So yesterday was a first. (Warning to BBE regarding the following overly "chick" post.) I made an appointment for a bra fitting at a lingerie specialty shop in an affluent area near Sacramento. It was run by a straight talking New Yorker and a Russian babushka ( she left in '89.) Within minutes my old embarrassing underthings were shed and I am being "woman-handled" with loud talking and laughing in the background from friends and family of other costumers. One quiet man was out of place finding a Christmas gift for his new spouse. He was accompanied by her MIL. I was there for nearly 2 hours. Apparently you have to sit around and move around because the body heats up the bra and changes the fit. I knew it would be a process so I was very patient and the owner was grateful ( throwing in some freebie.) Long story short I have been wearing the wrong sizes of everything. I have had to compensate for a bad fit and underthings worn to thread. Spent a small fortune which will remain anonymous (because that might be the hardest part of the post for BBE to hear.) Credit for taking care of myself. I have spent a a huge chunk over the last few months on specialty clothing. I am just going to enjoy it. I have some extra back pay right now. My thinking is also that I was going to retire this year and fine things are a little encouragement to keep working.
The downside is I have to start hand washing the lingerie (which I should have been doing all along. ) Tip for the day: only two bra wearings before they need to be wash in a gentle lingerie soap. They will last forever.
Brought Mom her tree and had a nice quiet evening with her and DH. I am so grateful she is in my life. Food was very healthy even with a dessert treat.
BBE: Loved the link of the paintings. I felt very affirmed especially after two hours of being in and out of a dressing room
Karen: Isn't the cold great. You and I have the luxury of cold without snow.
Joy: Glad all is well.
Curly: It is nice to have plans I agree. I am enjoying a quiet day before next weeks events.
Yesterday's meals were out of order, but the right food, so I'm calling it good enough. I had a snack at lunch time because I came home hungry from an outdoor event. Then, lunch a little later when I had time to prepare it.
Exercise +35, 545/1600 minutes for December
BillBlueEyes: Thanks for the link to the paintings. What a terrific opportunity to see them all together.
I think you have a confusion of Mary-s.
Bloody Mary was Mary Tudor, the oldest child of Henry VIII. She was queen of England for about five years, during which time she attempted to reverse the English reformation with a lot of violence -- thus 'bloody.' The name stuck because of history being written by the winners, since the Protestant monarchs were violent toward Catholics, too. To be successful in her attempt to keep England Catholic, Mary needed to have a child and prevent her half-sister, Elizabeth (a Protestant), from taking the throne. She'd been restricted to Protestant suitors earlier in life, so she married at age 37, after taking the throne. When it was her choice, she went with Prince Philip of Spain, a Catholic. When he ascended the throne of Spain, she became Queen consort of Spain as well as Queen of England. She didn't have a child. Following her death, Queen Elizabeth ushered in the Elizabethan age and a return to Protestantism.
Mary, Queen of Scots, became Queen of Scotland when her father, King James V, died six days after she was born. To keep her safe from the English, she was sent to France while Scotland was ruled by regents. As a teenager, she married the Dauphin of France and was briefly Queen consort of France until her husband died about 18 months later at which time she returned to Scotland to claim her throne. Queen Elizabeth considered Mary a threat to the English throne and Catholics in England and Scotland preferred Mary, Queen of Scots. Eventually, Elizabeth had Mary beheaded. But, Mary had a son and Elizabeth died without issue. So, Mary's son became King James VI of Scotland and King James I of England, uniting the crowns of the two nations. James was Protestant and sponsored the King James Version of the Bible in English.
Last edited by gardenerjoy; 12-12-2021 at 02:13 PM.
Monday - Francis Drake sets sail from England to circumnavigate the world (1577)
Diet Coaches/Buddies - Walk with the DFGD was delayed, then delayed, then cancelled as the DS and DIL faced an unhappy child with a cold of some sort. Sent DW and I into remembering all the times that we brought one of our kids to the Emergency Room. Specifically remembering two times that DW had to wait at home with the little one while I had to go alone with the older one. She had to wait with no cell phones to let her know how it was going.
