correction well, and in the end we all make friends along the way. 

Other times, the person is, well, not awesome. 

I've had some not awesome interns in my life. And I've had some unbelievably awesome interns in my life. Heck, I like to think I was an awesome nepo baby or intern myself back in the day.

My friend and I likened the humans to sandwiches. One kind is a big huge Primanti Bros sammitch piled high with all the fillings. And the other is a cheese sandwich. Just. Cheese. 

White bread, one slice of American, no mayo, no tomato. 

Both are sandwiches. Right? Which would you maybe prefer?

And I started to think about it, that my son is kind of a cheese sandwich? But with the right work environment, someone is going to put some tomato slices in there. Maybe some hummus and a couple slices of turkey. Maybe grill the sandwich a little bit so the cheese gets melty and the bread is crunchy toasty. 

But until the right place comes along, he's not the best sandwich. He has ingredients, they need to be arranged. 

I believe he'll be a good cheese sandwich with some hummus and tomato, and maybe a nice pickle on the side sometime. You know I love pickles. 

Anyway. He's been struggling with his application to take the phlebotomy licensing exam. He needs to prove he graduated from high school, so he got his high school to send him a pdf of his diploma. They didn't accept that. So he asked what they wanted. They want a transcript (note: they didn't ask for a transcript, they asked for "proof of High School Graduation," so, he gave that to them). Now he has to reach back out to the high school, get a certified transcript. 

Also, I question why you need to ask someone for proof of high school graduation when they have a college certificate of completion of a program. What, do you need his Kindergarten Graduation too? 

I kind of feel sometimes that people are cheese sandwiches, and organizations are cheese sandwiches too. This particular org may be a super important org, but to be honest, they are coming off as a moldy cheese sandwich with rancid mayo. 

It's a two way street, innit? 

No picture today. Just thoughts of cheese sandwiches.

digits:

exercise: 12/12 hours of 250 steps. 

blood glucose:

9:15am: 195
6pm: 143
10:30pm: 181

food:

coffee, water, iced coffee
noon: metformin, turkey & 3 slices of muenster on 647 rye, schmear of hummus
6:30pm: 2 pieces of chicken thighs, grilled. large plate of mixed greens, some salad topping of pepitas, nuts, cranberries, chipotle ranch dressing
wine
7pm: metformin+jardiance
8pm: fritos/handfuls of the salad topping

Alaska Calling

We have clients in far away places like Alaska, Hawaii, and Guam. Sometimes, they need help. Last night someone from Alaska called our office and left a voicemail. When I got the message, it was 8:30am, and was about 4:30am where they were. I couldn't call them back. He didn't leave an email address, and I couldn't find him in the system, so it was a little annoying to not be able to get a message back to him with the answer to his question. 

I made a meeting appointment for myself to not be distracted, and to call him at 2pm ET. 

We chatted for a while and I couldn't talk him through what he needed, I had a suspicion I knew exactly what he needed but I needed to see his screen and tell him where to check/look/click. 

He was busy until 1pm his time, which was 5 pm my time. So I made a meeting for us, I figured it was a great way to just end the day, help him for maybe what I think would be 10 minutes and be done for the day.

It turned into a 45 minute call, a little frustrating for me, but he was exceptionally thankful for my time. 

It was nice to help someone but I felt like I lost an hour of possibility tonight. Doug went for a walk, and I realized that I should whip together dinner, so we were prepared since I went to the market last night. Geoff still hasn't heard on the X-ray on his foot, which is annoying. Our doctor/insurance have always been so fast in results that this is a just off putting. But I planned ahead yesterday so we've got stuff for tomorrow too, and maybe even Saturday if we do a quick trip for some cheese. I didn't buy shredded cheese on accident. Doh. 

Tomorrow is the last day one of my colleagues on my team is with us before he goes on family leave. I'm going to miss him, it is going to be a long ass time until he comes back and I'm bummed. He's become my best co-worker. His knowledge is fantastic and he is a joy to work with. Such a drag. I mean, don't get me wrong, super happy for him to have family leave but. Boooooooooooooooooooo. 

