BillBlueEyes: I was afraid that I'd forget to share this in the morning. The woman in the car is my cousin and the two kids are her grandchildren. The mom described it as "socially distant story time in our driveway."

Diet Coaches/Buddies - Excitement was a delivery from UPS. I've been upgraded to a Special Customer (or some such name) such that I get multiple emails before each delivery. Expected arrival time was 11:45 am to 3:45 pm. Such precision. Then got the email that, because of blah..blah..blah, they'd be late. Then the package arrived at 1:04 pm. Too much information. It was a headset for DW. She uses her cell phone for chats with her sister each week; finds holding it tiring. So, after much searching, bought a simple, two eared, headset that plugs into the cell phone. Turned down Bluetooth, one eared, mini-C USB connection, and uber inexpensive with reviews discussing "broke within a week." This one: Headset. We, being geeks, practiced a bit until we got the plug correct to work. Sounds good so far; will let you know.

Eating was on plan, CREDIT moi, including no snacks except for fresh pineapple after dinner. If I lived on Hawaii I'd probably turn yellow from eating as much pineapple as I could. Oh, yes, a June performance we have tickets for was "postponed." We'll get further emails with a new date. Cancellations are the new normal.

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onebyone - Immediately ordered Poems that Make Grown Men Cry. Much as I'd like to get it from the library, our libraries are closed "until further notice." Your questions about whether COVID-19 only lives in droplets, mists, or travels the wind on its own is a scary one. I've read mixed opinions. LOL at having to outsmart a kitty.

Joy (gardenerjoy) - Good point, "there's a constant question of what's prudent and what's paranoid." Good luck preparing for shopping. That picture is wonderful - what a creative idea.

maryann - That's an impressive schedule. Your mom is lucky to have you putting out that much energy.

Karen (karenrn) - Good luck with the cupboards. I agree, after a bit messy become invisible.

Penny. - Ouch for the lack of PPE for caregivers. So unfair. Your statistic about being positive with no symptoms means that I could have it and not know. Typhoid BillBlueEyes they'd call me after discovered.

CJZee - Congrats for tackling the files; I dread doing mine.

Readers -

Good morning!

Yesterday was on plan, though got a little sketchy in the evening when dh made fries and I made two types of cookies for the kids, as promised. I didn't touch any of it, but it was not easy. Credit!

Today I start my work weekend and I had a couple friends donate n95 masks they had sitting at home for past reasons. I ordered myself a pair of eye protective goggles, and have a decontamination process planned for in the garage. And I plan to check temps and o2 saturation first thing. My work seems to think their word is good enough, when I know a lot of them don't even have thermometers.

Lots to prep this morning so I'll probably check back in o Monday.

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Good morning coaches,

I had a good on plan day yesterday including a meatless day. This morning I just got home from a hike. When I went out the door I was planning to hike Bell Pass, but shortened it to Gateway Loop which is still 90 minutes and decided that was enough. The preserve where I hike nearby is in the City of Scottsdale and they had good signage about staying 6 feet apart and the trailhead even had lines drawn on the concrete to show how far apart 6 feet is. The sign said that if the rules are not followed the Preserve will be closed. There were far fewer people there today and I thought everyone was very respectful of the rules. I stopped at the grocery store on the way home and again the parking lot not nearly full and the shelves are beginning to look a bit more normal. I even found eggs. I did get the planned organizing done yesterday and will decide about what I will do today soon. I've also been making more phone calls to my mil and friends who are single and more isolated. I've always been one who keeps up with a number of out of town friends, so I enjoy it.

Penny Be safe. I will be thinking about you over the weekend.
Bill I'm sure the headset will get plenty of use in the coming weeks. I love pineapple too, but I think my mouth would get sores in it if I ate as much as I'd like.
GardenerJoy Thank you again for the recipe. I went ahead and made it from memory and forgot the ginger, but had added sesame oil. I used far too much cabbage and carrots so it was very lightly dressed, but tasty and healthy.
Maryann I'm glad your Mom lives fairly nearby. At least that trip is manageable.

Well on to getting cleaned up and planning the rest of my day. I'm going to fix my hair and even put a little makeup on today. I'm tired of seeing myself without a little fixing up. Have a good day and stay healthy all of you!

Good Morning, Coaches.