Eating was on plan with as afternoon snack of a slice of homemade fruit cake, CREDIT moi. It's a smallish cake; I'll have a slice for a snack until I've had my sacred half. It's OKish for fruit cake - mostly a sweet cake with some dried fruit bits thrown in.
Dinner conversation was started by me reading Joy's description of the two English Mary's to DW. I played second banana reading, for example, "Eventually, Elizabeth had Mary ...," pausing for DW to finish, "beheaded." And we'd both laugh as if we'd invented a joke. We both had the two Mary's confused a bit. I still have a problem with the ease with which royalty moved from country to country at a time when communication was slow and travel tedious. It's on my Bucket List to learn me some history.
Joy (gardenerjoy) - Recovering from out of order meals is worthy of Kudos. Thanks for the tutorial; yes, I had the Mary's thoroughly confused. Would think that the English would have been more creative in choosing DIFFERENT names for their royalty. Spent dinner talking about all the cardinals and bishops who died at each transition to and from Catholicism in England. Then the control of scientific thinking that the Anglican Church exercised when Darwin was contemplating publishing his work. Some hard times, then.
maryann - Thanks for reminding me that menfolk need to be supportive of women who face the challenge, and costs, of bra fitting. Should be part of the father-son talk. "Son, never complain. Think of bras as mechanically the equivalent of MacPherson Structs for a woman - only they need to be replaced more often." That should do it.
Karen (karenrn) - Yep, the holidays do challenge the best of plans. Glad that your heat is working.
curlyjax - Those lights look like a fun outing. Hope the rain held off for you. Two meal out in one day is, indeed, a challenge.
Readers -
Quote:
Success Skill 9Get Back on Track - Right Away
Before You Move On
Master all Stage 1 skills before you move on to Stage 2. If you don't, I predict you will have a hard time - sooner or later - sticking to the Think Thin Initial Eating Plan.
Judith S. Beck, Ph.D., The Complete Beck Diet for Life (Green book), Pg 105.
I brought half my lunch home yesterday (chinese food) and ate all my dinner (reuben sandwich, one hard cider and a small portion of fries) and other than a banana and hot cocoa, that was pretty much what I ate yesterday. In between my social outings, I managed to pickup a few things at the grocery store including a frozen turkey for Christmas. The lights were beautiful and accented the various trees and plants quite nicely; it was cold out but not unbearable, and they had a few firepits here and there they you could warm yourself on. My friend's husband snapped at her a few times, and out of his hearing she said "he's such an old man; sometimes I wish I was single". I knew she was kidding, but it did remind me of the good part of being on my own. There's a reason why some women travel with women friends instead of their grumpy husbands Today I get to go into work late because I'm chaperoning a bus trip to see more lights at Gillette stadium which I'm very excited about. Have I mentioned Iove my job
Karen: That's so funny you mentioned Chihuly. We have this sculpture https://museumandmusings.wordpress.c...-icicle-tower/ at the MFA and I have admired it everytime I go. Holiday festivities does bring up challenges but so worth it.
Maryann- I had a good bra fitting once at nordstroms and discovered I was the wrong size too. It wasn't quite as dramatic as your experience though Definitely worth getting some new ones since we have to wear them all the time.
Gardenerjoy: thanks for the interesting history tidbits!
Bill: I'm sure you're not a grumpy husband, you're so supportive. Little kids do get sick all the time. Yay for just the right amount of fruitcake.
Food was on plan yesterday and today too. My friend's flight is late, so we'll eat dinner and then I'll go get her. Otherwise it would probably be 8 p.m. or later. I'll save leftovers for her and she won't care. I got up and had a good hike this morning. It was cold, so we didn't go until nearly 8. After that I walked the dog and did some last minute things around the house. Tomorrow I'll do a 3 hour volunteer session with the food bank and then we're going to see the movie Julia in the afternoon.