No late meetings tomorrow. I'm hopefully going dress shopping with Sara for our "prom" dresses for August, even though I ordered 2 dresses online already. Ha. I'm going to have spent 30000000 dollars on dresses, only one of which I'll actually wear, by the time this is all done.

Oh, and Jess is coming to visit Sunday. It is their 31st birthday and I kind of can't believe that but am so happy. Hoping the air quality problems lessen by the time they visit. But to be honest, I am not finding it horrible, I feel badly for people who do, but, this isn't bothering me. I was out this morning for an hour in the garden and the yard. It was delightful watering the garden and hanging out. 

Alright, nothing else to report. 

digits:

exercise: 12/12 hours of 250 steps. 

blood glucose:

8:15am: 163
5:30pm: 143
9:45pm: 171

food:

coffee, water, iced coffee
10:30am: again with the omelet. 2 eggs, red onion (last of it), feta (last of it), wilted greens
12noon: metformin
6:30pm: 4 bratwurst, buffalo cauliflower, caramelized onions
wine
7pm: metformi+jardiance
10pm: 2 oreo cookies, trail mix/mixed nuts
 

Orange Haze all in my Brain

Everyone is talking about the sun.

As you know, due to the Canadian Wildfires smoke has been coming to the East. From New England down to the south of us, it has been all the news anyone can talk about. 

Here in the DC area, there are some impressive pictures of the Orange Haze on the National Mall and around the Tidal Basin. My view has not been as dramatic. I put the trash out on Tuesday morning, and the big beautiful orange marble in the not quite as orange sky was beautiful to behold. 

I find it interesting how many people are freaking out about it. I have an acquaintance who is a pack a day smoker freaking out about the air quality causing breathing issues for him... 

Let that sit for a second. 

Not that it is bothering his eyes or everything smells like burning plastic, but. Breathing. Issues. I kept my mouth shut but I'm over here shaking my damn head and muttering "really, dude?"

I went to the grocery store this afternoon after work. I hate going to the grocery store. But Geoff has a hurt foot, and I can't send him to the market walking around like Frankenstein's monster. Doug had a 7am meeting today and a 5am meeting, so he was all up in work. And I had to take one for the team. 

He has been hopping around on one foot, and I gave him an ace bandage and some biofreeze (just kind of a placebo), and he wrapped his foot so tight that he made it swell worse than it has been swollen and it looks like someone took a sausage and squeezed it in all sorts of places. 

Geoff went to the doctor yesterday (finally, after we nagged him for 3 days to go use the insurance I'm paying out of pocket for) and got X-rays to rule out a fracture. The doctor said if it isn't a fracture, he may have gout. Which sound a lot like "I'm not too sure about that, sir." He hasn't heard back on the X-rays, and has to go in for fasting blood work next week. 

And they gave him some pain killers, which he said do nothing. 

So off I went to the market after work. And I looked at the sun some more. And was very impressed.

Alright, off to bed. Trying not to jealously doom scroll through all of the Guster fan page facebook posts seething with envy. The show looks amazing. I really shoulda gone. 

Oh, I took this picture not of the sun, but of the marigold on my porch, which went through one cycle of lil'flowers already, and is ready to pop with the next. Look at all those future beauties!

Digits below. 

digits:

exercise: 11/12 hours of 250 steps.  Some how missed a couple steps in the 9am hour, which is weird.

blood glucose:

8:15am: 161
3pm: 150 *taken before eating a sandwich at 3pm, and I forgot my lunch metformin
9:45pm: 163

food:

coffee, water, iced coffee
9:45am: omelet just like yesterday. Wilted greens, red onion, feta, 2 eggs
(forgot lunchtime metformin because I didn't eat a lunch will take it before bed)
3pm: turkey+tomato w/mayo on 647 bread
5pm: Metformin+jardiance
6:45pm: chili. ground beef, tomato base, corn niblets, 3 kinds of beans, spices. On top of some fritos, shredded cheese, topped with sour cream. 
wine
9:45pm: Metformin (should have been lunch time but took before bed)

New Bed v 2.0

The new bed was mixed success last night. The good is that we got it all set up, I got the sheets on it, I didn't anticipate we'd have two twin XL fitted sheets but that makes sense because you can't have a giant king fitted sheet on a bed where someone is sitting up and the other person is flat or has their feet up. The twin top sheets threw me for a little loop. 

