Yesterday was a great exercise day. The snow dumped on us was wet. Shoveling had to be done quickly because freezing temperatures were predicted to make the bottom layer solid ice. I did my duty. It's gone. What's not gone is now frozen to the ground.
Perhaps I can celebrate that I got all that exercise without having to pay a trainer at the gym. Now that's one ripe Pollyanna thought for a Monday morning.
We too had a "snow gym" all weekend Bill. Our snow wasn't wet but it kept coming and coming and coming. DH wielded the snowblower for the double driveway and the neighbours (2 quite "chubby" sedentary guys) were thrilled. I cleared the foot or so off the deck and the front porch yesterday. And I cleared the front walks of both pet households I visited this weekend.
The cats supervised from inside the sliding doors at two houses and the dog rolled around crazily all over the place in the snow at the third.
Good morning! My mom seems to be recovering well from her shoulder surgery. She's disappointed that she can't do all the holiday stuff she had wanted to do and that she can't come see her granddaughters, but she and my dad will probably come out in Jan or Feb instead.
We got about six inches of snow here over the weekend. I took Carter for a walk after the girls were in bed Saturday night and let him run around off the leash in the woods. Six inches isn't deep enough for him to really have a lot of fun, but he definitely liked going for a walk and sniffing around! Sad to say he probably had not had a walk in two weeks. No wonder he's been so grouchy lately. Our new goal is to have one of us take him for a short walk every evening after we put the babies to bed. He's also reclaimed the couch now that the babies are too big to sit up there safely! It's pretty cute, in the morning I come downstairs after my shower and DH is feeding the babies on the floor and Carter is curled up fast asleep on the couch.
We are starting to have to pay closer attention to where those little hands are going. Yesterday while we were feeding them carrots in their high chairs, Carter came over to try to lick up what they were dropping and C reached out and grabbed his ear. He was too occupied with licking things to mind that time but in general he will lift his lip and growl if they grab at him. I need to figure out how to teach Carter that if he doesn't want to get grabbed he needs to stay farther away from the babies, and if he doesn't like them reaching toward him he needs to just walk away, because the babies are too young to learn not to do it. In general we try to shoo Carter away while we're feeding them in any case. Also yesterday I was holding C and sat down at the kitchen table, looked away for a minute, and suddenly realized C had grabbed a pen off the table and was about to shove it in her mouth! I know we're in for a lot more when they start crawling.
We had about 4", I think. DS14 handled all snow removal in between study breaks. Poor kid has 3 tests this week. He needed a reminder that that means a lighter homework load over the holidays (hopefully).
jessica, agreed, it is going to get really interesting when you can no longer count on them staying where you leave them.
Jessica Cater and the babies outnumber you and your DH. There will be interactions so it's best if everyone learns the word "gently" right now. Carter in particular has to learn that growling or otherwise showing any sign of aggression toward the girls is a NO, no matter what they might be doing to him.
I would suggest getting a dog trainer in there ASAP to show all of you how best to interact with each other. Explain what it is you want beforehand so any of the precious little spare time you and DH have isn't wasted with trainers who specialize in other things.
No snow here this weekend. Lots of rain and cold, but no snow. I always say I would like that kind of snow just once, then I remember out little blizzard a few years ago and change my mind.
No complaints about the weather or driving conditions here. I'll just keep my mouth shut. I'm sort of like Saef in that I find it hard to be satisfied with what I do over the weekend. There's always something to be cleaned, laundry, etc. so I tell myself I've been "lazy" if I sit and say, watch TV when there are chores to be done. I did spend the weekend cleaning, crafting (I'll post a pic of my nieces gifts when they're done - making custom nameplates to hang on their doors/in rooms), and yes, more online shopping. I'm still riding high because last night I sent my sis a bunch of links to sweaters, and she actually liked two of them. She was one of my difficult ones so another gift down. I decided I didn't want the hassle of spending the whole day traveling to the city to shop without a clear shopping goal in mind, and felt like I was productive enough at home.
My office party was Saturday night and I spent many hours Saturday making a "light" recipe for the party. I don't think it was light enough. The next party is Thursday. I'm getting tired of the endless treats everywhere but am not exercising good willpower. Could someone please smack me?
Jessica, you know, dogs are pretty smart. I'm sure Carter will learn. I've watched my older niece train several dogs to steer clear, except during meal time when they come in for the dropped treats. It sounds like the girls' curiosity about the world around them is really kicking in! They are so cute. Glad your mom is doing ok.
Shoveling is good exercise! Bill, maybe you could advertise your own training services. Then when people show up, give them a shovel and point them to the driveway. If only.
