I’m exhausted after yesterday’s adventure. Also, the extra exercise may be having a toll. The joints in my left leg hurt and it may be contributing to the fatigue. I think I’ll try some chair cardio today to see what that does for me.

I want to be careful with food because food doesn’t fix tired, but sometimes my brain forgets that.

Exercise: 75, 1080/1800 minutes for February

Coaches,

OP yesterday and weight training today. I am still struggling with sleep.

We have the rain we have been praying for and then some.

Wave to all.

Doctor visits
 

Hi Coaches

This afternoon I have my visit with the endocrinologist. My body has been gaining a pound a day for five days in preparation of seeing Dr. Mak, who is replacing Dr. Fu. Eventually I will see Dr. Fu again. I am 315 today. I was 311. This is what has been happening ever since I started seeing doctors at age 59. Today, I feel down about it all. In other medical news, I just realized my upcoming immunotherapy appointment is this Saturday. I called Newmakeit as I will need to cancel my class. That’s disappointing to me. I don’t know why it didn’t dawn on me that my appointment was on a Saturday. It’s never been on a Saturday. Anyway I just have to deal with it. I know I’m not feeling great cause this is bothering me so much.

I’m feeling confused and overwhelmed by medical things. I was looking at my last blood test and some items are not in a normal range. So that’s on my mind. That’s the prime reason I shouldn’t read my test results. They will cause more questions than provide answers.
Stay stuck
and once I start to feel down about myself the decluttering issues rise up and I get upset over my lack of progress there.

I know this questioning and negativity don’t serve me well at all. In fact it’s how I stay stuck. I can’t afford to feel stuck. Tomorrow is garbage day and I will focus there. I have one bag to tie up so it can go out and I will aim to have another at the curb. I teach tonight so I will get started on it when I am back from the endocrinologist appointment.

Time to go.

maryann: welcome home! Your guest bedroom sounds very welcoming.
gardenerjoy: must be super exciting to be on the hunt for your next home. I love hearing about the steps you are taking toward it.
curlyjax: your financial efforts seem to be paying off as you are sounding much more confident and clear about the things you need to do. I’m glad you have made fun plans for a NH visit
billblueyes: our fridge lightbulb burnt out yesterday. It was news to DH that the fridge has a lightbulb I think. (I think he thinks our manservant should take care of that.) He seemed genuinely surprised. I am now on the hunt for an appliance bulb. I don’t like the fridge being dark!

Wednesday - Russian "February Revolution" starts at Putilov factory (1917, Petrograd)
 

Diet Coaches/Buddies - Spent the day with the (10 yo) DGD because it's her school vacation week. We were allocated one day; several other days will be spent with her parents vacation skiing. She had reviewed and approved the planned activities in advance. She spent a bunch of time at the Harvard Museum of Natural History examining the 4.5 billion year time line explained with rocks from a dozen eras. Got pretty excited to see that homo sapiens only show up for a tiny sliver on the sixty foot display. She's able to focus on a topic. She was fascinated by the glass flowers - a remarkable display of the details of flowers from the era before ubiquitous 3-D photographs. I share her fascination that they were made but lose interest quickly after that since I can see the same information rotating on my computer screen.

Trip to the supermarket was uneventful. I'd looked forward to not seeing Valentine's Day candy displayed. Ooops! Easter Candy abundantly displayed despite it being Mardi Gras which, I believe, is 40 days before Easter.

My afternoon class discussed the rocks of New England. I understand them well. So I thought. Then each group of five of us were handed a box of rocks. Real rocks aren't as easy to classify into "igneous (cooled magma/lava), sedimentary (compacted sediment), and metamorphic (transformed by heat/pressure)". It's a judgment call whether it's thin layers vs. stripes. Super fun, but I'm quite sure that geologist won't be my next profession.