So we don't touch each other when we're under the sheets. We are both in completely separate beds. They could go in different rooms. It's not something I'm used to. Part of me says we need Mattress 3.0 and get a new king mattress but I'm done fucking around with beds. I just want to go to bed at night. I'm inclined to get a big assed king top sheet. Because it also just looks better on the bed. So that's my plan.

But I like my feet tucked in, and Doug does not. He also does really rude things like if we're both out from under the covers and he decides he wants to be under the covers, he will find a corner of the sheet, usually my corner of the sheet, and pull it over on him. He sleeps on top of the top sheet sometimes, so this messes EVERYTHING up for me. I'm like "Dude do you even know how to use a damn bed!" I wake up freezing, looking for my corner of the top sheet to pull over on me, and he has made himself a folded over sheet burrito, and I'm uncovered. So I go to the guest room. With the dog.

The dog is the part of the equation that is kind of an issue. 

Doug set the bed up very low - 5 inch legs. We could have up to 11 inch legs but wanted Phin to be able to jump up. Which he did! Perfectly and wonderfully. 

But then he stepped in the gap. 

And both his front legs slid right down up to his shoulders/chest, and he freaked out trying to get out. Doug and I had to rescue him, and he fell in again. Very distressed. 

We got a big towel and rolled it up and tucked it in the gap. Should get us through the night, right? 

Well it did until about 1am. When Phin woke up and wanted to walk onto my side of the bed and he just decided to completely bypass the towel, and stepped right into the gap again. Doug slept through it but of course a flailing dog is the kind of thing that will wake me up. Magic bed has a nightlight under it, so I turned it on to guide Phineas to the floor. 

After Phineas came back from outside, he noped his way right out of the bedroom, and straight to the guest room. 

So now he's scared of this bed.

They sell things and products and stuff that we're probably going to invest in. "Bridges" and gap fillers. I'm going to set up a foot to head towel roll tonight and lay a sheet across it so there's no way stupid fluffy dumbass can fall into the abyss. 

Anyway. here is a picture of the bed, and you can wish us well tonight. 

Digits, below.

digits:

exercise: 12/12 hours of 250 steps.  

blood glucose:

9:15am: 141
4:30pm: 163* (took my reading at 3pm before having a snack and it was 116. This is 1 hour after snack)
10:30pm: 136

food:

coffee, water, iced coffee
11:45: 2 egg omelet, with wilted greens, red onion, feta crumbles
12:15: metformin
3:30pm: 3 celery sticks and hummus
6:45pm: Wingstop wing delivery. I think I had 14 wings. 
8pm: shelled peanuts

Seeing the early side of a day

Phin woke me up at 5:20, per his usual. I was wide awake because the bed was going to be picked up between 7am and 8am. So why bother going back to sleep when the alarm will go off right after I start dreaming. 

I went outside with Phin. It was much cooler than the past several days. Cool enough that it meets my "turn off the AC and open all the windows" personal rule. Today it may not get above 75 so that's super perfect for me. 

My neighbors were loading their truck for work and waved at us. They were being so quiet with all their tools and things, you almost wouldn't know they were out there. They leave around 6am, so early. 

I went in to start the coffee, and when it started brewing I noticed the coffeepot was about 1/3 full from yesterday. Grabbing a large glass, I managed to avert absolute crisis of pot overflow. 

Not very awake, obviously. 

I got a text from the folks coming to pick up the bed at 7:30 saying they'd be here at 7:50. I moved the cars so they'd have a place for their vehicle. It was a husband and wife team, and they do this for a company that is a subcontractor for Habitat for Humanity. 

