Sunday, 03/15/2020

Weight: 136.0
Veggies/Fruits: 5
Macronutrients: Cals - 1,194, Carbs - 83, Fats - 27, Proteins - 84, Fiber - 10
WW Green SmartPoints: 31
Water: 1
Fitbit Recorded Sleep: 7'28"
Exercise: 15 minutes yoga@home and 10,238 steps

Good morning. :) This morning I had to pay the piper (the scales) a little bit. But last night's leftover beef tenderloin and cheese grits last night were pretty darned amazing.

BTW, in honor of everything we're dealing with right now I opened one of "the really good bottles"--a 2003 York Mountain cabernet sauvignon. I haven't had a good red in a while and thought the tenderloin deserved that kind of pairing. I was happy to find out that my low-tech closet cellaring had protected the 16-year-old wine, which was amazing! Therefore, I'll be cooking and eating more red meat today and tomorrow to enjoy the rest of the bottle before surgery Tuesday morning.

Today I'll be furiously working to finish "making my nest" (laundry, one last trip to grocery stores) as instructed by my cosmetic surgeon. He doesn't want me leaving home for a week after surgery. And the moral of that story is that pandemics aren't the only reasons for social distancing and quarantines.

I'm starting a list of resources to help us stay connected while social distancing and quarantining, and here's the first item on my list:

1. If you're an opera lover (or you've wanted to become one or are merely opera-curious), The New York Metropolitan Opera, which has suspended its live performances through at least March, is now offering an awesome free service to everyone. At 7:30 pm (Eastern) each evening during the Met's closure, its website will stream previously recorded "Live by HD" opera performances. These recorded performances may also be viewed for 20 hours after each airing. You can learn more about this sweet service here.

I would love to hear other services/resources that you've spotted that you think will help you stay connected virtually with friends, entertainment, learning, etc.

Sending thoughts of love and courage to all!

Weight 125.6, WW Bluepoints 35. As I may have mentioned this is going to be a tough week for eating as we have a lot of lunches to go to and people here are gathering to drink wine. I know we theoretically should be avoiding one another, but it is kind of working the opposite (at least in small groups).

Ann, I did send the description of your fabulous dinner to DS with your comments removed. He will enjoy reading about it. He called last night because he went home early. He has been told to start laying off staff at least for now. Very difficult.

We met our friends for lunch yesterday. The usually very busy restaurant was only 1/4 full and there was lot of parking available. We realized that the odds are significant that 1-2 of us will end up with coronavirus. Sobering.

I don't know what we will do today other than laundry and bathroom cleaning. It will be another hot one, close to 90 but still with low humidity.

Stay healthy!

Having listened to hours and hours of news etc here's what I think I understand about people gathering in small groups. Do you have confidence that your friends will follow hygiene recommendations, will they stay home if they're sick? Surely there is still a chance of transmission, but the danger is less than if you were meeting up with random groups of people in public.

The danger in restaurants exists if you can't maintain distance from other patrons, and if virus is on surfaces. (Or if your server is sick and they sneeze or cough on you). If your server is ill, and they don't sneeze or cough on you, if they are interacting with you from 6 feet or closer, for 10 minute, they can spread the virus. If they are sick, they take your order, and leave, you are still probably safe. If they sneeze on your food (gross!), because it will go into your gastrointestinal system, you are actually pretty safe. The real danger is all the surfaces. Your glass, coffee cup, silverware... If you touch those surfaces, and then your nose, eyes, mouth...not so good.

Again, this is what I understand from what I've listened to and what I've read, so please, if I'm wrong, let me know.

1. Within Range: yes
2. Blue SmartPoints: 26
3. General Wellbeing: 8
4. FSF: walked S & A ; house cleaned
5. Yesterday's Insights: Still employing Ann's lean into it and breathe into it approach ; reducing media exposure; I need structure within this new normal.

Just when I start to adjust, more changes to integrate. My mother's assisted living facility is shut down, as it should be. There is NO Covid-19 there, and they are trying to keep it that way. YMCAs state-wide have closed. WW is moving to virtual online meetings. School here are closed until after Easter break. UBC has shifted all classes online, and DD has one massive section of physics. Youngest DD still commuting from Brooklyn to Manhattan, and working with patients in the hospital clinic. I somehow allowed all of my rescue inhalers to expire, and have to get on that first thing tomorrow.

Weather is in the mid-30s and I'm looking forward to higher temperatures this week, so I can get out and rake. I am looking forward to seeing what an online meeting is like, due to start Thursday. We are still holding our breath about DC's hip replacement Tuesday.

Diane, my surgery is also scheduled for Tuesday. I'm not the least bit worried about the surgery part of it--I can't expect a place in the world likely to be more germ-free than a U.S. hospital surgery.

