Friday, June 8, 2018

Weight: 133.4
Macros: Cals 2,473, Carbs 219, Fats 140, Protein 106, Fiber 28
Sleep hours: 7.5
Vegetable/Fruit Servings: 6
Exercise: Yoga class

And THAT ^^^, ladies and gentlemen, is what your daily macros look like when you eat a whole pint of Ben and Jerry's Peanut Butter Cup ice cream. :) And, of course, the scales dropped.

So here's what happened .... Yesterday was a warm summer day, too lovely to spend on mowing / cleaning up the field my neighbor just hayed. So after lunch I settled in on the porch chaise longue to finish this month's book club selection. Mid-afternoon, I found myself thinking, "Surely, somewhere in this house is some ice cream!" And, guess what -- after much investigation I discovered that there was ice cream deep in the freezer. And I ate some. And eventually, I ate it all. And I am unrepentant.

So why was Ben and Jerry's in the house? Apparently, after my husband died, during my cleansing the house of Food That Calls to Me After Bedtime, I somehow missed this little goody. But now the house is truly a food-safe space. See what a good thing I did?

;)

Today is aquarobics, physical therapy, some hay field clean-up, and an afternoon meeting with a landscaper about re-doing my south borders, which I see every day from my porch. My latest gardening philosophy is that if it's something I look at all the time, let's make it pretty. Otherwise, never mind.

Today's theme: "Sometimes you just have to eat the ice cream."

Yep, sometimes you just have to eat the ice cream, especially if it is Ben & Jerry's!

Weight 117, calories 1111. One day to Aruba so unless I drop tomorrow morning, my somewhat lower calorie week didn't work. But sometimes I do go up just before a drop...(not counting on that). I'm not going to worry about it at this point. I'll just follow my routine today and tonight we are going to SILs for dinner. I will have grilled salmon so it shouldn't be a disaster.

Today is dentist (DH and me), hair cut and highlight, and finishing packing for Aruba. It is mostly done except for the miscellaneous items (hats, sunglasses, etc). DH did well on getting his clothing together (with a list). We do need to buy him a couple of pairs of summer weight PJ pants today though. Either they were left in Florida or he put them away somewhere here where we can't find them. Which makes me remember that we need to sort through and straighten his clothing in his drawers, closet and storage bins when we get back. He is always rummaging, so everyone is a big jumbled mess. It was like that in Florida too, but there was less of it and it was in the walk-in closet we shared so I would straighten it periodically. It is hard to find anything here right now.

There will definitely be pictures. The best will probably be sand sculptures done by our friend Paul. He and his wife arrived Wednesday and he already did one yesterday which someone at our timeshare posted and everyone recognized it as Paul's.

Have a fruitful Friday!

Thoughts of Paula, Ben and boys have rarely left my mind. I'm reminded about how insightful Hospice was with us, helping us anticipate and recognize signs of Dad's final hours. My Dad, too, did relax into death and had made peace with both the journey and destination in advance. It sounds like Ben has done the same. Praying for continued dignity, grace and relief from pain for all of you.

Anything I post next sounds so insignificant, so that's all I've got for today.

Good morning,

Thoughts of Paula and family are with me as well. I am comforted that Ben is comforted by listening to the Bible.

Eventually, DD's school ended up in full lockdown yesterday, complete with full police support. Their lockdown drills (which also include police) are scary AF so I can't even imagine what yesterday was like. There is cell phone documentation, of course, of barricaded doors, furniture flipped for more hiding space/protection from bullets, and kids hiding in nooks and crannies.

DD was already home at the time. Her only class at the HS is 1st period orchestra, her academic classes are at the community college.

I read the school's explanation of what happened about 10 times. It feels cryptic as they (appropriately) try to explain without assigning blame.

From what I understand, the police have been around the last month because of continued threats relayed thru bathroom graffiti in the boy's (of course, the boy's!) bathroom. The police don't consider these credible threats but they still have a minimum response just in case they are wrong. The most recent occurrence was Wed night so the school was on heightened security yesterday.

Yesterday, after school started, a specific, timed threat was reported and the school went into full lockdown until that could be sorted out.

It turns out that the source of the threat was from kids' social media from a group of worried kids speculating when an active shooter would choose to attack. (Their answer: 11:20, when 2nd lunch starts and there are maximum kids in the common area.)

So, the kids' hive anxiety (thru a series of "I heard....") drove them to a lockdown which itself was full-on traumatizing.

This morning, I sought out a shawl that someone gave me when I was going thru cancer treatment. It was made by the ladies of her church and had prayer woven into it. (At the time, I was creeped out by that but I have evolved.) This morning, it seemed a perfect fit.

Peace to all,

Shel

Schools these days seriously scare me!!!

I grieve for the good old days of tornado drills (out here it should be earthquake drills.)

