I indulged in work lunch and paid for it later on by passing a lot of gas black beans do not agree with me which is too bad as they're so good for you. Lesson learned; bring a bottle of beano to work. Credit for no sweets at work. I was so tired at the end of the day. I went home and took a nap and struggled to wake up. Hopefully the mental and physical trip exertion of the trip has left my system. I meant to exercise but couldn't get myself to do it, so read about decluttering instead and dealt with my room for a bit, including putting away my suitcase etc. I researched some local professional organizers and contacted one. They're pricey but I need help, this is out of control and its been going on long enough. She does a free 30 minute consult where I assume they eyeball the situation via zoom. DD isn't in love with the idea but something must be done. I was craving ice cream from a local stand but told myself firmly- you can have a treat on the weekend.
Maryann-I cannot imagine all the details involved in your new house. I'm glad when I had to replace the modem, the guy told me where a good place was, I would have no clue.
Gardenerjoy-boy I can relate to low motivation effecting food.
Bill-really cool about the genes. Not good news about our ocean.

Coaches,

Yesterday was another action packed day. I think the theme of Raiders of the Lost Ark theme music should have been playing in the background. The seemingly innocuous knob and pull installation provoked anxious discomfort due to conflict with cabinet guy and DH. Then I, who have been cabinet guy's biggest defender. am now completely disillusioned with him. It became glaringly apparent another subcontractor in the bathrooms wiped the front of the cabinets that took the finish off several doors. Sigh! The Cabinet man didn't say anything - didn't want to get involved. I paid him his house visit fee and am done with him. We have a painting guy I love and he said he can fix the cabinets when he comes back. Still lots of emotion. I have to think "How important is it?"

I dived into farmhouse cookies which didn't fix the cabinets.

Journey was loud and very poor acoustics. I couldn't recognize the songs they were singing. We left after about an hour.

Today I need to take it easy. There are no big frogs to eat just everyday puttering which is a welcome break.

Curly: Asking for help is my favorite thing to do. Getting a professional organizer brings in a dispassionate third person that will be able to navigate a mother daughter relationship must more easily. Credit.
BBE: If experts can't decide on a definition of gene, I think the whole topic is way over my head.
Joy: There is an art to deciding in the moment what should be done on any given day and what can be done practically. Well done.

Diet Coaches/Buddies - A day of minor victories against the bureaucracies of the world. DW is now wearing a monitor, glued to her chest, that will take a continuous EKG for five days. She'll then return it in its pre-addressed box and have a report shortly thereafter. Made an appointment with our financial advisor in two weeks. We still wrestle with how risky to keep our retirement kitty. They are pushing us to invest more conservatively due to having gray hair. And best of all, I solved the problem with the app for my library network that always froze up with the message "Programming error". Idiot's solution: I uninstalled the app and downloaded a new copy. Problem solved; I'm a computer genius.

The box of junk metal in our basement is gone - donated to a recycling day event. All my life there's been a box of junk metal in my basement where I can search for just the right piece for a mend. Feeling motivated by the success of others on this forum, I let it go. And I was able to defeat the construction of DW's old laptop to remove the hard drive so that she could donate that to the electronics recycling collectors at the event. The laptop was obsolete and broken - a prime candidate for being crushed into little bits for recovery of bits of metal. But old hard drives contain lots of private data - all of which had been backed up before she bought her new one. I'll now figure out a way to destroy the hard drive; maybe I'll take it apart first to be sure that I know how it works, LOL.

Eating was on plan with no daytime snacks, CREDIT moi. Dinner was lentils, sauteed spinach, seeduction bread, and my green salad. Being vegetarian for the day feels right when the conversation is about heart health. Blueberries for evening snack without moaning about the absence of a Girl Scout Thin Mint cookie.


maryann – Your cabinet knobs are such a good example of how engaged one has to be in a renovation with the unobtainable expectation of getting everything right every time. Thanks for, "How important is it?"

curlyjax – Pretty courageous, in my humble opinion, to engage an organizer. Wish you well.

