SUNDAY, April 14, 2019

Weight: 142.0
Macros: Cals - 1318, Carbs - 110, Fat - 34, Protein - 107, Fiber - 26
Sleep: 8 hours
Veggie/Fruit Servings: 9
Water glasses: 8
Exercise: 7,200 steps
Meditation: Yes

Shirl, we're looking forward to your first post-surgery post. I hope you're upright and starting to recover. Three days in the hospital must feel like a long time.

The wind howled all night, and it's been raining for the last 15 hours (still coming down). I'm so thankful for my nice, warm cave out here between the meadows and the woods. Today's weather forecast is more of the same, but tomorrow will be beautiful, which is great timing since I'll be driving to The Big City for my first therapy session in four months. Much to review.

This morning the scales rewarded me with a biggest drop (0.8 pounds) since last week. That's eight pounds down and seven more to go. Tomorrow I'll raise my daily calories to 1,400 and stay there for two weeks.

Today I'll finally make that rainy-weather beef and black bean chili I've been yearning for. It's also time to start introducing a few different foods, but still no sugar, bread of cheese.

Today's theme is an oldie goldie and is not about weight maintenance because life is mostly not about our weight: April showers bring May flowers. :)

Calories 804. Back on the proper food wagon but still afraid to weigh (though I'm checking clothing fit). My new mantra (thank you Diane!):

• I will have no regrets later when I skip sweet/tempting foods but I will have regrets if I eat them
• Most of the time a gooey dessert will only leave me with regrets (and possibly a sick tummy)

Big cleanup on aisle 9 this morning. Pee from the bathroom to the bed, running down DH's legs and all over his flip-flops (then I stepped into it of course). Floor washed, showers taken, clothes in laundry and flip-flops soaking. The worse thing was that he kept saying he didn't do it, that "your people did" as it ran down his legs. Maybe I need to start with a person staying overnight with him when we get home???

Maybe pool today, maybe out to dinner with SIL, maybe a short shopping trip. The pool might be fun as one of our younger, more fun groups declared this weekend "pool toy" weekend so we had fun with rafts, water guns, etc yesterday. I might need that after this morning...

Have a simple Sunday!

Liz, I like your / Diane's mantras. :)

And getting some night help is not a bad idea at all.

I remember when we went that route with Mother. I finally started getting some better sleep. Even better, I finally felt like I was "off duty" and could justify (without guilt) not thinking, worrying and ruminating about her during those hours.

Another mantra I use when confronted with food I'm trying to resist is simply tell myself, those aren't for you. It's a fact, there are things in this world that are not good for my health and well being, even if they are okay for someone else.

I'll miss my SIL at many times after she leaves, but can I just mention that I can't wait to have some alone time! I've always gotten up early in the morning for many years to have alone time, but she insists on always joining me. I was on the lanai today where she NEVER sits in the morning and she had to come sit with me. And if I am on the lanai at night she is on the lanai, if I go in the house she goes in, if I go to the pool she goes, if I go to the store she goes. DH is suffocating enough, but geez I NEED MY SPACE!

Boy, do I feel your pain, Liz! While in NOLA, I had a good friend as a houseguest for one whole week. Like your SIL, she's a "sticky" person -- like superglue. When she finally left, I was exhausted!

Hiya!

Shirl! Well wishes and speedy recovery to you!

DD and Ann, I have yesterday's book recommendations on Audible. I'll start one today. Sometimes I really prefer to read so I can savor individual words/sentences. On the other hand, sometimes I rush thru reading that I get more out of listening. Anyway, I lack time read books but I can listen so that is what I will do.

Ann, please do go to the Iowa's Workshop. I love the idea of you walking the streets of my beloved Iowa City! Oh, the workshop would benefit from your presence, too. :)

DD, I never said I am sorry for your illness and sick and late season blizzard. Hopefully that was Nature's explanation point to end winter. I really enjoy your written word, too.

DianeS, I would be the worst person in the world to manage the gallery's money/computer et al. I'm glad they have you. Is it unusual to have a brain for art and a brain for management? (Now I am wondering my lack of either brain is unusual.) Do you remember that long sandwich I bought for my next day's hike at lunch? I now replicate that for my long hikes, I will forever think of it as the Arcata sand.

I have been enjoying Pep's pups at the show. DianeO, what fun for you to be their for your daughter's run!!!! Cecily, 21 year olds have such a fresh perspective. The ones I work with give me hope for the future. (I want to glue a voting booth to them.) BB, your life is a whirlwind! B150, hoping you are doing well, inside and out.

Liz, definitely get some nighttime help! You both need that caregiving! It is like an aid station for marathon runners, they have to have aid stations scattered along on the long road!

I am on my way out to the trail. I allow more carbs on hiking weekends. I might have overdone yesterday. Loads of rain but I have the gear for it. Onward! (Carbon, if you are out there, drop us a line...."Onward" always reminds me of you)

Love you, Shel

Good morning everyone!

Liz I do hope you start getting some more help with caring for your husband. When we have young children and fractured sleep, we are young ourselves, and the messes are child sized. This is reaching an impossible level of demand on you physically and emotionally.

Ann enjoy your chili and a cozy windswept day.

Shel, it occurs to me that the hours I spend reading in my cushy chair with my tea and leopard print lap robe, you are off testing the limits of your endurance.

Hoping Shirl is recovering well, as her baby farm animals no doubt need and miss her.

Diane S I'm glad to hear you may have settled in on a weight you can live with. I too don't need to be my lowest weight to be happy, but I have gone too far past it. I could be satisfied with a 10 pound loss.

This weekend has been very satisfying. Yesterday I got quite a few chores done, and it is a pleasure to walk into previously messy rooms and find some order returned. The concert was a nice diversion. The theaters in Minneapolis that host touring shows like Broadway musicals etc. have an educator/student rush for $25.00, with my ID, I can buy 2 tickets. What a bargain!! You will not score Hamilton or Dear Evan Hanson, but we've seen countless other shows, Les Mis, Phantom, Chicago...

This morning I'm drinking tea and reading two (!) Sunday papers. The Sun is out, the birds are singing, the cat is purring. I will need to make a grocery run, but have plenty of time to think about what I need to buy, and what I want to eat this week. I will enter the workweek with some serenity.

Shirley was released yesterday and should be home now!

Down 0.2 pounds, which is a rounding error, but better than an increase or a sharp stick in the eye.

I had such a good time with my cousin's son yesterday! What a sweet, thoughtful kid. And so smart and talented. He was sharing his architectural project portfolios with me. At least it cleared up any notion that maybe I should have majored in architecture! So far over my head, I could hardly make heads of tails out of it. He is a really good kid, good looking, interesting, smart, but he's not finding his people at USC. I started at USC and transferred out to CU Boulder, so I what he means. It's a really superficial crowd. I wish I had some good advice for him, but given I never found my people there either, I don't know what to advise... At any rate, we had a wonderful day at the beach for lunch and then hiking, then hanging with Ferg. He said he'd love to spend more time with me next school year. I hope he does.

Lazy day planned for today. It's beautiful out too, so some time in the backyard on the lounger is a must.

Stay healthy, my friends!

I most definitely biased, but when I spend time with my young adult children (although my dd is now 26, so probably just "adult"), and their friends, I feel a lot of hope for the world. There are some truly spectacular young people out there.