These kids have now been steeped in active shooter defense. They analyze classrooms for best escape routes (but the best escape routes can also be a shooter's entry, DD reminded me). BB, they practiced running into the hills behind the school so that a shooter is less likely to be able to hit them as they escape! (God forbid if you aren't fleet of foot. I guess you hide in the school? The fat-kid in me realizes I wouldn't fit into as many good hiding spots)

I wish I could say that all this precaution is unwarranted. Unfortunately, local events have proven that it isn't impossible.

The schools and police are under su*****redible pressure. It is so easy for someone to scare the living daylights out of a local population by scratching pictures and dates on a bathroom wall. There is a kid out there, probably a single kid, that started all this a month ago with the graffiti. I am sure he needs help. And likely a suspension/expulsion. I do hope they find him.

And the rest of the kids perhaps need to learn how to keep in touch with each other without crowdsourcing panic. Very hard for teenagers with raging hormones with their fingers on social media. I know the school has tried.

I used to feel like school was probably the safest place for a kid to be. Now, not so much.

I don't recall "lock downs" until highschool, maybe middle school at the earliest. In fact, my gradeschool was "open concept" education fad. Doubt they'd build it like that today! ETA: we were taught to turn off lights and hide under desks. I hope they've changed that now!! As if a kid who went to school there was going to be fooled that the lights were off in the middle of a school day. Terrifying to think we'd just be sitting ducks. I think I was in middle school for Columbine, High school when Va Tech happened.

Of course, Tornado drills are pretty real (and scary!) here. A friend of mine taught at one of the schools greatly affected by string of Tornados 3 year ago. I guess they still are better off there than anywhere else in case of tornado.

All the violence makes me so sad. Kids, adults. Domestic, international. I think we've been shaken for some 23 years since Okc lost her innocence.

But school threats are such a constant. And I have to wonder if in this age of 24 hr. news and twitter and instagram, etc., if some lonely teens are wanting to carry out (or just make?) these threats for 15 min. of fame/copycatting? Either way, it's terrifying. I wish I knew the solution. Ugh and the bullying. And depression. Definitely think we need more resources to help sort out mental health.

And then you hear about Kate Spade and Anthony Bourdain...so sad.

I don't know what we need in this world. But we need more of something.

We need more comfort shawls --- the church ladies need to up their game :)

Redwood pic below, because trees make me feel good. Then right on time, an opinion article in the NYT's extolling the value of trees written by someone that used to (and maybe still does) live in Seattle. Secret Life of Trees

The national forest that I spent most of my time in is mentioned as is Iowa. A couple of book titles are called out, I shall order. (This reminds me I still have to send DianeS's Humboldt book back to her!)

Wow - a different environment these days. Frightening to be a teen or a parent.

Greetings Fun Friday People

149.5. I was mostly a slug yesterday and ate one slice of pizza for dinner. A dog walk was planned but not completed. I am sore from the leg machines at the gym which I guess means they are doing what they are supposed to. I did use the treadmill and discovered some amusing video games on it.

Lordy Shel, full lockdown at the high school due to some messed up kid's graffiti? I would want a prayer shawl too. I remember the duck and cover drills of the 1950's where we really thought we would survive a nuclear attack by getting under our desks or going to a house in the neighborhood that had a basement. New houses were built with bomb shelters and we were taught how to store food and water to avoid radiation. Really? But the worst thing that actually happened was a fire alarm that was not a drill. Turns out that a very straight laced good kid wa****ting tennis balls off the wall and the ball hit the fire alarm. School was truly a safe place then except for bullies. Our social media was passing notes. So sad that its not safe anymore. Even in our dinky town there have been a few threats though no serious ones.

So Ann, your ice cream radar went off!! Well good on you for not beating yourself up. Sweets happen. I am lucky that I am more interested in pizza than ice cream (well maybe not) but I did eat 4 Andes mints last night for no good reason. DH brings them home. Part of his compulsive shopping.

I've had a few lazy days with no commitments. That changes next week when we are changing out the point of sale system at the gallery. That means we have to teach 25 artists how to work it- assuming we get it to work first. Other people are doing much of it but somehow I always get calls when the computer malfunctions - me who can't even post a picture on this site. But I do know how to work the new system and will probably have to go down at the beginning of each shift.

Yep, get a landscaper Ann. You need to look at pretty stuff. As I sit here I can see my giant climbing rose over the outside shed. It helps conceal the yard full of weeds and junk.

We all continue to think of Paula, Ben and family. They are blessed to have such strong faith. We all need to count our blessings.

DH and I have taken to binge watching Doc Martin. So funny. Finally a show he likes that does not have exploding aliens. DH just set off the car alarm by trying to disconnect the charger without the key fob. Sounds lovely in an enclosed garage.

Carbon take care of that knee. Cecily, take care of all your wounded parts. Everyone else, take care in general. I will take care of the coffee. Diane S