Readers -

I was finally less tired yesterday yay. I had an errand for a client so left work early and then got a few groceries on the way home, ignoring all the sweets. The errand involved going to an Xfinity store which actually was a pleasant experience. The staff there surprised the manager who was turning 70 with a bouquet. It was nice to see folks in a place like that who seemed to like each other, and my errand was also done quickly. I bopped into a Home Goods store briefly and eyed some fun things I don't need, but the idea of standing in line to check them out dissuaded me from wasting money.
Per request of DD I got some chicken parm on the way home which simplified dinner. DD wanted to get ice cream from a stand and I went along and got some even though I wasn't craving it, which was a bad idea but at least just one scoop. Food wasn't bad other than the ice cream-I'm working on making sure I'm hungry before I eat. At home I called one of my investment places and made them go through the paperwork with me, as I've had problems before of not filling it out correctly, so I can withdraw funds and finally get them in one place. I talked to BFF and collegefriend separately about fun plans, and scheduled a talk with the organizer person for tomorrow am, wahoo.
Maryann-I love your theme music! How important is it is a great concept indeed.
Bill-So satisfying to solve an app issue that way. Great job recycling that metal.

Coaches,
Yesterday I logged my food. The calories were maintenance. My body can tell the difference after 8 months of weight lifting, 3 days a week. My clothes are fitting much better. Orange sticker. A week to go for nutritionist and weigh in.

Yesterday's home puttering was restorative. I changed bedding, cleaned kitchen appliances and finished all the laundry. I made a big pot of chili.

The big task was researching how to clean a construction/renovation site. I was going to hire it out but I am having major trust issues. OK. I can do it. It counts as exercise. I don't want to hire someone else to burn calories. I have a list of tools I will need including a back pack HEPA shop vac, electric scrubber with a wand extender, and a Dupray steam cleaner for tile floors. I will be the house cleaner when we move in so it makes sense to invest wisely. I'll be shopping for the best price today.

BBE: Huge credit letting the metal go!!!The truth is, all your life you haven't had EBAY for a specific part. Also true, it is perfectly ok to thank and replace items that have been of good service to you.
Curly: Love hearing there is a service place that is a pleasant experience. They are few and far between in California.

Diet Coaches/Buddies - Was pleased to leave the house warm enough to need no jacket. Was nearly blown over. April is not done with doing its thing.

Finished The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis. Continued to feel like I knew about Narnia as I read it even though I wasn't consistently predicting the next event. Trying to convince myself that I must have read it. I join my (10 yo) DGD in the thought that it might be for kids younger than me. Perhaps I'm not spiritually advanced enough to see the spiritual analogies. (Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.)

Eating was on plan with no daytime snacks, CREDIT moi. Dinner was frozen fish cakes with sweet potatoes, asparagus, and my green salad. Once again, I made tartar sauce without using a recipe. Once again, I discovered that one can't make tartar sauce wrong. I added too much lemon juice. Lemon juicy tartar sauce was just fine. Evening snack of blueberries satisfied as always.


maryann – Congrats for the NSV of clothes fitting better. That's a mighty trove of tools to clean up your construction site. Your DS might appreciate this tale: Decades ago, when wandering the 'Combat Zone' in Boston - the area for adult stores that sold naughty stuff, in the window of a store named The Naked Eye were books about every s*xual deviation one could imagine. Amidst them was, The Four Loves by C. S. Lewis. Cracked me up. I had read it when I was trying to understand everything; thoroughly enjoyed its careful delineation of human love. LMAO visualizing the disappointment of someone who purchased it from a naughty store only to find it to be a spiritual guide to love.

curlyjax – Do like the notion of a business where the employees like each other. Happy "Arrival of the Organizer" Day - may it be a success.

Readers -

No sweets at work, credit me. I did get into a small bag of potato chips partly because of avoiding a task, which of course never helps. I did make an effort to walk around and stand quite a bit, as I knew I'd be sitting for quite awhile later. I relaxed at home for a bit, then off to Boston with BFF driving thankfully. I was struck by our different approach to things;she's a bit more seat of the pants, while I like to plan ahead more (figure out where to park ahead of time) I also researched that we could get our parking validated, and by a happy coincidence found one of the parking garages that do so for the Wang. We went to see Michael McIntyre on his American tour which was great fun. There were two folks doing a warmup and then an intermission, and the two couples next to us left at the intermission before even seeing the headliner which we thought was odd-I guess they thought it would be more of the same. Michael was great although I wished there were tv screens as he was a tiny figure. on stage and we couldn't see his facial expressions.In bed late but worth it.
Today I have a call scheduled with the organizer, not a visit yet-its a whole process. Maybe my house will be too much for her! We'll see.
Maryann- fun to invest in some heavy duty tools you will continue to use. Great NSV indeed.
Bill-too funny about that bookstore. Good to know you can't make a bad tartar sauce.

