What's on your Thursday Menu?
Good morning! Our offices are closed until Monday, so I am happy at my home desk and gearing up for the day. The potluck at work yesterday turned out to be no problem at all. I woke up with a tiny pouch day, and almost nothing called my name to be eaten. I ate maybe 1 ounce of carnitas, and 1 oz of sliced sausage. And one tiny cookie because my daughter made them and they were adorable. Same vein as QJB, and the size of my thumb. I did have two glasses of wine over the course of about 5 hours sitting and talking with my Dad who arrived yesterday. I'm good with my choices and just trying to stay the course for now.
After I finish this, I need to throw some cornbread together and get it baked off. Need it for the stuffing on Saturday, so I thought my Dad and husband would enjoy hot cornbread and cheesy eggs for breakfast. Want to make the cranberry relish too. Then I need to organize a printing for my Cricut so I will be all done for the girls tomorrow evening. Tonight we have ****tails at our friend's place, but they are serving their renowned eggnog, and really, just BLECH! So I will be able to navigate tonight's gathering without too much trouble.
QoTD: in theory I know how. Dad made me watch. In reality, God gave me a credit card and a triple A card, so I'm good I think.
Menu plan
B: egg with a bit of cheddar
L: TBD
D: will be noshing at the friend's and we never quite seem to get to a "real" meal. But she knows I am very carb conscious and always serves things like fresh veggies and hummus. So I feel confident I'll have a few good choices.
Peace Everybody.
Height 5'3"
HW 200
surgery date 10/29/19 177.9
CW 121.4
goal weight 125
on 12/23/21 8:27 am, edited 12/23/21 12:31 am
Dear friends,
Just popping in to say hello and to send you all Winter Solstice and warm Christmas greetings! I hope this finds you and yours happy and healthy. Melody, I hope your recovery is swift and that you have a comparatively comfortable Christmas.
I am doing well, painting daily and finally making progress after a long hiatus. Bought myself the big H-frame easel I've been lusting after for just about forever. Strange how we can stop doing some of the things we love most in all the world. I?m not entirely sure what that's about but I recognize it as something I have done in various areas of my life. It isn't the way I want to live. Glad to be working again.
At 4.5 years out, my weight is steady though my exercise level has dropped - once the rainy season began here in Seattle I just stopped walking. I was going on 4.5-mile (or thereabout) walks most days; now that's a real rarity even on those few gorgeous rain-free days we have now and then. Going to have to motivate to exercise more! I like to dance though, and do so at the drop of a hat - if music is playing I am incapable of staying still. Weight-wise for several months now, I have hovered between 124-127. It all still blows me away, how positively my life has changed. I really just love being slender and feeling strong and bouncy. My sense of accomplishment and my pleasure in how I feel physically remains very high and joyful.
The new Covid iteration is really scary! From the scourge of Delta, seemingly overnight Omicron dominates. It's name even sounds like a Transformer! Yikes and double yikes! I got my Moderna booster in early November and have always been careful, but now am definitely less at ease than I was for a while in stores and around other people indoors in general. It blows my mind that some still go maskless. I hope that all of you remain vigilant, and that we all manage to get through this very strange time safe and sound.
I had a bout with shingles, which began on Thanksgiving Day. It was briefly excruciating, but I managed to read it the riot act. I growled at it with enough focused fury that it retreated back into whatever hell it came from, and never actually erupted into blisters. The intense, shrieking pain subsided, leaving me with just a faint new spray of pale freckles decorating my left hip. I only had about 3 days of that intermittent nerve pain, and am quite proud of myself for having wrangled that! I did go to see my doc, who concurred with my diagnosis and who, thankfully, did not find my description of my technique for vanquishing it to be impossibly woo-woo. In fact, she told me her mental process for telling cold sores just where to go, a method entirely dissimilar to my own, but which works for her (she refuses to acknowledge an emerging cold sore and instead puts all of her attention on her elbow!).
Anyway, after the holidays I will get my first dose of the Shingrix vaccine. Wow, so many vaccines this year!