Eating was on plan, CREDIT moi, with snacks. Dinner was a frozen chickpea dish that was part of our Christmas present from the DS and DDIL. Welcome to have a quality meal with almost no prep.


onebyone – Ouch for getting caught double booking a medical appointment with your class. Don't think I've ever had a medical appointment on a Saturday or Sunday. I've struggled with the availability of detailed blood test results. Hard for me, as a layman, to know which crossed boundaries are important and which are just age expected. Sending supportive thoughts as you mush forward.

Joy (gardenerjoy) – House hunting can be physically and emotionally exhausting. Congrats for surviving.

maryann – You know, California would do well to try weather in moderation: snow in clumps less than 8 feet; rain spread out over the season. Just saying.

curlyjax – Fun NSV to use a higher weight at the gym. Congrats for getting so much "admin" done in one day.

Readers -

Good to be back at work. It was a busy enough day. I got a little walk in twice by my walking to and from the mechanic-it's so awesome to have it be so close to my work. Then off to drop papers off at the lawyer finally for my updated will etc, and a run to the post office to send off something official there. I was quite pleased with myself for getting done things i've put off. I spent the evening with BFF watching the rest of Riot Women which is very good but rather unsettling. I ate too much banana bread with chocolate chips there-it was freshly baked and lovely. Fun to be able to wach with no interruptions from any of our adult children!
Onebyone-sorry you missed your class, that is unusual to have a saturday appt. I hear you about feeling stuck, it is not a fun place to be.
Bill-you had a day full of rocks! It's ridiculous how early the next holiday candy is put out.

Coaches,

Exercise and stretching yesterday, credit. Food OP until one too many servings after a meeting. Sigh. However, i did sleep through the night. Excellent.

I continue to work on budget plan. I now have a separate emergency fund with my financial gal that is earning 3.74% instead of .01%. Automatically money will now go to it every month forcing the savings bit. I batch cooked beef and bean burritos to freeze and alternate into DH's lunches ChatGPT helped me figure out they were .50 a piece with 14 grams of protein each. Ta- da.

Today is laundry and either a garage tidy or starting my quilt. I want to batch cook chili and finish Blink by Gladwell.

Curly: It is good to get back to work and be of service. I have to make my own work plan now that I am retired. I went to a meeting last night which helps with structure.
Joy: Your move.
BBE: DS used to spend hours reading the museum exhibits. So fun to watch a person who is passionate about learning.

My weight is up this morning for no reason that I can discern. I’m choosing to ignore that. It will likely take care of itself in a day or two, as long as I don’t overreact.

The unexplained weight and the unexplained pain in my left leg could well have the same cause — inflammation in the body due to the junipers and cedars engaging in tree sex. It happens every spring and I do best if I just let it all happen, including the accompanying malaise. There are times when it’s appropriate to question and examine everything that is going on in my body and brain. This isn’t one of them.

So, instead of worrying about that stuff, I’m going to focus on taxes. Another thing that happens every year at this time and will actually benefit from some focused attention.

Exercise: 75, 1155/1800 minutes for February

Thursday - 150 Japanese warplanes attack the Australian city of Darwin (1942)
 

Diet Coaches/Buddies - Got a bunch of minor tasks done that were more effort than planned. The replaced light bulb only emphasized that two other ceiling fixtures did not have their full complement of three bulbs working. Both illuminate the same hallway. Past experience has made us aware that changing the temperature (color) of the light bulbs in the one hallway makes the walls unpleasantly change color. Found some six odd curly fluorescent bulbs in the nearby cabinet. Effort was made to use them despite now being obsolete. Got most of it done with more time spent than my attention span.

Then did magic: put the old watch band (that had been carefully sized by a jeweler exactly to DW's wrist) on the newly arrived replacement identical watch. Easy peasy, I thought; I even have tiny screwdrivers and a pair of tiny forked devices made for watch band replacement. Ooops! Watch bands have changed. New ones come with a build in lever to compress the spring for changing bands. To make it easier. Unless, one happens to wish to use an old band on a new watch. Then it becomes much more difficult. The biggest helper? An old pair of 3x reading glasses purchased just to see what they were like but not discarded when it was discovered that we had no use for 3x glasses for reading.