Curlyjax. I bet the garden was cold. The last couple of times that I've gone to our garden for evening things near Christmas I thought I was going to freeze. I've seen a very similar Chihuly sculpture several times. He must love that color too. Good that you can see some of the good part of being single.
Bill. Fruitcake sounds so good. I used to make it every year, but haven't for a long time. People have talked about it being a great thing to take backpacking because it is so calorie dense. I'm afraid I don't need calorie dense right now. One of these days.
GardenerJoy. That was an interesting explanation about the Marys, but please don't give me a test.
Maryann. I will need a fitting in the next couple of months myself. My bras are not old, but I'm afraid they are getting a little too big, especially around. Of course that's okay with me. It sounds like your fitting was quite entertaining.
Kind of an emotional day. I was teaching about the connections between the Cold War and the rise of the Jihad movement which began with Russian invasion of Afghanistan. I was showing a video. I stopped before some of the more ruthless Taliban sequences to check in with my girl who just made it out of Afghanistan. I talked to her outside and she burst into tears. I felt so bad. But it was her history. She didn't know that Russian had invade Afghanistan. Anyway, too raw I imagine. I sent her to the library and said tomorrow we will move to the Iraqi war. I told her I want the kids to know how important her living history is. Called her folks to tell them she was sad and they said they would speak to her. Sometimes teaching is a field of land mines.
Food will not solve the emotion. I have a now standing date with DH to go to the gym. He will do the cycle class and I will climb. Then we sit in the hot room and jacuzzi together.
Tuesday - Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe born (1546, Scania, Denmark)
Diet Coaches/Buddies - Got my COVID Booster vaccination (Moderna). At a well-managed, otherwise unused third floor of a Shopping Center taken over just for this purpose, manned by young fire department personnel. I arrived 40 minutes early for my appointment and waited exactly 40 minutes in line. The "appointment" merely meant that when you got to the front of the line they had your name in the computer already. My attempt to get the Booster earlier had been thwarted because CVS Pharmacy demanded that I have a hard-copy of my Medicare Card and I'd run around in circles for several weeks before finally getting that. This site let me enter the number on-line from home; they never saw my brand-new card. And, when I attempted to present my Vaccination Card to be updated, they instructed me to use my smart phone to take a picture of the numbers that I was to write on my card when I got home. Then told me that they recommended that I sit for 15 minutes but no one counted or monitored. When I got my initial shots, a Nurse Rached type wrote the time on a card that I had to present in order to get out of the waiting area. Loose operation in an attempt to get as many folks shot as possible. I was in awe and aghast at the same time.
Eating was on plan, CREDIT moi. Evening snack included a slice of the gifted, homemade fruit cake. My Zoom evening meeting included a friend who happened to be in Florida and would have missed our usual in-person gathering. Have to celebrate a rare positive impact of the pandemic.
maryann - What a sobering experience for your young students to have to confront that history is a very real experience for some people. Congrats for finding a kind way to help your student for whom Afghanistan was real.
Karen (karenrn) - LOL at "I'm afraid I don't need calorie dense right now." Yep, the great calorie dense foods like nuts are best left to the lumber jacks. Kudos for your volunteer time with the food bank.
curlyjax - Thanks for the link to the MFA's Chihuly Icicle Tower. The DGD loves that when we take her to the MFA; it's the first thing she spotted to know that she'd been there before. Fun that your job will require a trip to Gillette Stadium to see lights today. Kudos for bringing home half your lunch.
Readers -
Quote:
Success Skill 9Get Back on Track - Right Away
Before You Move On
Make sure you check off all skills for seven consecutive days before moving on - it doesn't matter how long it takes. And be sure to keep increasing exercise.
Judith S. Beck, Ph.D., The Complete Beck Diet for Life (Green book), Pg 105.