Artic Mama, glad your headache went away and things were calm in your house yesterday.
Dagmar, my dog gets frisky enough in the cold weather. I'm sure she'd freak out if she ever saw snow (maybe one day...). I thought behind the fridge is where the gnomes live. They don't like to be disturbed.
Andrea, oh man, teaching 3 teenage boys to drive sounds scary. I don't envy you. I'm sending you calming, sanity-maintaining vibes.
Saef, I think you were right not to drive around in the snow. I did it for a few years before I moved south and the thought scares me now. There are a lot of people who just don't know how. I hope you got your car cleared and to work and back safely today.
We're halfway through December. We're 5 days from the winter solstice on December 21 and after that, we start getting our sunlight back. I hope everyone has a good, safe, and warm week!
No snow here! LOL We golfed both mornings and I was doing really, really well. In fact, I beat DH and MIL both days (which never happens). FIL isn't golfing. He has been having some issues with his heart racing so he went in for a stress test last week and has been ordered to "rest easy" until he sees his cardiologist on Friday when they'll schedule him for another stent placement.
Chico has once again stopped eating. It began Thursday when he'd eat a little and refuse more. I added all the enticing foods, too. Tripe, pumpkin, chicken. He'd eat one item one meal and refuse it the next meal. Sunday morning I scrambled two eggs and added a little cheese and he loved that, but Sunday night he wasn't as happy eating that and this morning refused everything except the chicken. He won't eat cottage cheese. I even mixed peanut butter into some of his food and he refused that. It was weird, however, a couple times, after refusing tripe and eggs he sniffed Misty's empty bowl, so I put some kibble out for him and he ate that. So the next meal, I started with kibble and he refused it. If anyone has any suggestions, please share.
DS is home for the next three weeks. He's happy to be home and so am I. He got his score for his first final yesterday, 97% and an A+ for the class. Two more grades will follow. Next quarter he has 5 classes (although one is only one credit and very easy).
We went to see the Hobbit yesterday. Both DS and I had similar complaints. Has anyone else seen it?
After the movie, DH was listening to his voice mails that came while we were watching. First our alarm company stating our fire alarm at the new building was going off and they were dispatching the fire company. Immediate thoughts were of the cat, Culley. Then two more voice mails from one of our employees (who is the #2 contact for the alarm company to call). He said he was on his way over and he'd call when he got there. All this happened just as the movie was letting out so it's all happening NOW. So we drive from the theater to the office getting updates as we go. First they say that it is not our building on fire, but one across the street. By the time we arrive 15 minutes later, the fire is out, the fire department has opened our office and they, with our employee, has turned off the alarm. It turns out that the fire was next to the train tracks, behind the buildings across the street. The tracks are hidden by massive tamarisk trees that are notorious for dropping huge amounts of needles and when the needles go up in fire, it takes more water than usual to get the fire out. The fire department used the hydrant in front of our building which caused our fire alarm to go off. Anyway, all was well except for one severely traumatized cat who was in his usual hiding place behind my file cabinets. He wouldn't come out so I left him some treats. Poor baby.
Megan - I'm counting the days until solstice, for the sake of daylight! We're still a few hundred miles below the arctic circle, but it is dark until 10:30 am (twilight-ish, the sun is usually visible by the time we begin our schooltime) and it has completely set by 4:00. Nothing wrong with that, but even the solar noon is spent in halflight!
And it may be the weather, but I am badly struggling with my eating. Mainly eating dinner, then eating again a few hours later because I'm munchy or even downright hungry.
Some is hormonal, as my body is back to being cyclical but I'm still nursing and need more calories.
Some is related to the days - I'm up at 5 am and in bed at 9-10 pm, but I'm usually done eating by 3-4 pm. This is physiologically good, but actually not snacking while I continue to cook for my family into the evening is HARD.
Some is definitely seasonal, with the dark and cold it's easy to want to sleep and eat and not do much else. I'm trying to defeat that as much as possible.
Anyone else having seasonal munchy issues? Grr!
If I'm not pregnant again by the end of December, I've decided to throw myself back into weight loss in earnest to lose another 20–30 pounds, if I can. I hate putting off another child, but I also don't want to spend another year (this will make over three of them! out of my time trying to lose weight, as I was morbidly obese for my first two children and then progressively smaller for the next two, and whenever we have another) benched on losing more, as it were. So we'll see.
Last edited by Arctic Mama; 12-16-2013 at 10:23 AM.
Arctic Mama-- how many kids do you have now? 4? Do you know how many you want?