But tomorrow I will confirm with my surgeon's office the timing of my follow-up care. For instance, I've read online that facelift follow-up appointments are 1 week and 3 weeks post-surgery. I want to be sure I know my doctor's follow-up protocol.

To be more specific, I've run the numbers and think the build-up pace of coronavirus infections and COVID-19 cases around here will keep my plastic surgeon and all his nurses out of the E.R. during the coming three weeks, which is why I'm still planning to go forward with my surgery.

If I lived in an area with denser population or where a higher current per capita infection rate was occurring or I were facing a longer, more complex recovery that required the assistance of multiple healthcare workers and facilities, my calculus would be different. I think it's essential to have these kinds of conversations directly with our doctors in a rapidly changing situation like this.

BTW, the most commonly quoted speed at which COVID-19 cases double in a region (based on data from places where the virus has already appeared) is 6 days. In any given location (neighborhood, city, county, state, country) this 6-day doubling rate could be higher (good) or lower (bad), depending on, among other things, population density and how quickly the region's governments, institutions and individuals enact social distancing and quarantining measures. Following these measures is the only way we know right now to slow the infection rate, which we hope can spare our healthcare systems and save lives.

Well it is happening, I'm watching a a press conference with our Govenor, schools are closing and moving to distance learning starting Wednesday. Also, it is not confirmed yet, because it is still being traced, the Govenor says there has likely been an instance of community transmission. And he added, as our numbers of identified cases increases everyday, it is inevitable. So sobering.

Weight 190. The pandemic diet - where you're afraid to eat your stored food too fast because braving the insane market with lines around the block is the last thing you want to do!

Thanks for the Opera link, Ann! I'm not a fan, but as such my opera exposure and knowledge is very low. This may be a good way to educate myself.

I loved the message Bonnie posted on FB this morning comparing the grocery stampedes to what will happen at our hospitals if people don't just stay home. Very sobering. There's a movement that's been started called #staythefuckhome. Right on.

Please don't wait for it to become rampant in your area to stay home. It's waiting and continuing on as if nothing is happening in your area that leads to the disease becoming rampant! Ask Italy.

I'm working on my knitting today with a few short dog walks mixed in. And watching mindless TV. But not overeating my pantry.

Stay healthy and safe (and home)!

I thought I was emotionally prepared for all of this. I am not. I've been busy preparing for a long snowstorm. This storm isn't going away in a few weeks. The full weight of it i****ting me. Since they announced school closing this week, and most likely going to distance learning after that, I've been weeping off and on. I guess I like my colleagues and my students more than I knew :) . So this week teachers work to plan for long distance learning. The following week is spring break. March 30, we were supposed to come back after break. Most likely we will not.

I've begun to think about structure I'll need if I end up working from home. I implemented step 1 today, showered, put on clothes I could wear in public, fixed my hair, did my make up. My first pledge to myself is to continue doing that on days when I am working from home. I'll come up with other structure about meals and going outside etc. later. I'm sad now, really sad. It will get better, but as we stress eaters know, you have to feel your feels or they'll sneak up on you later.

DD, you are such a good person. I'm so glad you're a teacher. And I'm glad you're here with us.

And you're right -- this isn't going to be over in a couple of weeks.

Good Morning, Wowsers what a hectic weekend....... Saturday the flooring guy completed DS room and started on ours. DH & DS nailed a lot of the skirts back on and gap filled them. I cooked, washed, picked up more supplies and cleaned, sorted out the chooks and generally ran around like a headless chicken. Saturday night we had a dinner for DSD partners 30th - we then drove straight up to the farm (had no bedroom here anyway) arriving at midnight. Up at 6am and got all the water tanks filled, rubbish out and checked everything then back on the road by 7.40am. Arrived at City House at 11am and worked super hard cleaning floors, windows, skirts and moving n sorting furniture. Im proud to say we now have DS room all done as is the kitchen, and dining area. Boy what a huge job. Renovation dust is certainly not my friend! Dinner and I was in bed by 8pm - my knee certainly let me know it did not appreciate all the activity. I will be glad to trade it for a new one !

I have located my hospital bag after much searching and am pretty much ready for tommorrow. Now its just the push to get all my work task list done, then work here tonight getting our room back together so I can go into hospital feeling like I have a home to come home too - silly isnt it but I need to have it finished at least the living area and our room. If needed the floorer can return to do the other spare room whilst Im in. I think this will be the case as he has underestimated the time needed. It is looking stunning though. A huge improvement.

Weight 167.64 - Huge drop likely wont stay but I expect due to the constant activity over the weekend. It will be good to go into my surgery lower than higher as movement will drop a lot from tommorrow

Ann - Your dinner sounded amazing. I love a good bit of beef :)

I will try and pop back later

Love to you all

Let the final countdown begin :) Heres to a new knee ! I will be on the table in about 30 mins from now same time tommorrow.

S