Yesterday was bonkers, even compared to the normal times we have with the kids. When we arrived, the pool guy was there to open up the pool. The mom was out there trying to understand everything she needs to know as a new pool owner -- while holding the baby and having the 3yo and 5yo running around. I grabbed the baby and DH stuck around to ask all the right questions.

I made some attempts to keep the children out of their hair but, obviously, the baby was the priority. Poor little guy was hungry and since he breast feeds, there wasn't a thing I could do about that. Fortunately, he gave up and slept most of the time. I did weird things like get down on the ground and back up, while holding the baby -- that uses a lot of muscles that I don't normally think about, especially in the middle back.

Eventually, I settled indoors on a recliner and the kiddos ran in and out. I suspect at some point they were sent inside to stop bothering the adults. Fortunately, they came up with the idea of building pillow "houses" in the living room -- so all I had to do was offer suggestions and referee who got which pillow or seat cushion and point out when things would go better if they worked together. It killed a bunch of time and was reasonably quiet play and they came up with really cool constructions!

It was all fun and I enjoyed getting to spend more time than usual with the 4mo-old who is now very aware of the world and has smiles for everyone when he's not too hungry. But I'm quite drained this morning!

Exercise: 50, 1380/1800 minutes for April

Coaches,
I logged my food continuing the maintenance calories depsite the fact that I say I want to lose. OK. Six days before nutritionist visit and a weigh in I am going to try a six day strict program - no flour. I have made homemade greek yogurt and chili. Lunches with be egg whites and spinach saute with paremesan cheese. I can have a very bland menu for six days. I can do this.

I met with the Rug lady. We have a nice option for the River house man cave. She is also investigating the hall and stair runners. It felt like a step forward. I I weeded for 30 mins. It was a start to the days I have to work there outside.

Today I am going to use my new USB Lithium powered electric scrubber on all the tile of this house. I have learned to vacuum everything first. OI will report back.

Curly: Great to get out into the city, i bet. i love Boston.
BBE; Are you going to read the whole sieres of Narnia?

Diet Coaches/Buddies - Lively lunch with three friends who are all older than me. Our 95 yo friend who is recovering from two strokes remains sharp; his challenge is getting words out that he has clearly formed in his brain. The strokes seem to have injured his ability to get his mouth to speak. Gotta have an accepting audience.

The lunch had been brought in from the best local cheese shop. It included a ball of Cabbage-Wrapped Soft Cheese (Robiola Incavolata) that was new to me. Salmon, radicchio salad with endives, liver pate, baguette, green grapes, and a mini blueberry muffin. Quite a treat for a casual lunch.

Evening event was attending Mozart's first opera, Idomeneo that was three hours of non-stop lively singing and acting. We weren't the only ones excited - the audience gave a long, long standing ovation. Couldn't believe it was so wonderful yet we'd never even heard of it. Walking, CREDIT moi, to and from the subway to get there allowed a peak of Boston at night; the elegant and the crazy appear after dark.

Eating was on plan with no daytime snacks, CREDIT moi. Wasn't a low calorie day as there was bread at all three meals.



Joy (gardenerjoy) – "Bonkers" well describes your saga with your grands. So neat that you got to hold the 4 month old while being the grand director of pillow house construction. Lifetime memories being formed.

maryann – Your menu sounds great to me despite your use of the word 'bland'. Last night's lead male role was sung by a female mezzo-soprano. Gave the delightful visual of the two lovers both about the size of high school students - so unusual for opera to have petite lovers. [Will read at least one more book of Narnia. Since I'm not bending my brain trying to unravel the hidden levels, it's a fast read.]

curlyjax – Sad to be reminded that potato chips do not help an avoided task get done. Congrats for making it into Boston to the Wang. Strange story that a couple left before the main event.

