Veterans Day 2019

Thank you to all the veterans here and the others you know. It is their bravery which keeps us safe.

Yesterday's party for DH was mixed. Fewer people than expected which was a plus and minus. The minus was TOO MUCH FOOD. The plus was less noise and confusion for DH. He did okay and at least for brief periods seem to recognize people. But after a while he got rather agitated and wanted all those people out of the house. He laid down for a bit, then had cake and a rum/pineapple. The sugar and liquor gave him a bit of revival, but he was more than ready to go back to his quiet room (at his Memory Care facility) after a little more than 3 hours here. I tucked him in for a nap, but they called at 7 and said he was causing problems and wouldn't take his pills. DS went over - DH was going into others people's rooms and telling them to leave. He also tried to take a jacket from a visitor in another room because he thought it was his (it did look the same). Apparently he had confused the party at our house with the Memory Care place. DS got him to take his pills and go to bed. Hopefully after some sleep he will be back to normal today. I realized this morning that DH has been having issues in general this week potentially because of the full moon too. Anyway, it was an education about how to handle Christmas.

Today a friend of DD is taking the day sailor "moored" in our backyard. Yeah! It hasn't been used in 10 years and I wanted it out of here. Removing it is a bit of a challenge because it has to be pulled through the garage on its trailer (there is a back door on it). Because the ground is uneven, the boat has to be pulled to the garage with a winch prior to be connected to the truck. Thankfully these guys have the equipment and know what they are doing.

That's it here! I guess I'll be eating a lot of salad today and turkey chili the rest of the week. At least those are good choices. The cake needs to disappear though...

Have a vital Veterans Day!

Weight: 141.4
Veggies/Fruits: 10
Macronutrients: 1,625 cals, 116 carbs, 71 fats, 107 proteins, 31 fiber
Sleep: 6.5 hours
Exercise: 30" yoga@home, 1.5 hours of picking up timber and mowing, 5,210 steps (after 12:00 noon, when I started wearing my new Fitbit)

So yeah ... yesterday I bought a new Fitbit, the "Inspire" model, which was pretty cheap at $70, but has many more features than the four Fitbits I bought early on that died after only a few months of wear. A friend recently persuaded me that Fitbits have changed immensely for the better. They certainly are fancier in terms of metrics collected and analyzed. This purchase aligns with my recent decision to significantly ramp up my exercise. I'm not waiting until January to make this happen.

Last night's sleep sucked though. I woke up around 11:30 pm and couldn't go back sleep, so I got up and watched some Netflix AND ate a cup of cottage cheese, hence yesterday's higher-than-ideal calorie count. Fortunately, I was able to get back to sleep for 3.5 hours. So forward ....

Happily, I got my mowing/leaf-mulching done. Boy oh boy, a big old lawn mower is the best darned leaf blower there is! Very happy to have gotten that done. And it was absolutely gorgeous yesterday, sunny and in the 70s.

And I got it all done just in time, too. Today it's raining and will rain with temps dropping until around 2:00 this afternoon when the rain will turn to snow. Tonight it'll clear up (and freeze up), and tomorrow morning the mercury will read 14 craaaazy degrees. I'm betting there'll be no school tomorrow. And no school means no yoga class either.

In late-breaking news, I did not win the Powerball lottery Saturday night. Darn. I'm ready for that to come through.

Today's theme is "Stay warm!" and comes with a little jazz and a log on the fire.

P.S. Liz, I found after my mother went to the nursing home that many of my "special plans" for her were confusing and upsetting to her. I did a lot of that stuff the last four years she was alive to assuage my guilt over not continuing to care for her here at home 24/7 like I'd done the previous eight years. The nursing home transition is a big transition for caregivers. No matter how you look at it, this part of caregiving is also a tough gig. Please take comfort from the knowledge that almost all caregivers in this situation are still struggling--just differently than before.

Breaking news....lawn mower is stored in the shed and the snow blower is out and purring !!! Snow shovels and rakes have been swapped and we're ready for the snow arriving tonight and tomorrow !! What happened to fall ? Ann, do you get heart rate metrics on the new Fitbit ? Diane, certainly use two towels with impunity but I throw a hand towel in my bag, which is the perfect size for my hair and then wrap my suit in it after I spin it dry. Heading out for a free meal with my Vet and then will visit friends at VFW.

Diane, no ... I don't get heart rate info on my Fitbit Inspire. And I wasn't looking for that info, because I know from years of measuring my heartbeat on my cell phone and doctors' visits that it pretty much hangs around 50-60 bpm. (Right now while I'm drinking a cup of coffee it's 58 bpm.)

Seriously, I'm the slowest heart-beating person I know! I can't even get it up above 75 when I'm huffing and puffing on hills. Very strange. My doc says the bad news is I'm going to die. The good news is it probably won't be from heart disease.

Have a great day. And enjoy the prospect of no mowing for a long time. :)

Greetings Skinny people

I am totally AWOL on weighing. Just don't feel like it. Still trying to eat decently if not totally appropriately. I start my day with a glass of skim milk since I hate protein shakes. Anybody like keffir? I may get into that.

WE got the little kiln moved yesterday so another few square feet of garage space opened up. I was planning on going to sit in the jacuzzi at the gym. Then I discovered the bottle of liquid soap and leaked all over in the gym bag. Soap all over everything. Major clean up. Must find a non leaky bottle. I was also washing all the linens including the cover of the down comforter - huge thing. got it all washed and put back on - not an easy task. The dog promptly barfed on it this morning. Start over.

Hey DianeO trading lawn mower for snow blower. Such a deal. The change of seasons in most parts of the country is so fun. Not so much here where it is either rain or not rain.

Liz glad the birthday party was a success even if DH got a little off later on. It maybe shows how important routine is to people with his impairment. Good that you learned some lessons for the mother of all holidays approaching.

Time to clean out the fridge and get rid of uneaten food. It still sort of pains me to toss food now that there are tv commercials about not putting food in the land fill. But my body is not a land fill either so I just have to toss stuff. We compost what we can.

Kiln opens today and I should have a couple of items. Then I will go float around in the gym and make some healthy chili. Cheers all. Diane S

The very last thing I plan to worry about today is putting bad food in landfills.

Is that really a thing?

Yep Ann, at least here in eco groovy California there are public service announcements about not filling the land fills with food waste. And they don't mean aged grocery store items or restaurant excesses. I guess we are all supposed to get home economics degrees and plan every meal so we don't waste anything. Not gonna happen in this house. We compost what we can and drive an electric car. Short of getting some pigs to eat all the leftover thats all I can do. An orchard near here has pigs to eat the ugly apples. Happy pigs. DS

I'm sure this is true for all dogs, too.

Totally. One I had the carpets cleaned. Within ONE HOUR the dogs peeped, peed and barfed on the carpet. DS

Or if they do cough it up on the floor, it's probably when a roomba is operating. The little fiends!