My little Siamese cat Kai turned 20 in October (Mia, her sister, left us a week ago last year). Poor beautiful little Kai has kidney disease, which is common in geriatric cats, and which has led to a couple of miserable post-birthday UTIs. The antibiotic prescribed works quickly, thankfully. I give her sub-cutaneous fluids a few times a week, which is tricky to do by myself, but which really does help her. I frequently manage to stick myself with the needle, but Kai has become more relaxed and compliant with the process. She also gets a cream rubbed into the inside of her ears, which stimulates her appetite. She is so meltingly darling, and I love her dearly. I know she is approaching her own personal lift-off date, but until then, I will love her and care for her and keep her comfortable as best I can.
My truck started making God-awful sounds yesterday. Today I took it in to a recommended mechanic, muttering prayers under my breath as I drove it there. $530 later, I feel poorer but safer. Plus driving now is much easier on the ears!
I will be making a huge pot of beef Bourguinon today. Picked up the roast (7 pounds!) from my butcher, and the carrots, mushrooms, onions, garlic, bacon and wine (2 bottles of a good Pinot noir) are ready to be transformed. We will have this on Sunday - my guy is much more of a chef and than I, and has a wonderful Christmas Eve and Christmas Day menu planned. But I too enjoy event cooking, so am bringing my enormous old Le Creuset Dutch oven full of tastiness along. The beef Bourguinon evolves nicely as time allows the flavors to marry, anyway. I want to make some cookies too for my neighbors, we will see how my day goes. Between the beef, work, painting, and wrapping, cookies are last on the list. But I'd like to take a (very) few with me when I take the ferry over to my BF?s house. There will only be the two of us, plus my little Siamese and his wonderful Red Heeler. I anticipate enough fabulous leftovers to last both of us clear through to the New Year!
Here's something I find so hopeful and exciting: SNOW is predicted here for the 24th, 25th, and 26th! I haven't had a White Christmas since I moved from the East coast in 2000. Fingers crossed!
QOTD: I learned how to change a tire in preparation for my first big cross-country road trip, when I was 17. I've never actually had to do it other than when learning how. In a pinch I suppose could, though I definitely believe that's what Roadside Assistance is for!
Anyway, I just wanted to say hello to you all, my RnY kindred! Sending you warm and loving wishes for a beautiful and heartwarming holiday. God knows we all need some love, kindness, and a big Christmas hug (always, but even more so in the time of Covid)!
Stay safe, be well, and be merry!
Love,
Cara. 
on 12/23/21 8:34 am - Amarillo, TX
Thank you so much for the well wishes!
It's wonderful to see your post!
We lost our 21 year old Merlin a few months back and it is just so painful isn't it? They leave permanent paw prints on our hearts. No matter how long you have them they are just so special.
Happy Holidays to you as well!
Mel
on 12/23/21 8:49 am
Thank you Melody! Sorry to hear about your sweet Merlin. Our animals enrich our lives immeasurably, but wow yes, it is painful for us when they go. I have several beloved pets on the other side - when my time comes, hopefully decades from now, I expect much purring and tail-wagging to greet me upon my arrival!
Feel better and Merry Christmas!
Cara
great to "see" you again, Cara!! And yes - shingles is awful. Been there. I got my Shingrix vaccines as soon as they were available because I do NOT want to suffer through shingles again!
beef bourgunion sounds great - I made Julia Child's recipe a couple of times years ago - it was wonderful!!
and sorry to hear about your kitty. We've dealt with kidney disease with several of our cats - our 17-year-old now has it. Over the years, I've become an expert at administering sub-Q fluids!
on 12/23/21 4:06 pm
So nice to see you too, albeit virtually! Kai has had kidney disease for a couple of years, but it has gradually worsened. The fluids really help to keep her on more of an even keel. She squirmed nonstop the first few times, which made it very difficult! But now she just gets cozy on a big pillow on my lap and waits it out. Cats always seem to know when you mean them well and are doing something which, even if uncomfortable, is for their well-being. It is touching, their trust in us.
Wishing you & yours a beautiful and very Merry Christmas!
Cara