Allison-- what was wrong with the Hobbit? Haven't seen it yet but want to. Poor Cully! My dd's cat hid behind the toilet for a full month after she moved to Houston. He's been fine until the other day when he randomly got spooked and starting hiding again! He seems to be recovering after only a couple of days this time. Also, poor Chico. I'm sorry that I don't have any other suggestions. It sounds like you're offering him lots of yummy stuff.
Jessica-- yes, you probably need eyes in the back of your head now-- and sides! One memory I have of dd (that is a warning) is when she got shots at the doctor. They put a bandaid on her and we got in the elevator to leave. In the elevator we realized she was choking and couldn't breathe. Dh started the Heimlich on her and we rushed back to their office. The bandaid came out and she was fine but we chewed out the doctor's office! They should know better.
Brrr Bill-- I'm cold just thinking about your snow shoveling.
I hear you Megan on the temptations!! I decided not to go to something this weekend for many reasons-- one of which was I didn't want the food temptations.
Dh came home from China yesterday and he HATES the food over there. I told him we could go get whatever sounded good to him. Unfortunately he chose a very unhealthy choice and my weight is up 2.5 pounds today. I will be chugging the water as my choices were more or less good so I think a lot of it was sodium. My weight was finally down a smidge and now it's back up and more. So, I need to stay very focused this week.
It doesn't help that my staff party is this week. It will be tricky to exercise that day, not to mention the food porn there.
Hopefully the kids/parents don't give me any hard to resist treats this last week of school before break!
I was lying in bed last night dreading my morning, specifically, having to walk and drive across the slush, hard-packed snow and wet pavement that I knew would freeze hard overnight into glassy surfaces. Then I remembered that I had my YakTrax to pull on over my boots, and I slept better.
And yes, when I picked my way down the sidewalk at 5:45 AM on my usual walk to the gym, I was walking on unrelieved ice for about a half a block. But the rest was dry pavement. And the drive in was, if anything, easier than usual, with traffic a bit lighter. The amateurs aren't out on mornings like this.
So I'm feeling like I surmounted half the challenges of the day, which also makes me think Christmas & then the winter is survivable, with some planning and effort.
No snow here! LOL We golfed both mornings and I was doing really, really well. In fact, I beat DH and MIL both days (which never happens). FIL isn't golfing. He has been having some issues with his heart racing so he went in for a stress test last week and has been ordered to "rest easy" until he sees his cardiologist on Friday when they'll schedule him for another stent placement.
Chico has once again stopped eating. It began Thursday when he'd eat a little and refuse more. I added all the enticing foods, too. Tripe, pumpkin, chicken. He'd eat one item one meal and refuse it the next meal. Sunday morning I scrambled two eggs and added a little cheese and he loved that, but Sunday night he wasn't as happy eating that and this morning refused everything except the chicken. He won't eat cottage cheese. I even mixed peanut butter into some of his food and he refused that. It was weird, however, a couple times, after refusing tripe and eggs he sniffed Misty's empty bowl, so I put some kibble out for him and he ate that. So the next meal, I started with kibble and he refused it. If anyone has any suggestions, please share.
DS is home for the next three weeks. He's happy to be home and so am I. He got his score for his first final yesterday, 97% and an A+ for the class. Two more grades will follow. Next quarter he has 5 classes (although one is only one credit and very easy).
We went to see the Hobbit yesterday. Both DS and I had similar complaints. Has anyone else seen it?
After the movie, DH was listening to his voice mails that came while we were watching. First our alarm company stating our fire alarm at the new building was going off and they were dispatching the fire company. Immediate thoughts were of the cat, Culley. Then two more voice mails from one of our employees (who is the #2 contact for the alarm company to call). He said he was on his way over and he'd call when he got there. All this happened just as the movie was letting out so it's all happening NOW. So we drive from the theater to the office getting updates as we go. First they say that it is not our building on fire, but one across the street. By the time we arrive 15 minutes later, the fire is out, the fire department has opened our office and they, with our employee, has turned off the alarm. It turns out that the fire was next to the train tracks, behind the buildings across the street. The tracks are hidden by massive tamarisk trees that are notorious for dropping huge amounts of needles and when the needles go up in fire, it takes more water than usual to get the fire out. The fire department used the hydrant in front of our building which caused our fire alarm to go off. Anyway, all was well except for one severely traumatized cat who was in his usual hiding place behind my file cabinets. He wouldn't come out so I left him some treats. Poor baby.