Readers -

The phone meeting with the organizer was great. She sounds lovely, and offered the idea of talking to DD as well to help get her on board. I'm to take photos (gulp) and videos of my mess and send it. She will then figure out how much time she thinks, and offer a price etc. The only problem is she isn't available until July. But in a way that's good, it will give me time to get rid of some of the big things I was going to like an old mattress in the basement etc, and that would give them more room to work in. Plus it will give me incentive to get going on the obvious trash stuff.
I spent my work day exhausted, having tumbled into bed at midnight and then getting up for work-and did indulge in a lovely chicken dish at work with a lot of starch. Home for a nap and then groceries, and then watching one of the Downton Abbey movies. Food was terrible-I've been craving the chocolate cake that sits in our fridge, so I had some and basically had bread and cheese for dinner. I'm off for the weekend with a friend to stay at her family house on the ocean and no doubt we'll have pizza and other no cook things, but after that its back on track. Hmm, I wonder why I haven't lost any weight at least I'll get a good walk in.
I won't check in tomorrow so see you Monday.
Maryann-I like the six day strict program, very doable indeed. I forget how much there is to do with a new house, its so fun to come along on the journey.
Gardenerjoy- how fun to spend time overseeing a pillow fort. Your family is so lucky to have you help. It is indeed exhausting!
Bill-always great to spend time with sharp folks in their 90s. How wonderful to see a new to you Mozart production.

I’m committing to my mid-morning salad that makes Saturday work well for me. The rest of the day’s food is planned, too. CREDIT for having a plan!

Exercise: 60, 1440/1800 minutes for April

Coaches,
Quite a success yesterday with Project Countdown to Dietician. I ate no flour ans was under 1200. I ate cucumber salad with fresh mozarella, spinach and egg white scramble, and large delish strawberries i bought farm to fork.It really helped that I was so busy scrubbing grout with my new machine and finishing cleaning the bathroom that i fell asleep in the bathtub when it was all over. Sheesh.

I gave myself 2 orange stickers on the calendar for being under 1200.

Today I have my added yoga class at 11:00. This puts me at 4 workout sessions a week at the gym. I am not sure what puttering will look like today but priority will be food project.

Joy: DH considers the best days of his life were spent building pillow forts with DS.
Curly: Wonderful you felt so positive with the organizer. It will make a huge difference.
BBE: What a wonderful act of service listening patiently to a man who has much to say.

Diet Coaches/Buddies - Resistance exercise, CREDIT moi, was pounding stakes to hold the fences for the Sugar Snaps that are some 2" high in our community garden patch. They've survived the several cold days with nights approaching freezing. Hardy little guys, them. Transporting the 6' stakes to the garden is a wonder of packing science to fit them into our Toyota without tearing the seat fabric. The fences are ready for the Sugar Snaps to grow; I'm more than drooling already. Do hope the late start due to the late cold weather isn't fatal.

Eating was on plan with no daytime snacks, CREDIT moi. Dinner was omelets, new potatoes with chives from our back yard, kale crisps, and my green salad. The chives resurrect themselves each season with little maintenance; just come back up - early. Fresh herbs are a gift of the gods. Kale crisps are also a gift - just an extraordinary way to enjoy kale. If they weren't so fragile, they would be a good commercial competitor to potato chips.


Joy (gardenerjoy) – Always like being reminded that salads can be served other than after a meal.

maryann – A no flour day is an achievement. Easy to understand being tired after working a grout scrubbing machine.

curlyjax – Congrats for a successful first encounter with your potential organizer. Ouch for having to take pictures of the situation that makes you wince.

Readers -

Diet Coaches/Buddies - DW was off with a friend for a brunch about the book Night Magic: Adventures Among Glowworms, Moon Gardens, and Other Marvels of the Dark by Leigh Ann Henion. She's already a fan of dark for night life, but the discussion was so lively that she bought the book. We have undesirable light at night from some houses that are oblivious that dark is good as well as street lights that don't dim late at night. Great diversion. It's far easier to be concerned about the need for dark for the environment than current politics.

Eating was on plan with no daytime snacks, CREDIT moi. Since we missed the visit with the (6 yo) DGD I even missed my usual planned nibbling on peanuts with my DS. Dinner was white beans, bok choy, sourdough baguette, and my green salad. We're still not warm enough to be enthusiastic about outdoor adventures. Was jealous to see the neighbors drive off with their canoe atop their car - despite the chilly weather.


Readers -