Yesterday was OP. So grateful. I felt definitely more emotion than I have for the last week. Mom seemed better but I started to really miss home. DS was declined for Columbia and although he didn't even want to go there, I felt a sting. This is the last of the colleges to which he applied. He can now make his choice which will most likely be between University of Michigan or University of Illinois Urbana Champagne. He is happy. I am happy to be through the process. Then DB was coming up to relieve me. I love him but he is very unpredictable with his bipolar. All in all, I felt the stress more. I am sure this is amplified because I am not covering the feelings with sugar. I also almost missed my high school department's conference call because I wasn't given a heads up for it soon enough. That was frustrating.

So for today, I will focus on taking care of myself. I have grocery shopped for mom and done laundry. (I also picked up the prized toilet paper and parper towels for myself) . I have to call a sponsee in a few minutes. Then I am going to take off home. Before I do that I will write a food plan and maybe eat my morning snack.

This afternoon I will finish the rest of my papers to correct and take a walk. The boys and I meet up tonight for dinner. All is well. I just have to keep reminding myself.

I'm home from shopping. The purchases that had to go on the fridge are taken care of and pantry items are either in the garage (the things in jars, bottles, and cans that the mice can't eat) or on an out-of-the-way table in the house. After that I cleaned house -- some cleaning felt necessary after bringing new objects into the house. The rest was because the cleaning crew would have come this week.

I'm so glad to have that done.

Today is Art in the Yard day. Here's what I made for the neighbors: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?f...type=3&theater. We took a short walk and saw two other art installations. I'm looking forward to a longer walk later.

Exercise: +45, 1095/1300 minutes for March

Diet Coaches/Buddies - Life continues as can be measured by the small size of the adventures. Trip to the supermarket was a success. I wore an N95 face mask and gloves the whole time. There were only about a dozen folks with face masks in the store. Six foot distancing was easy. Notably, there was toilet paper! The store brand, in an 8-pack wrapper, sufficiently stacked on the shelf over a sign, "One package per customer, Please." Every cart that I saw had one. One cart had two; don't know what happened to them. There was plenty of cheese, milk, lettuce, cukes, tomatoes, and bananas to satisfy my list. Last week, I had purchased a sealed "gallon" container of ALL laundry detergent pods. Unfortunately, labeled "original" instead of the "fresh" that DW likes. "Original" means perfumed; "Fresh" means not. Not a problem; I walked up to the return counter. "No returns accepted by corporate policy since the Coronavirus," I was told. Oh, well. DW is now looking for someone who wants FREE $10.49 worth of detergent who doesn't mind the perfume. There was none of our brand of mayo in quart size (30 oz quart) - only in half gallon. Bought another brand.

There was a Little Person unloading in front of me at checkout. Watching, I realized for the first time that her challenge was arm length. She had packed the shopping cart with items along the edge that reached over the top. She could sorta leap and pull them out. When one item wasn't high enough, she had to ask someone to reach over the edge of the cart to get it for her. A new experience for me. Had to accept their paper bags; my canvas reusable bags could not be brought into the store. No alcohol wipes. Eating was on plan, CREDIT moi. A simple day.

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Joy (gardenerjoy) - Neat "joyful enthusiasm" Art in the Yard - thanks for sharing. You've caught my attention with your response to items brought into the house. I may have to improve my act here.

maryann - Neat that your DS's choices are now finite so that he can make a decision. Kudos for "I am not covering the feelings with sugar."

Karen (karenrn) - Glad that the sign threatened to close the trail unless social spacing was observed. The deniers might get all public spaces closed. Life is good when eggs are on the shelf.

Penny. - Glad you got some N95 masks. It's so unacceptable that supporters can't get ample PPE. Kudos for ignoring homemade fries and cookies.

Readers -

Wave to all. So nice to have the weekend to sleep in and stay in bed for a bit. Yesterday I was panicking a bit about what if I get the virus, what if my kids do etc. I started sobbing on my way to work, and then panicking again at the end of the day. Probably best not be on social media too much. DD doesn't have an condition that puts her at risk but she has unusual digestive issues that would make it very hard for her to stay hydrated etc if she go it. I
t's a challenge to think thru everything, like even getting gas- is it better to wear gloves, or just wash hands after, or what. I'm being a good doobie at work, I'm showing up, smiling and keeping to myself. they should have put me on the network eons ago so its not my fault i can't do much. Yesterday I shuffled some papers and tried to look busy Again I am VERY grateful to have a job and health insurance.
Today I am planning a socially distancing walk with a friend which I am REALLY looking forward to. She tends to try to stay positive and i will too. I have been eating way too much sugar so need to start reining it in. I'm glad everyone is calming down about grocery stores, one less thing to panic about.
Penny- good luck this weekend, sounds like you have a good plan to stay safe. Unbelievable that you guys don't have PPE!!