Re: Chico, I know where he is coming from, I am in chemo and chemo has side effects one of which is loss of appetite, I have lost 26 pounds and am downright scrawny.I get hungry and food looks good but 2 bites and I can't eat another bite.The doctor is going to give me an appetite stimulant you might ask your vet about this, People do everything to encourage me to eat,that is not the problem, they just don't understand I try but just can'l eat no matter how much I try. Chico might be having the same problem.
Allison-- what was wrong with the Hobbit? Haven't seen it yet but want to. Poor Cully! My dd's cat hid behind the toilet for a full month after she moved to Houston. He's been fine until the other day when he randomly got spooked and starting hiding again! He seems to be recovering after only a couple of days this time. Also, poor Chico. I'm sorry that I don't have any other suggestions. It sounds like you're offering him lots of yummy stuff.
The cinematography is what bugged us. Too theatrical. Too up close and in your face. Too contrived. Too sunny and fun. I guess I expected more dark stuff ala Lord of the Rings. Good story, though. Long movie!
The pills that my vet prescribed for Ringo (to relax his sphincter so he can empty his bladder) are also prescribed for high blood pressure and PTSD. Since the vet only gave him 20 pills, and he's doing fine, I stopped giving them to him. Until yesterday when the in-laws brought their cats. I gave him one and he had a fabulous day! (Usually he'll hide and/or fight with the other cats.) Sometimes he acts a little loopy when I give him the meds. I'm now keeping the remaining pills for next week when DD brings her cats for us to babysit while she goes to Seattle for Christmas.
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Re: Chico, I know where he is coming from, I am in chemo and chemo has side effects one of which is loss of appetite, I have lost 26 pounds and am downright scrawny.I get hungry and food looks good but 2 bites and I can't eat another bite.The doctor is going to give me an appetite stimulant you might ask your vet about this, People do everything to encourage me to eat,that is not the problem, they just don't understand I try but just can'l eat no matter how much I try. Chico might be having the same problem.
I have an appetite stimulant for him and it doesn't do much for him. I don't think the chemo is making him sick. He's been on the chemo for over 1 1/2 years and until now has never had a problem eating. I think that the spread of cancer is getting worse and that's causing his not wanting to eat.
We got about 14" of snow in the NY Capital region and I threw my back out shoveling it yesterday, but at least I cleared out a parking space on my block. My city is broke and can't afford to do a good job plowing, so it's been an adventure driving around.
Weight is up. I saw The Hobbit with BF on Saturday and we had crappy food court Chinese food for lunch. I went out with a couple friends Saturday night and had pizza and beer and dessert. Then was snowed in, shoveled and ate all day on Sunday and closed the evening by continuing to eat at a Solstice party.
This week is going to fly. So much going on. Going to my old HS's holiday concert tomorrow night, banging out crafts and cards and last minute shopping, rehearsing music and deep cleaning the apartment for my birthday party on Saturday (we are continuing our tradition of playing a Christmas concert), and figuring out what to give the cats of course
Rusty is SO CUTE and his scab is all healed. He also appears to look younger by the day, can't believe he's going to be three!
saef - Glad your week is off to a good start. It always pays in hours of restful sleep to be prepared for the weather.
michele - Welcome back DH and good luck with the bonanza of sweets that will surely be shoved at you. My roommate is a preschool teacher and she gets caked, brownied, and cookied all day every day at work.
Taryl - I definitely feel like a bottomless pit in winter but it might be a self fulfilling prophecy from eating so many carbs and desserts in my case.
alinnell - I don't want to post Hobbit spoilers here but I saw it and have opinions of my own.
Megan - must be great to cackle as we Northerners get slammed with terrible weather! I'm envious you've checked off a "difficult" gift recipient - I am very behind on that still!
Shannon - Snow is pretty, but it's cold and wet and icy and there are awful car accidents and tons of damage from salt.
Becky - Glad your son cleared the snow for you. I wish I had done more to help my folks during my childhood/years at home.
Jessica - Great news that your mom is healing well after surgery!
Bill, Jessica - Snow gym indeed! Shoveling and such absolutely "counts."
Michele - I have four children so far. My oldest daughter is six, then I have a five year old daughter, a three year old son, and a nine month old daughter.
As to how many more kids - as many as we can care for and are blessed with. I re-evaluate after every baby but my health has been great and I have no compelling reason to wait for another child - I've been ready for months, actually . We cash pay our births so saving up for those is really the only mitigating factor at this point. My husband and I assume we'll have another four or five children, at least, before I hit menopause. But that assumes we have no complications in life or health
Maintainers Weekly Chat December 16 - December 22
Could someone please smack me?
