Tuesday, 26 June

Again, an early morning to you all, you busy busy beavers. Goodness! Am in awe. And Liz so sorry about the jewellery. Shel! Soooo glad you aren't lost. Devon, congrats. Ann same! Cecily great moves.

sorry if I have missed anyone.

today was a milestone. First day since knee replacement that I did not have to lie down, elevate the leg and ice it, and just plain rest. Did the hilly walk, still puffing and huffing, volunteered sorting books at a thrift store( there must have been a gazillion Danielle Steele ) had coffee with two different befriends so, that is a lot of sitting, did the usual housework things and the went out for Thai food which was very disappointing. (We only have one Thai place, the people are lovely but perhaps the regular chef was away ). Then home at about 8.

Thought that because it had been a " busy " day sleep would come easily but nope.

Hope that your dreams are sweet.

Happy Tuesday.

Macros: Cals 1,733, Carbs 189, Fats 44, Protein 112, Fiber 19
Sleep hours: 5.5
Vegetable/Fruit Servings: 6
Exercise: Aquarobics

Carbon, you are up and at 'em early again this morning. You sound like you're so full of energy you can hardly stay still. That must feel great after your knee surgery recovery, preceded by years of discomfort and pain.

This morning, I couldn't sleep either and woke up between 1 and 2 am. It was so gorgeous outside - big moon, Mars in the southern sky, stars, lightning bugs, warm breezes. And now it's thundering and lightening and getting ready to rain. Bring it on!

My weight was down this morning, thanks to a TMI visit to the bathroom, probably brought on by those 10 V/F servings day before yesterday. BTW, a friend just returned from a week-long Buddhist retreat on a Hawaiian ranch where they ate only vegetables and fruits grown there. She says she'll never need another stool softener as long as she lives. ;)

And, of course, while I'm up early caffeinating I'm watching Venice videos and asking Duolingo to teach me to speak Italian. My sweet husband would be shaking his head! ;) I miss him so much at happy times like this, although I'm genuinely grinning through my tears.

Lunch yesterday with my friends was so lovely. We've resolved to see each other much more often. Again, it's so uncool not to make time for people you love whose company you truly enjoy.

This morning is yoga class and my monthly haircut and color. This evening I'm going to a chef-prepared Italian dinner at our local craft beer brewery. Given my skepticism about this mash-up, I'm taking a bottle of wine.

BTW, Shel and others, I'm glad you're enjoying my Venetian reading list. I'm sure to discover other books while I'm traveling and will eventually post their titles here.

Today's theme: Sono innamorato di Venezia!

Good morning! I'm glad you can sense DH with you and his comments. I can still hear my Elise pointing to her watch and saying "tick, tick, tick" when I'm running late. She would do it with her friends or the younger kids not me, but it always amused me.

"grinning through my tears", what a tender feeling of love to experience. A true connection with the everlasting.

We all loved the new vet. Both Sadie and Atlas gave him their bellies right away and he was very thorough and had clearly read their records. He prescribed an epi-pen for Sadie, as allergic recurrences could be increasingly severe. As it turns out, Sadie could ingest an active allergen nibbling on Atlas's poop, so I'll need to be even more vigilant at poop pick up efforts.

More errands today, and date night tonight. Ann, there was a post on my Facebook feed labelled "Live life now !" It showed an elderly couple, stretched out and snoring away, riding a gondola through Venice. I picture you radiant and soaking in life and energy ! (And sneaking in a sun salutation or two !)

Epi-pen ... what a smart idea!

And thank you, friend. I will definitely be doing sun salutations, along with the Bellinis and cappuccinos I'll be sure not to miss. :)

Get some Lawry's (or other sprinkle on) Meat Tenderizer. Put it on Atlas's food. Sadie will NOT eat his poop! It should not be an issue for Atlas and will save you from worrying about Sadie ingesting and allergen.

Damn, Devon ... what a great fix. You sure know stuff!

Weight still unknown (I'm thinking I will weigh either Friday or Saturday so it won't be more than a week in between weighing). Calories 723 (protein 107, fat 23, carbs 18). I'm going to start adding dairy tomorrow, then back to regular eating over the weekend. My carby cravings and hopefully a good amount of vacation weight should be gone by then.

I took DH to a great program run by our Alzheimer's support agency yesterday. It is call the Art of Storytelling and is run at the local Art Center once a month. They pick 4 original artworks on display that month and have the group tell a story about them. They show one picture at a time and we talk about what we think is going on, then with the next picture we expand the story, etc. For instance, the first one was a partial child's face, mostly the eyes. We discussed if it was a boy or a girl, how old, what the full expression on the face probably was and why. In this case we decided it was a boy between 6-8, and that he looked like he knew he was in trouble so he must have misbehaved. The next picture was of a boy in a large box (like a moving box). We ended up thinking that this was the younger brother and that the older one was supposed to watch him but had stuck him in a box to get him out of the way. You get the idea... It was fun, but more importantly it is good exercise for the minds of those with Alzheimer's.

One sobering note about that program is that one of the women who has been the most friendly with me at the meetings was there without her husband. He was in a psych ward at a hospital being evaluated because he had become violent. The downside of these support groups and seminars is that the possible future stares one in the face so to speak.

Today is going to be the most beautiful day of the week - sunny and mid-70's. I would LOVE to be able to go for our first Cape Cod beach visit of the season, but we have to go to Boston for trial wrap-up appointments today and Thursday. But then it is done.

Speaking of which, our contractor arrived at noon yesterday with the railings for the deck, but it started pouring. They waited for quite a while but finally decided to come back and do the work today. Of course it cleared up an hour later and was sunny the rest of the afternoon (LOL!). Anyway, I think they will be done either today or early tomorrow.

Justice is tucked in next to me right now. He has been all excited about getting more walks and even Chiquita joined in on two of them yesterday vs. her usual one. They won't be happy about us being gone several hours while they stay in the spare room again today.

Have a thorough Tuesday!

Weight: 166.4

Calories yesterday were 1350. Wish they were a little lower, but not enough to hurt. I am proud, though, because DH had a work friend over to help out and so (naturally?) we ordered pizza. I had ONE slice of pizza, one cinnamon stick, and one glass of wine. I pondered my feeling over it for awhile and I was completely satisfied. Not the "I NEED to be satisfied" satisfied. But truly and honestly content with what I'd eaten. So I consider that a huge plus!

Becca had a bit rougher of a day yesterday. She was kind of refusing to eat (not her mamas girl ha!) and then getting overhungry and too frustrated to eat and then overtired to sleep. She really is a good baby so this is probably "normal" for many people!

Salmon and sugar snap peas on the menu for tonight. I should probably have a plan for lunch. I really want to join my folks out to eat but I don't think I can be trusted :(

I was reading a post the other day that was a girl's interview with her grandmother. One of the questions was "how did you maintain your figure all your life?" I thought this was a good honest peek into "real" skinny people. She said that she pegged a number and kept really tight grip on it--2 lbs--and if she was up 2lbs. she watched it for a few days. I know we've had talks before about what a maintenance range should look like. I was advocating for wider range but perhaps I'm wrong.