Eating was on plan, CREDIT moi, with snacks. Dinner was scallops grilled on the grill just outside the kitchen door. These were the smaller scallops that don't cost the eye-watering price of the jumbo.


Joy (gardenerjoy) – LMAO at pollen described as "tree sex". Congrats for getting "s e x" past the automatic sensors which still flinch at "h e l l".

maryann – Congrats for getting money into 3.74% instead of .01%. Sending condolences to all of you in the Truckee area for the latest avalanche losses. Reported big time in the news way out here. Love hearing that your DS was a big reader of museum exhibit labels.

curlyjax – You're on a roll with admin successes. Being able to walk to your mechanic from work is an unheard of luxury.

Readers -

Work involved a staff meeting where I learned one of our drivers is leaving which is a bummer as she was attuned to the elders, plus fun on trips. But another staff member is staying -who had been thinking about leaving due to needing health insurance and now can access it-so that is a huge plus.I indulged in the work lunch which was okay, skipped dessert but had a few small cookies later. I went right to my workout after. I discovered the metal sled we push across the rug weighs 100 pounds, and I had 176 on top of that, so I was quite impressed with myself, and sent a video of myself doing so to DS. I looked so fat in the video and started on myself for letting things get so far,but then stopped and sternly told myself at least i'm doing something about it now. I talked to my brother for an hour;he's concerned that his job may be edged out by AI in another year or two, and thinks about early retirement. I'm so glad I work with elders, my finger is on the pulse of all that. My rallying cry is-don't move anywhere that doesn't have decent public transportation for a variety of reasons.
I did manage to talk myself into only having an apple and not making apple crisp for one, so I saved myself some calories there.
Maryann-your money plan sounds great. I will need structure in retirement, I don't do well without it.
Gardenerjoy-ugh for seasonal allergies. I hear you about when its appropriate to worry about body things and when its not.
Bill-those jobs sound quite fiddly, yay for them being done. Little scallops sound fabulous.

Coaches,

I hadn't realized until this morning that the avalanche victims were mothers of the Sugar Bowl Academy. I have taken many chairlifts with their sons and daughters. My season pass is at Sugar Bowl. I had just noticed this season the signs that told me whether or not back country was open. I never take those paths. I a bluebird skier and take only groomed trails. I have also travelled the world with guides who are 'experts." I have put my faith in them numerous times from Machu Pichu to Antartica. I think now in bittersweet terms: at various times I could have been such a "victim." So thoughts for those who have past on and a special gratitude prayer from me.

In terms of food: This morning I am officially out of denial. I am back in the the low 80s. I know for sure it is not Joy's pollen. I wish it were because then I could ignore it. I enjoyed my travels. I gave myself a slippery week of a food plan. Today I make a calendar of post it advantages and get back to the task of moving toward 175. A walk at the gym is planned.

Yesterday I brought what could be the last of the lights to the electrician for the River House. They are hardwired security lights. The floor man is coming Saturday to start on the first floor. I dare to think things are wrapping up.

Today's plan is a meeting with a sponsee at noon. Before that I will bring my National Parks quilt materials to my friend who is a master to get a plan on how to put things together.

Curly: Imagine you will love retirement because it will give you so much more time to finish your many projects. Lack of interests are not your issue.
BBE: So impressed with your determination over these little fix its. I absolutely would hire it out.

We got dismissed from our regular child-care day due to flu in their house. That gave me a free day that I wanted to be all about comfy coziness, but not about food.

So far, I discovered that I can look at Better Homes & Gardens for new home ideas via an app on my library’s website and I’ve been exercising while watching the women’s free figure skating program.

A good day.

