Thursday December 21, 2017

147.2. Boooooo, but where I expected to be.

Brow wax and color today - yay. Trying to figure out how to do Christmas this year. The 2 older boys work Friday and Saturday nights, DS#1 works until 5 on Sunday (Christmas Eve is when we always do special dinner and gifts) and then I think we will leave first thing Christmas day for the drive to West Virginia (12+ hours). I would like the boys to have a little time to explore their gifts (they don't really "play" with them anymore) but not sure how to do that in the time frame we have. Thinking maybe about doing Christmas gifts Saturday or Sunday in the day and then special meal Sunday night!

Driving on Christmas Day (if rested) might be your best bet for beating traffic.

We are doing Christmas dinner on Christmas Eve (Sunday) - probably gifts too. We will be driving 3 hours round-trip on Christmas Day to return DD with broken leg home. She just saw the podiatrist this morning and she is out of work for 8 weeks (she is NOT happy).

So, I'm going to guess that living in Wisconsin, and having seen pics of you, Ben and the boys that you are of northern European ancestry. My mom emigrated from Germany to the US as an adult. We followed her German tradition of a formal, but very light meal, on Christmas Eve. We opened family presents Christmas Eve and then my brother and I got awoke to stocking stuffers from Santa on Christmas morning - which were always small treats that actually fit in a stocking. By 8:00 or 9:00 am we were all stuffed in the car and off to drive to my grandparents 4 hours away.

Sounds like you do pretty much the same. I'm sure you can make it work. Besides, do your big boys really need time to "explore" their presents? wink, wink....

Hehehehehe, I'm a little of a lot of things heritage wise - but feel that German is probably the strongest!

I got DS#2 a fancy new DSLR camera and DS#3 an Apple watch, but they can "explore" the gifts in the car too I guess! DS#1 is getting things to help him move out - LOL! Dinnerware, flatware, pots and pans, glasses, coffee maker! Now he just needs to find a roommate or 2 and a place to live!

When I was a kid we always had our Christmas at night - usually a week before or so and then travelled for the Holidays to both my Mom's side and Dad's side of the family - all living in Illinois.

Weight 160, Calories 1452

Waiting on my refrigerator delivery. Who are the lucky people who always end up first in the delivery window? Because it isn't me! I feel like I'm always last.

I saw my surgeon yesterday and we're hopeful the surgery worked, though I won't come off the PPI to chec****il the end of February. If it didn't work, at least I tried and it wasn't a big deal recovery-wise. We'll see.

I've started working on putting together my goals for next year. The list is undoubtedly too long, but it's so rare I feel this inspired to actually accomplish things, that I'm running with it.

Liz, I know how hard it is when you lose your pet that is the cuddly one. As much as I love Fergie, he's very independent. I lost Lily to cancer several years ago and she was the lovebug.

Ann, good for you for opening that door. Starting those conversations is so hard, but so worth it.

BB, I can only imagine how hard it is to walk the line between just enjoying your pregnancy and trying to keep your weight gain in check. Remember that you know how to get it off and try not to let worrying about your weight gain be one of the things that stands out the most from this amazing time in your life!

Ocean, growing up IS hard! Especially when what is ultimately a very good decision for us creates ripples that make us sad. The older I get the more gray area there is in life, a little more black and white would sure make things easier...

Paula, that's a looong drive on Christmas day! I hope you have the road to yourselves!

Hey Cecily, we got a new refrigerator a few months ago. Amazing how two guys just lifted it up and hauled it in. And there is a space illusion. Seems like lots of room but somehow it never all fits. Hope yours arrives soon. Yeah, who gets that first appointment? Not me. Diane S

Greetings Fascinating People

Such interesting conversation today! 142.5 today after a good night's sleep. DH had eye surgery follow up yesterday (1 month) and has a new prescription for his left eye so he can get back to more normal vision. He is off to order a new lens.

I had some chicken coconut milk soup from Costco last night. Tossed in a couple of shrimp. It was quite good but I think there are some potatoes in it. We have another quart or so to consume.

Ann I am so glad you were able to open up "the room". Be glad that your DH will talk about this as some people really want to avoid such topics. Thank you for providing this little glimpse on your take on this complex issue that we all have to face sooner or later. You seem to have what it takes to handle whatever life brings to you with courage and grace. I want to be you when I grow up.

Liz so sorry you and Chiquita are missing Duchess so much. There really is an empty spot in your life for a long time. Yep its fine to feed people food to the dog so long as its nothing smoked and not table scraps. Better to make some hamburger and rice or chicken and rice. We did that for our dear old Liza who was not eating well in her old age but had always been a major chow hound. A scrambled egg is good too. Older dogs often have bad teeth and need something soft plus not so high protein due to kidney issues. Devon, what's your advice?