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Good morning coaches,

Food was on plan except for the added 2 White Claw drinks. Weight was up a smidge, but probably from a bit sodium and my plan is made for today. I woke up at 2 a.m. and stayed awake until after I ate breakfast. Then I went back to bed for a one hour nap and a nightmare. I was working in a med-surg unit at the hospital and it was 3 hours in to my shift and I had not yet assessed my patients. Then I looked at the assignment sheet and learned I was going to be going home early. How was I going to get my vitals and assessments done and meds given in the short time left. See, for sure I should not be going back to work. My plans for today are some housework and to give Otis a bath a little later when it's warmer. Since he hates the blow dryer he can just run around outside to get dry.

Curlyjax I'm glad it's the weekend and you can get a good walk in. I do think it helps and it's easy to be a bit apart and still have a visit.
Bill Our stores aren't accepting returns either and I bought 3 different packages of hearing aid batteries for a friend last week cause she wasn't sure of the number. They were $20 each, so I'm hoping one of these days I can return 2 of them.
GardenerJoy I love the artwork you did for the neighbors. What fun!
Maryann Take care. Your plate is full with having care of your Mom added during this virus. It just makes everything more difficult and stressful. Who would have thought a trip to the store would be a problem.
I'm thinking of Penny and hoping everything is going okay.

Well, I think it's time to make a little realistic to do list for the day and get on with it. Take care all.

I'm checking in late today because I had two "meetings." The first was a Zoom conversation. That platform worked well for the small number of people who showed up. About six of us. I don't know anyone well and most of them not at all. So, it was interesting to plug into that. Now, I'd really like to try it with people I know better. I'm quite certain that I'll have that opportunity more than once in the next few weeks.

The second meeting was more asynchronous check-ins using a Facebook group. That may go on all day, but I only felt committed to the first hour, so I'm logging off for the rest of the afternoon in order to get other things done.

I was notably tired after yesterday's adventure, but kept to my food plan.

Today may be a little more challenging. Everything ended up on an early schedule due to the meeting and I'm feeling hungrier than I want to even though it's hours before I would usually plan a snack. It's also raining, which a part of me responds to with a desire for comfort eating. I think I'll try a cup of herbal tea which hits the same coziness factor I want without the calories.

Exercise: +20, 1115/1300 minutes for March

Good Morning, Coaches.

I feel like I have had a stressing morning and I barely left the couch. Dh and DS are considering traveling and I have been lobbying against it. They are both adults and there is nothing I can do to stop them. I set the boundary that if they did they would have to quarantine themselves for two weeks down at the ranch. I have no other option because my mother needs me. Frustrating that a healthy boundary seems to punish me as much as them. I read my Hazelton "Language of Letting Go" daily meditation for co dependents. It talked about balancing between taking care of others and taking care of myself. That sounds about right for today. I have spoken my piece. Now I am letting it go.

Also this morning (on a triumphant note) I was able to hook my t.v. up to the internet browser on my phone. Pause for thunderous applause. My health club sent a link that allows us to access online Les Mille's classes (which are the classes held at our gym). The trick was to get them from my desk top to the tv. The classes are set in beautiful surroundings and they will be quite a treat. After I sign off I will do my first BodyFlow episode. Later on I will "attend" the Sh'bam dance off.

Also on the agenda today is writing, reading, piano and a nice hot bath for stress, then a 4:00 Zoom OA meeting. I have already finished my food plan. This is my 11th day abstinent from sugar. I have had noted periods of discomfort but they are worth having because of comfort of the discipline of abstinence.

gardenerjoy: Good luck setting up Zoom with friends. My friends and I have started a book club that will meet on Wednesday. This will be fun.
Penny: Thinking about you through your work weekend.
curleyjax: Super credit for showing up to work with your "game face."
Karen: I had a nightmare too about past situations. I agree my subconscious is trying to tell me something.
BBE: I agree, the stores were much calmer. I snagged TP, Paper towels and eggs. I did shop during the tail end of the the elderly and infirmed window but I was shopping for my Mom and have been diligent about keeping myself away from everyone and everything. Of course no one questioned me which makes me think people assumed I was elderly at 56? Grrrrrrrrr.