Exercise: 80, 1235/1800 minutes for February

Friday - Orkney and Shetland ceded by Norway to Scotland as a dowry payment (1472)
 

Diet Coaches/Buddies - Major success for a Neanderthal! I got the landline telephone technician to come out and work on the wiring up on the pole on the street where he quickly made our landline functional again. The challenge had been to get to a human to get their help. I kept getting directed to a plan to unplug all my phones to test the system. I'd done that already. Then they demanded that they send a confirmation "Text" to my landline to prove that I was me. Duh! My landline doesn't do texts. "We can send you a new password by mail to the latest address on record." Not feeling taken care of. When they relented and put a human on the line she exclaimed, "You've had this number for decades!" Why, Yes, I doubt that you have many Gen-Z landline customers. The only intelligent step was to ask for my cell phone number so the technician could text me just before he arrived. Smart. Then pondered what an old foggy would do who only had a landline.

With the landline functional again, we quickly got three SPAM calls. Ugh! Might be time to consider letting it go. We hang on because, well, we've had this number "for decades". There are still places on Earth that only know us by this number, although as I type I can't think of one. Perhaps we'll hang on until copper phone lines are discontinued.

Eating was on plan, CREDIT moi, with snacks. Got some resistance exercise lifting stuff doing chores. Maybe a new snow storm will give me some more resistance exercise, LOL. Dinner conversation was a wonderful story that DW had encountered a peace march as she walked around one of our favorite natural areas. They handed her a yellow mum. She added it to the vase of yellow tulips that I'd given her claiming that there's a Japanese art of flower arrangement that adds one odd item. Perhaps. Nevertheless, we enjoy a vase of tulips with an odd mum, as if lost.


Joy (gardenerjoy) – Good news that you avoided exposure to the flu. Neat idea to view Better Homes & Gardens while multi-tasking. I thought those only lived in doctors' offices - in years old editions.

maryann – That's painful to realize that the avalanche victims are Sugar Bowl Academy mothers - in your skiing realm. Yay for some River House successes to keep you focused forward.

curlyjax – Kudos for giving yourself credit for pushing such a heavy sled. That's heavy, indeed. Wish your DB well finding a way though AI coming into his work place.

Readers -

Busy day at work. I was on my feet for two hours which was good exercise but exhausting. I ate a large panini at lunch followed chips and dessert, ugh. I conked out for a mini nap at home and then of course had trouble getting to sleep. The bulk of the evening was spent investigating Barbados-thinking of going there instead of Aruba-and fretting about the price of everything. It would be lovely to have DS come with us of course, but it does jack up the price, and if we're spending the money I want my own bedroom too. Or I could just say to myself-its been 9 years since we've had a family vacation, its not like its a yearly thing.
I'm feeling crabby that my weight isn't budging after these strenuous workouts, but we all know its the food that is the trick. I have to go back to something really simple and stick to it!!
Maryann-that avalanche story is so terrible. Gratitude indeed. I am out of denial too.
Gardenerjoy- what a nice day indeed.
Bill-I cut the landline as it was costing me another 50 dollars a month, and I too was just getting spam calls.I'm hoping we don't get the ice in this next storm.

We have a tree crew here. I think they’re about done taking out an ash that succumbed to emerald ash borer. It’s the noisy part now, where they’re feeding it into the chipper shredder.

That’s made for a jumpy energy this morning, but I managed to take care of a few chores that can handle that.

I want to be careful not to let jumpy energy turn into excess eating because it does sometimes.

Exercise: 60, 1295/1800 minutes for February

Coaches.

Food was rebellious again. OK. I have weighed this morning. I recorded the weight. Food is in MFP. The only MUST is following foodplan and a short walk. I am free the rest of the day.

I am meeting quilt master to finish pinning the three layers of quilt. No calories required.

Curly: I love when the three of us are together. They are precious moments.
BBE: FYI all futuristic movies feature a landline for the hero because cell phones have been neutralized.
Joy: i am going to check out Better Home and Gardens. Thanks for the tip.