Liz and Cecily, glad to hear you are both healing well and are up for Christmas fun. Its coming so fast and I am so not ready.

Dave what a great dad and grandpa you are. Helping out DD so she can sleep. Its good that the concept of extended family helping each other has not totally disappeared.

And hey Ann, I am sure you will find a way to make Christmas fun for all the visitors without over burdening yourself. Kids are often happy with simpler stuff but you know that.

And hey BB, i think you are doing very well with your weight and pregnancy. It must be hard when you have become so vigilant about weight control and now have to let mother nature be a co pilot. This will be a special Christmas for you and family. And you look wonderful.

Diane O, please share puppy joys. We love to hear it. And thanks for opening up on your personal history. Its therapeutic for you and for all of us to know that we are not the only ones who have had struggles. Christmas brings out so many great memories (and baggage) for all. I used to sort of hate Christmas due to childhood issues but have learned to put it all in perspective - I think. Part of aging is changing expectations about how life should be and rolling with the punches.

I still have some shopping to do and groceries to buy to make my famous chicken liver pate. Several on the Christmas gathering list love the stuff and I make them a take out jar.

This year I have some extra money so I have given some to the people who were kind to my mother and crazy Pat. They were all surprised and very appreciative. I am enjoying doing this.

Well enough of my dithering. Time for more coffee and to face the day. Diane S

Lord, am I sore! We stayed away from lower body workout yesterday because my hammies were still so tight - even after stretching. I rolled my glutes, hammies, and flexors with a black PVC pipe wrapped in yoga mat. Hurt like hell, but I think it helped. Did all upper body stuff yesterday. I am so pleased with being able to hold correct form with heavier weights now. I am able to work the lower part of my lats now. I'm amazed that I can actually feel that little triangle of muscle working. Who knew.... New challenge: using the padded dip bar/knee raise "station" do 15 slow knee raises, hold in the raised position for a count of 2, slowly extend to straight. It's like this: Uuup...hold, two three... and down.... uupp....hold two, three...down..... Three sets of that and WOW!

Weight is the same. Focus is on water intake and fruit today. We have to much crap food in the house. In our theme of openness and transparency, I will admit I have no desire to remove it from my presence. I am enjoying some of it - oh, say, like the butter cookies with strawberry jam. YUM!

What I am not enjoying is the chocolate! WHAT????? Did I say that? Yes, I did! Chocolate is a high trigger food, and I think I am sick of the trigger, so I looked at a box of chocolates on the counter yesterday after having done about 4 or 5 drive byes and thought, "This is just stupid." I grabbed a Pyrex storage container put all the truffles in the container, threw out the box and put the chocolates away. If they don't get eaten on Christmas, I'll chuck them.

Goals: tricky for me. I have to spend some time thinking about that. I have often had weight loss goals, but I believe it might be in my best interest to stay away from that. I think I need to focus on positive changes.

Sad news for me: Do you all remember Blue's little singleton pup from last February? We called her Bramble. Her people called me last week to tell me she had a mass in her bladder. I met Karen for dinner on Tuesday in Davis. Bramble (now Steffi - after Steffi Graff because of her love of tennis balls) had an appointment at UC Davis (one of the premier veterinary schools in the country). They believe the mass is a rare type of cancer found only in puppies. They will know more today after a second biopsy. This makes me very sad. She turned 10 months old yesterday. Sigh....

I spent 8 hours in bed! They were not all sleeping hours, but still that is very good for me. I only dozed on and off the last 3 hours, but I do feel somewhat relaxed and refreshed. I have a lot to do today, but don't feel an urgency about anything. Though, I probably should about the gifts I still need to pick up! YIKES! Did I mention our tree isn't even up yet. Frankly, I don't care. It will get done tonight, I'm sure. I'm going to admit it here... I don't even care if we have a tree this year. It's not that I'm not loving Christmas, or that I'm feeling blue, it's simply that I would rather just enjoy doing nothing than stress about making everything "Perfect" for Christmas. It must be the Fluoxetine! This happy holiday moment brought to you by the makers of Prozac!

So much important writing this morning! I have thoughts swirling round in my brain on a lot of it. So, here goes....

BB - your BIL is a dick! You can't change him, but you can change you deal with him. My first thought was why do you send him a present? Because you're supposed to, or because you want to? Hmmmm..... My niece, as much as I at one time adored her, has grown up to be a dysfunctional, self absorbed, brat. She blocked me (and the rest of the family) on Facebook, has had no contact with me or Ron since last Christmas, and has not even shared the news of her pregnancy with us. I figure life is a two way street. She is getting zilch from us this year. (However, I will be getting her practical things for the baby. You can never have enough Onsies right?) My point is that there is no joy in giving to her because I don't really like her and I don't give presents to people I dislike.