I had hoped there would be a good connection to an organization I could get behind. The initial information on the website named their org, which I'd never heard of. But the girl gave me documentation and info on them, and I felt incredibly happy about this. She said they do amazing work, and she's super proud to be attached to this company. 

The dog was very interested in them, and they were in him. 

They were done before 8:15. Fast. Impressive. 

The day was a blur. Usually an early start means that by 11am I think it is 3pm but it was 3pm and I couldn't believe it was already that late. Doug came upstairs at almost 6 and couldn't believe it was that late. 

He took a walk, I tried to take a wee nap. It didn't work, so I got up to start dinner and found he'd made a marinade for some boneless pork chops while I wasn't paying attention. I knew he'd be grilling them so we were all set. 

I figured now that the bed was gone we'd either sleep in the guest room, but the bed is pushed up against the wall now and one of us would be trapped for the night. And the option of getting the air mattress out and blowing it up crossed my mind. After dinner though, Doug started to assemble the replacement bed. I'll write about it tomorrow, but let's just say a split king with adjustable dohickeys is interesting. Basically these are two Twin XL mattresses, and they sent bedsheets for 2 twin beds. We thought we'd get 2 twin fitted sheets and a top sheet in king size to cover us. That's not how they did it. 

We basically are sleeping 50s TV sitcom style - we can move the beds apart, or into other rooms even, which is hilarious. I wonder what the price of a single twin xl adjustable bed is from these people. 

Anyway. More tomorrow. The good news is I like to be tucked in, I like my feet tucked and Doug does not like to be tucked in. So now, we both can sleep the way we wanna. 

No picture today, too busy for things. Off to bed.  

digits:

exercise: 12/12 hours of 250 steps.  

blood glucose:

7:15am: 171
5pm: 154
10:30pm: 143

food:

coffee, water, iced coffee
9am: pepperoni slices
11:30am: giant salad: Mixed greens, cherry tomatoes, red onions, can of tuna, mayo
12pm: metformin
6:30pm: giant salad w/ 3 teriyaki marinaded boneless pork chops. Small bowl of shelled peanuts. Vodka tonic

Weeds and Critters

Farmer Chris is displeased.

I went out to the backyard today while Doug was up front mowing. I had a couple plants in 2 pots on the patio table, and both were technically ground cover plants and they didn't work well in pots. 

That's not what makes me mad. 

There's a critter out there. 

It is digging in the herb pots. And it, tiny though it probably is, pushed my terracotta pot on the stand over, and busted it. Thanks, you little jerk.

I have other pots and things I can do but c'mon man. What's up with you?

After fixing the knocked over pot, and dispatching the dead wee things on the table, I set up the planter and it is the perfect length for the table. 

Anyway, my goal today, in addition to fixing the problem with the busted ass pot, was to get this big 4 ft long window planter that someone gave me filled up with dirt and to, as my mother in law says "think about starting to get ready" to put something into it. Pansies, I think. 4 or 5 pansies will be really cute in there. 

For the past couple years we've gone over to a corner of a very busy intersection where there was an old gas station that was not in use, and someone had been running a farm stand on the location with blessing from the town. The property sold this winter and now the farm stand isn't there, which stinks. They had really good plants and were super nice. And the prices were great. 

Over by the brewery there is a huge independent flower/garden store but their prices are dear. The products are beautiful though. This afternoon Doug and I went over and got four little pots of petunias to pop into the planter before they closed. If we didn't get over there, it would be another week until we went. They were having a 25% off annuals sale, perfect for our needs. The shop is very nice, a bit more expensive than I'd like to spend money on, but we had fun browsing before paying for our petunias. 

Earlier today, I looked at the patio weeds, which have not been dealt with by someone in my family via the weed whacker. 

I don't know how to use the weed whacker. Otherwise, it. would. be. done.

So I thought I'd just plant my own ass on the ground and start pulling things out. Maybe, just maybe, seeing me do this would put some peer pressure on someone. 