I thought I had better post now so I don't forget. Food was on plan yesterday and weight is finally in the 130's. On the Happy Scale ap it shows I am half way to my goal of 125 if I do in fact keep that goal. It's much warmer this morning and I'm kind of glad because I will be standing outside this morning during the food distribution. It is 60 rather than in the 40's.
Bill. I'm glad you've gotten your booster, but my what a frustrating experience.
Maryann. That must be tough to consider and remember all your student's situations as you teach history. Great deal to have the workout dates with dh.
Not a great eating day, although I did choose something on the menu that was less caloric than others. The lights at Gillette were fine, but I think it would have been better viewing in a car than in our little bus, as we were higher up and couldn't see out the front. I think Gillette would be better for little kids, I honestly enjoyed the Botanic lights more. Anyhow it was a fun outing and I can take off two extra hours from work at some point since I was out until 8:00. It was a long day of sitting.
I arrived home to find I was sent a fruitcake from my inlaws. Its a very good fruitcake, very dense and of course I got into it right away. It's from Gethesmani Farms Abbey; they also make excellent bourbon fudge. The holiday eating has definitely started. Back to my salad lunch today.
Bill-yay for getting your booster. It is amazing how many folks they can shuffle thru in a short period of time.
Maryann-you have such interesting students in your class! Great that you can be there for her.
Karen-have a great time with your friend. I forget, is she a hiker too? Wow, you are doing great!
Eating has been better. Weight is holding. Work is still a struggle. I'm putting my foot down, demanding an appropriate workload and getting it, but I have to communicate my boundary and fight for it each day. I can't relax and enjoy my set boundaries. It's very toxic.
Credit moi for receiving my 30 years of service pin. I have been waiting fo it for two years but they stopped giving them during the pandemic. I have a great deal of pride in that pin. At the same meeting I got an award for most innovative use of the incentive management program we have. I am proud that I have the most years of service but use the new program like a youngin.
Food was reasonable and weight is two pounds from ticker. DH and I have now set ourselves into a three day a week gym routine. I am pretty beat for an hour on the climb machine but it is good to be back in the discipline. I can declare the new underthings are terrif.
Karen: What a thrill to be in a new decade.
BBE: Doesn't sound like the booster had any ill effects. That is great.
Penny: It is so difficult to get in a routine when you are not managed properly. I have had such issues over the years with poor admin. I am luckier however in that I have more autonomy in my classroom. The bosses know I do my business so they just ignore me.
Joy: Credit for knowing you can restart your day at anytime.
Curley: Thanks for the warning Dec. food is on the way. I want to avoid it as much as possible.
Wednesday - Bill of Rights Day (1791, 10 amendments added to the US Constitution)
Diet Coaches/Buddies - No response to the Moderna COVID booster. Seems like I'm one of the lucky ones. So far. Knock on wood. Excitement was the trip to the supermarket with an additional smug feeling of being boosted. This supermarket requires masks; everyone wore one. Feels like as safe a place to be with strangers as is possible right now. My assignment was to procure the Christmas Ham since they carry a "Use or freeze by date" of February, 2022. We won't be in competition with the last-minute shoppers. Bought a large one since both my DS and SIL really like going home with a big chunk. Cracks me up that I've fallen into that standard role of an old parent still getting joy from feeding my kids. Also bought a bunch of California Navel Oranges; it's their season. They were $0.99 per pound individually. I could also have bought a five-pound bag of smaller, thus slightly less desirable, ones for $5.99. Spent forever trying to figure out why they were priced just the opposite of how I'd have guessed. I suppose marketing is beyond the grasp of an engineering mind.
Eating was on plan, CREDIT moi. The fruit cake is still being eaten, slice-by-slice. It's planned, but annoys me how much I now crave having a slice. Before it entered our kitchen, I was happily typing "with no daytime snacks" every single day.