Ann - Hugs, hugs, hugs.... you are so strong and sensible. I wish some of you would rub off on me! Oh, and it is physically impossible to breathe from your diaphragm. Just saying.... Most people tell you to breathe from your belly or your diaphragm. Poppy ****! If you truly want a big breath, spread your hands across your lower rib cage - thumbs forward, elbows back and take in a breath to fill up your lower lungs. Feel your rib cage open against your hands. Do that several times. You will most likely get a head rush from getting more oxygen in your blood than you are used to getting. The majority of your lung capacity is in your lower rib cage, not above your breasts. Look at how a baby breaths. They look like little frogs. Their sides go in and out. Their bellies do not go up and down. The only thing the diaphragm does is get out of the way of the lungs when they expand. It's really just a muscle and tissue barrier between the thoracic and abdominal cavities.

Liz - I cook for my dogs and spend a huge amount of money on quality food. If you are really concerned about her appetite I'd like to suggest you try some Darwin's food. It is a very good company. It is raw food, but raw has its place. As a new customer you can get a great deal - $14.95 for 10 pounds, which should last your little girl a while. You can also go a less expensive route. I feed all the dogs a hard boiled egg each morning along with their kibble. In the evening they get their kibble and meat. I rotate between green tripe (probably too much for you to deal with - stinks like cow ****), cooked chicken thigh, ground beef, tuna, sardines, beef heart, chicken livers, etc... you get the picture. When Dottie was recovering from Giardiasis, I fed her the Darwin's three times per day. Her intestines were so damaged she couldn't handle anything but the raw food. It's what got her back to healthy. It was also appetizing enough for her to eat when her gut was out of whack and she didn't really want to eat anything. Not good for a growing puppy. - Oh, don't expect the swelling around your eyes to go away completely for several months. My eyes looked good after about 4 to 6 weeks and I was happy. After 6 months I was thrilled. After a year...OMG I was on cloud 9! 3 years out from upper and lower blepharoplasty my eyes look great and better than they did at 3 months out! My surgeon recommends taking the "after" pictures no sooner than 6 months after the procedure.

Well, I have rambled and spent a good 2 hours putzing around doing not much of anything except reading, drinking coffee, writing here and contemplating the dog hair on my 1/4 zip fleece sweatshirt.

As it should be! You DESERVE some time to yourself to do NOTHING!!!

Sorry to hear about Bramble. So sad, especially for young pets.

I've also started to feel "fooded out". Although unfortunately not for chocolate. It's normally not a trigger food for me (I've mentioned I actually keep candy bowls out all year and that has helped make it less interesting for me) but my nerves have been high the last couple days combined with high availability of candy at office=I just sent my husband a GIF of the classic I Love Lucy chocolate factory episode :D

I must admit my BIL can be quite a dick. I think he's so used to people agreeing with him. He's also an attorney and I'll never forget one time we were visiting and he ran into a judge and merely introduced me as "my brother's very much younger wife." He tries to be funny but there's a meanness to his funny. I think he was awkward about my age (he's 8 years older than my husband, which makes him old enough to be a parent to me!), I think he's threatened by my intellect (at least that's what I tell myself!). And I can only guess that he's jealous that we are having a baby. He and his wife don't have kids and don't like kids and were so happy when DH was finally able to travel with them, child free. His response when we told him we were pregnant: "Oh is she." Yep. Those are some of the gems. I really do try to get along with him because my husband really looks up to him. But he was just MEAN over Thanksgiving. And I kinda feel awful for my husband when he behaves that way. My DH lost his dad pretty young and so I think he kind of looks to his big bro for approval, which he never EVER gets. You're spot on about why do we give gifts. I think in the last couple years we hadn't (because it just got to be checks crossing in the mail!). But this year he bought both of the kids big gifts, and then bought me a nespresso and gifted us a photography shoot. I can admit it here: we felt obligated to send a gift. And a pricier one. It's just so disappointing to give a gift and not only not receive any thanks or praise, but I almost got the feeling that he ?resented? us for it. So bizarre. Ugh. And so opposite of my family. They would hardly take back an ill fitting shirt for fear of offending the giver.

I just ordered from Darwin's. Thank you for the recommendation. I'm too lazy to cook regularly and DS wouldn't do it while I'm in Florida. The introductory price is quite good and provides an opportunity to determine if she is going to like it.

So sorry to hear about Bramble. I wonder if it is related to her Singleton status? I remember when my daughter had a child she was taking care of at work who was born with a rare cancer from a Mom who had MS. In theory there was no connection, but you have to wonder.