It didn't work, he noted what I was doing and went and did something else.  I got about 1/4 of the patio weeded before giving up. I should have kept going but my attention span for stuff like this is minimal. I have to be honest. I can't just like commit to doing it all.

Sad really, I was out there thinking about my friend Shelley back in Massachusetts who has literally the most beautiful garden I've ever seen. She would spend all day out there, morning to night, weeding and planting, and then relaxing at her little table on her patio with a book and her cigarettes. She had a wonderful planter's bench along the back of the house, with hoses and running water, and a basin. She would plant seeds and get them started in a small greenhouse. I always had a lot of envy for this, but didn't have the same amount of "Yeah, that's me!"

I can't seem to recall if she ever did veggies, but she sure did do flowers. Their house was bluish purple with dark purple trim, and she had a gorgeous arch over the front door for wisteria. Every year she planned the annuals, and nurtured the perennials. It was a sight to see. Absolutely great. 

I miss seeing her garden.

But I have to say I have little to no focus in doing that sort of work, and after about a half hour of any task in the yard I'm bored. 

I do like to fiddle around with pots and plants though, as the adventures of Farmer Chris often say, so I am happy that we got my patio table planter full up and gorgeous. 

Anyway, here's a picture of a couple of the pavers on the patio. Over the next few days as long as it doesn't get too brutally hot again, I bet I'll either have this licked or Doug will finally have mercy and come whack it all. 

digits below, per usual.

digits:

exercise: 12/12 hours of 250 steps.  

blood glucose:

8:30: 201
4:15pm: 143
10pm: 124

food:

coffee, water
11:30: pbj sandwich on 647 bread
2pm: metformin (forgot to take at lunch time)
6pm: 2 large pieces of grilled bone-in chicken (leg and thigh) in a teriyaki marinade (a la Doug), 1/2 an avocado. Metformin+jardiance
9:30pm: shelled peanuts (giant bowl)

Two Beds

Oh dear. 

We got our new bed delivered yesterday. And another bed delivered today. Doug accidentally ordered two king sized adjustable beds and platform/frames. 

I should have known something was amiss. When I looked at our credit card statement online I was a little stunned. I asked him how the hell much a bed costs? I said "They charged us 6000 plus. An upgrade from Queen to King is over three grand?" 

He said well, it's like, adjustable and has electric things and lights and USB ports. 

Yeah yeah, I know. Fancy. But ... over six grand worth of electric lights and USB ports? I told him that I had regrets (I expressed that here in a previous entry, didn't I?) Maybe I just need to get used to this bed. It's ... a lot to go to the next bed. I should give it a chance. I shouldn't be an idiot. Cancel the order.

He told me that it was okay, we should treat ourselves and accept a fancy bed is fancy. And expensive. 

Well, um. Two beds worth of beds is expensive. And that is the reason why it was stupid a lot of money. He got online, emailed the company, and let's see what happens. 

I suggested well screw it, we sell the IKEA queen bed and put a king in the guest room and he told me I was crazy. Okay, I'm the crazy one, Dougie Two Beds! 

I paid off my credit card the other day even though we haven't yet gotten the refund for the queen bed return yet (they are sending a team to pick it up on Monday) I guess we get a refund after it is confirmed they pick up and whatnot. Then we'll hopefully get another refund and ya gurl gonna have like 6k credit balance on the card I guess. 

Anyway.

Today was a little bit of a bum out, the bed thing threw Doug for a loop, and we didn't get out the door to have any fun. I've been doing my steps inside during the work week and did so today as well. We thought about going to a brewery in Frederick that we like but they close at 5pm (they're attached to a garden center farm so they're open weekends when the farm stand is open). Tomorrow they've got a band that we like playing, so I reached out to M&M to see if they want to connect. Maybe they'll wanna come too, hang out, and chill. 

In other news, my neighbor across the street built a giant beehive shaped wood oven in his backyard. It took him weeks. Constant work out there. He is always doing something and this is kind of next level "do you really need that thing?" stuff. 