Joy (gardenerjoy) - Thanks for "re-writing plans that prove to be fantasy" - re-writing is so much better than just ignoring the plans and bushwhacking through the day.
maryann - Yep, Super Kudos indeed for having both long service and innovation. Don't see that often.
Karen (karenrn) - Congrats to moving into your new decade. May you never move back.
curlyjax - Ouch for having a fruit cake to consume. It does, however, convey the Christmas spirit very well.
Penny. - Sending supportive thoughts for getting your work load to the right size. Seems to be everywhere that the system's response to pandemic problems is to overload the front line workers. "Weight is holding" isn't bad.
Readers -
Quote:
Success Skill 9Get Back on Track - Right Away
Before You Move On
You're ready to move on to Stage 2 once you've not only checked off each skill for seven consecutive days, but you also firmly believe that: . . .
If I'm hungry or craving or just want to eat for emotional reasons, it's no big deal. These aren't emergencies. I know what to do to resist. I can wait until my next scheduled meal or snack.
Judith S. Beck, Ph.D., The Complete Beck Diet for Life (Green book), Pg 105.
Food was on plan yesterday. We went to the movie 'Julia' and we all enjoyed it. There were only 5 other people in the theater. Two of them were older women a few rows behind us that spoke in loud voices periodically like a bit of a running commentary. Two of us thought it was quite amusing. The other friend was annoyed and we found that amusing too.
I don't have a plan for today yet. Dh and friend were talking about macaroni and cheese last evening. I think she is going to make some today. She loves to cook and is a good cook. I will have a bite, but stick to a plan I formulate. We also have a get together with my former co-workers on Sunday. I'm sure I've mentioned before that the food is usually very good. I'll make a few goodies on Friday to take to the co-workers along with the cashew brittle.
It's cold here this morning and there was a little rain in the night. We'll hike, but waiting until closer to 9. It will still be plenty cool, but I do love to hike in the cool. Not sure what we'll do for the rest of the day. Might have to make a little outline of what we'll be doing the next couple of days.
Bill. I'm glad you haven't had any ill effects from the booster. I had Pfizer, but no problems either. Since you are mentioning oranges. We can pick oranges from the neighbors tree. Some years they are good and other years they aren't. I'll have to sample this years crop. The lemons are ripening too.
Maryann. Congratulations on your years or service and innovation. Also congratulations on your gym schedule with dh. That's awesome.
GardenerJoy. I'm glad you're making a more realistic plan. Amazing how much that can help a person's stress level. Right now I'm needing to make a list so I know if I should start getting stressed or not. I'm a little stressed being semi-oblivious.
Penny. I'm sorry about the work stress. Such a bummer that you need to expend energy to keep them from overloading you. I do remember being a home hospice nurse and the faster I worked the more they piled on.
Curlyjax. Your Christmassy outings sound fun. We need to do something that feels like the holidays. Yes, my friend is a hiker. My guy friend Lee met her hiking Camelback years ago. Then the three of us hiked a ton over the years. Coleen hasn't hiked as much the last couple of years, but we plan to hike plenty including Camelback and hopefully Flatiron while she's here. We'll start out with something moderate and work up to it.
Credit for forcing myself to go out to a singles event at a restaurant/bar. They have an interesting idea where you buy a card and then you can pour little bits of different beer yourself and sample things. It was good to get out and stretch my rusty social skills. I met some nice women and everyone was friendly. At least I didn't throw myself at a male . The men were a bit older and I didn't really talk to them much but it was a start. Its discouraging how poor the ratio of decent men to women is; at least ones that i would politically line up with which is important to me. There's something about these cold dark evenings that bring out the paranoia and loneliness in me, and I need to remind myself my thoughts are just my thoughts. Not a stellar eating day, but onwards.
Monday - Francis Drake sets sail from England to circumnavigate the world (1577)
Today I get to go into work late because I'm chaperoning a bus trip to see more lights at Gillette stadium which I'm very excited about. Have I mentioned Iove my job