Diet Coaches/Buddies - Eating was on plan, CREDIT moi. Dinner included boiled new potatoes coated with olive oil and fresh chives from the back yard. Was my first fresh herbs for the season. So amazingly good. Fresh chives liven anything. We discussed that being isolated with a full kitchen full of spices and access to the supermarket put us in much more favorable circumstances than those who regularly eat out. Just read that Pizza Hut is selling a two-foot pizza for families stuck at home.

Mount Auburn Cemetery, one of the most popular places around Boston for watching the migrating spring warblers, just announced that it would be closed except for a two hour window from 4-6pm for visiting graves. April usually sees a mob of bird watchers clustered here and there taking in the warblers in full spring color. Won't happen this year. The walls are closing in.

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Joy (gardenerjoy) - Yay for thinking of an alternative to comfort eating in the rain. We're predicted to have some rain today.

maryann - LOL at the distress for not being carded for shopping at the end of elderly hour. I can still remember being concerned about being carded for old enough. It's a problem being quarantined as a group of three independent adults. I'd hate to be a bunch of young adult roommates trying to sort that out.

Karen (karenrn) - Ouch for the non-returnable hearing aid story. At least those are good for years. And Double Ouch for the nightmare. These times bring that sort of thing out in us.

curlyjax - It's really hard to think about getting CORVID-19 - especially since I've heard of no treatment except to pump in as much air and oxygen as possible until the virus runs its course. Keep the faith.

Readers -

I had a very nice social distancing walk with my friend. She had her knee replaced around the time I had my hip replaced, so we have gotten closer thru our experiences. There were lots of folks out in the park we went to, mostly social distancing, although a few not so much. There is so much venom on facebook about how some people are not social distancing or are touching too many items at the grocery store etc, I think i'm going to stay off it for awhile, and I'm definitely not going to post anything.I do let my son go for a walk with a friend with the understanding that they are social distancing, but that's all.
Rainy day today so good day to do bills and everything else i've been putting off. I have GOT to get back to my stretching and stationary bicycling, my hip is letting me know i've been slacking. I'll probably do a quick zip into grocery store to buy fresh produce.
Bill- I have fond memories of Mt. Auburn cemetery, some very famous folks buried there. Your fresh chives sound fabulous!
Karen- I can relate to those bad dreams, I still have similar ones from my past work life. Anxiety creeps into our subconscious for sure! Haven't tried the White Claw yet, but I am loving hard cider and treating myself to one a few nights a week.
Gardenerjoy-that poetry anthology sounds interesting, and the art outside is a great idea.
Maryann-great job hooking up phone to internet tv!! I am techie challenged so I am quite impressed!
Penny- thinking of you this weekend.
I love the fact that we are all different but are supportive of each other. This is one of the few consistently positive places I can come to on the internet and I care about you all. I'm grateful for all the check ins and I read them everyday, even on the days i feel too rushed to check in.
Wave to Beth and Onebyone as well. Take care everyone!

Good morning!

Yesterday was on plan and weight is holding.

One more day of work and I've been figuring out using all my ppe from car to house and back to car.

They are going to have some serious repercussions sending staff into any homes without masks. I had a quick visit with a patient yesterday to draw blood, wore n95 mask and goggles per my own raised standards. That patient's caregiver called our on-call nurse just a few hours later saying the patient was having trouble breathing.

These calls and new symptoms are going to start flooding in.

In other news, I should be focussed on, my two sons start their first day of college tomorrow. So exciting for us! I was hoping to get a first day of school photo. lol

Karen, that nightmare is common one for me. I get to the end of a 12 hour shift and realize I had missed several patients: never saw them, no vitals or assessments, charting to do. I guess we all have a little PTSD from it.

Bill, I'll have to check on my chives! It's the one herb I can count on taking care of itself. The potatoes sound delish.

Maryann, that's very stressful that your family is in disagreement. Credit for keeping to your food goals.

Curly, we should crash Maryann's gym class, then we could all workout together.

Joy, your art is beautiful! I just love that idea for the neighborhood. I want to ask my daughter if she wants to do the rainbow in the window thing.

Good Morning, Coaches.

Credit for sticking to my plan yesterday. I had extras servings of a few items but remained sugar free and no binging. That is the bottom line for right now. Yeah for exercising and attending Zoom 12 step meetings.

I put my foot down about the boys flying to the East Coast. I cancelled all the reservations and told DS that if he can't decide through research we will put deposits down on both. That would be cheaper than flying there anyway.

Dh and I are going to drive to our cabin in Truckee to make sure everything is ok. I will pack a lunch so we don't have to find food anywhere.

Off I go.