Today they are trying to use it. He started a fire in it hours ago. Now he has four friends over and his wife is yelling, and they've got long rakes and smoke is pouring out the front. The entire neighborhood smells like a house fire, I have no idea what kind of wood he's using. Looking at the oven, he didn't put in any sort of stove pipe and whenever I've seen wood ovens like this, there's a way for the smoke to get out that is not out the front. I think he made an error.

Like us, he enjoys the backyard and the let's burn things philosophy. I often see him sitting out by his fire pit by himself with a beer, but no one in the house comes to hang out with him. So I think he was probably thinking this would be awesome and amazing but right now, I'm not sure? 

Maybe he also didn't put vents in it? Like, a bunch of air vents along the bottom of the hive so air can get in? I can't tell from here, but it's a scene over there right now. I wish him the best, and good pizza. Everyone deserves a victory when they put that much work into a thing. 

Speaking of other failures. Tonight, Geoff made cookies after dinner. It's been a while since he's gone in to bake, and I was looking forward to a cookie out of the batch. This was kind of a disaster. 

He didn't have enough flour. Or so he thought. He missed the giant 5lb bag in the pantry and only had about a cup. Rather than ask if we had flour, or, putting what he'd mixed up aside in a bowl in the fridge until tomorrow should he go buy more flour, he went ahead and made the cookies. 

Now.

Mind you. 

Shit is expensive. I've got 6000+ dollars worth of bed/s in my living room, Doug went to the market and got food for a couple days for the three of us and damn if it wasn't close to 200 bucks. 

And here's Geoff baking and basically wasting all of my baking supplies. 

I was initially angry but. Whatever. We scraped up what the cookies "were," and they'll harden and be buttery and crumbly. Doug ate a whole bunch of it with delight, I had some (more than I should have) during the clean up process. 

It's just frustrating when he's in my kitchen messing with my supplies and mucking up and not doing things right. 

Oh also. Dude. Don't eat 6 egg omelets, 2 or 3 eggs is all you need. 

Oh, and when you make a 6 egg omelet, use a bigger pan, or at least fucking clean up the overflowed frying pan that got all over the stove for chrissakes.

Sigh. Anyway. I ate cookie mess after a zero carb dinner. What a fail of doing good things with food today.

We'll see how we do tomorrow. it's a new day.

here is a picture of all the bed boxes except the one that is around the corner in the dining room. 

digits:

exercise: 12/12 hours of 250 steps.   Dedicated 10 + 5 - inside the house while Doug was at the market

blood glucose:

8:30: 171
5pm: 145
10:30pm: 181

food:

coffee, water, iced coffee
11:15am: grilled muenster (2 slices), a bunch of turkey, slices of tomato, metformin
6pm: a very large steak on top of a very large salad.
7pm: metformin+jardiance
cookies/cleanup
vodka tonics

Elvis has left the brewery

Anniversary dinner last night was very nice. We hadn't really planned anything, and didn't feel like going to DC but a nice little rooftop bar would have been fun. But it's in DC. And that's complicated. Last year at this time we were in New Orleans, and before that a nice trip to West Virginia. This year, staying local, hanging low.

Instead we decided to go the next town over, to a little restaurant we'd walked past a few times. We thought it looked a little on the "fancier" side so we were saving it for a "fancy" reason. Anniversary dinner is fancy enough, right? It was nice but not as fancy as I thought it would be. The food was great, service was a little slow. Very small, limited local craft brew menu but their choices were great. 

And they had a wonderful mix of music in the air. We even had dessert, which we don't usually do, and it was pretty nice. The guy at the table beside/behind us was singing Counting Crows songs softly every time they came around (Omaha, Mr. Jones, etc... delightful)

Next door, there is a brewery. We'd been there a few times, so we figured we'd stop in for a pint. 

Doug mentioned to me that he checked the events page to find there would be an Elvis impersonator there. Kind of a niche thing for this town, he's very popular. I laughed and said alright, let's go see what is up with that. 

Elvis was working the crowd, and I asked him if he'd give us a shout out for our anniversary. He took down our names and the year, and we sat inside the brewery, behind him, like we were VIP club members or something. 

He was hilarious. 

And I don't think, intentionally? hilarious? He actually sang, so it wasn't lip synching, and the crowd which probably was comprised of a lot of his neighbors and friends were eating it up. 

He dedicated "Love Me Tender" to us, and Doug had hoped do "Can't Help Falling In Love With You" for us, but this was sweet. Here's a clip - I have a longer version but instagram only lets you put up a minute long video. He gave me a yellow scarf and I rubbed it against my cheek and the crowd loved it. Hilarious. 

Towards the end, he was just working the crowd with little scarves to put around necks of the fan girls. This really old lady walked up front (80s, 90s, old!) and he put a scarf around her neck. She threw it over her shoulder with a flourish and got a big kiss on the cheek from the King. 

He performed about an hour, that was a lot, and, enough. We went home shortly thereafter but not without a picture with the local celebrity, the King. 

digits:

exercise: 12/12 hours of 250 steps.   

blood glucose:

8:30: 183
5pm: 174
10:30pm: 183 (notice I forgot my metformin+jardiance at dinner time. oops)

food:

coffee, water, iced coffee
11am: left over potato salad and the last bratwurst mixed together
12: metformin
1:45pm: pbj on 647 bread
5:30pm: 2 chicken patties, a bunch of cherry tomatoes, mayo
7:30: ramekin of mixed nuts
9pm: 2 baby bell cheeses
some beers

32

Happy anniversary to us!  I was chatting with a colleague today about this and asked how old he was in 1991. 

"I was 1," he said.

Ain't that a thing. I sometimes forget how very old I am until it becomes obvious how very old I am. 

We have no plans yet for dinner or anything, Realizing that we blasted almost 7,000 bucks into a bed that is supposedly getting delivered tomorrow, I kind of feel we should take some time and make way for the giant bed boxes. 

Also allegedly they're coming to pick up the current bed at some point but I have no clue when. We may be Doug and Chrissie Two Beds for a bit. 

We don't really have the space for an extra bed, really. I hope they not only come and pick it up but that they give us the stupid refund on the first bed. 

After Doug ordered the 2nd bed, I had misgivings. We shouldn't have done that. I can totally get used to this bed. Everything is going to be fine. 

What's done is done and cannot be undone, as they say. 

We will see how the saga of the bed/s unfolds. 

I got up very early to have a discussion with a colleague who got offered a new job, and he wanted my advice. I should say I got up earlier than I usually do but he's two time zones away and was obviously up even earlier than me. 

When it got to be 11 I was kind of hungry. Geoff made bacon, and so I made a big honkin' salad. And then ate it well before lunchtime. 

And when you eat lunch early, the afternoon is just a slog. Even with defined work that you want to get done, it's still a slog.

We made it through the work day and went out to dinner in Kensington. Even though we hadn't made an actual plan of fun, like New Orleans or West Virginia, we did go out to eat. Then over to the brewery next door where the evening's entertainment was an Elvis Impersonator. 

Jokingly I told Elvis it was out anniversary, and asked for a shout out. Right before he went on, he came over to get our names and what year. 

And yes, he did. 

All told, hilarious. A very funny evening. I have video evidence in my Instagram. 

So I'm ready for bed. The one picture below will do for now. We have a picture of us with The King that I'll post tomorrow. 

Off to bed!

digits below, the wig. It is hilarious.

digits:

exercise: 12/12 hours of 250 steps.   

blood glucose:

7:30: 155
5pm: 133
9:30pm: 230 (see dinner + beers below)

food:

coffee, water
11:15: big honking salad. Romaine, apple, feta, bacon, tomato, cucumber, mayo
12: metformin
2pm: apple
6:30pm: pan seared scallops, polenta, some sort of green that doug didn't like so i got his portion in addition to mine. strawberry rhubarb cobbler w/vanilla ice cream. A couple beers.
8pm: 2 beers at the brewery