08/24/2020, Monday

Happy Monday !! It has been so wonderful having Ann pop in on FB !! So glad you are making your way back to us !! DD, you are so loved !! Love the cards, socks and radiation survival kit !! Peps and Diane, stay safe !! It breaks my heart to see those massive redwoods burning. Ceci, good for you for getting outside in the heat and being active ! It is fabulous to be able to get together with friends !! Shirl, your roof sounds great ! I didn't know metal roofs could be recoated ! BB, what did you decide about traveling ?

I ran out of half and half for my coffee yesterday. At the beginning of our initial quarantine, when certain critical items were so scarce, I froze some cartons of liquid egg and half and half. I haven't had occasion to thaw and use the liquid egg, but freezing and thawing half and half is a NO GO ! Black coffee was a better alternative !! I have had success thawing frozen Greek yogurt, however. Our 24 hour groceries are a thing of the past, with overnight closures for cleaning being the new norm and resupplying my half and half was #1 on my list of to dos yesterday. I had great conversations with BOTH DDs yesterday. When their lives are balanced and positive it does sooo much for my positivity !

Have a great week !

Good things to know about freezing things and I am glad you could touch base with both DDs!

Yes, wasn't it fantastic to hear from Ann! And DD absolutely "F... Cancer"!

Weight 122.4. Cupcakes last night were NOT a good idea (but tasted great).

It is kind of overcast and muggy here right now. Hopefully the sun peeks through at least a bit. Mike is coming for the day for kayaking, maybe swimming, and I am cooking dinner for him. Crab cakes are on the menu.

Have a safe and healthy day!

Diane, there is a saying, you're only as happy as your unhappiest child. Okay, may be a little co dependent, but we get the idea as you stated, it's easier to feel balanced ourselves when we know they are okay.

Liz, we're eating cupcakes for different reasons! Your revved up metabolism and eating plan will set you right again. :)

Going to get my hair done. It's quite a trek out of the metro area to where my niece works, so off I go! More later.

Good Morning All

More rain overnight - I think we might well wash away if it doesnt ease up. We managed to take the dogs for a 45 minute walk after work so that was good.

I had taken out stewed cherries that needed to be used up. Decided after the walk to make a dessert for DH. Rice pudding with cherry sauce, stewed cherries and salted coconut crumb. It was delicious and 2 serves left for tonight.

We are going to have Flu boosters after work today - requirement from DH employer - they pay for them. Cant hurt

Got the quote for the roof - its around $500 more than DH estimated but we will likely save up and go ahead as it will make a huge difference. As part of it - all screws will be replaced and re-siliconed after the roof is pressure washed and then 2 coats of paint.

Diane O - So glad you got to chat to your DD and they are in a good place. It was wonderful to see Ann comment. Have missed her lots and glad she is in a better place

DD - I too love to parcel you received. We have a charity over here called Love your Sister - F^(& Cancer is one of their main marketing avenues. They have raised a lot of money for Breast Cancer resear*****luding making a giant heart out of 5 cent pieces.

Peps - Nawww to Beau - hes gorgeous. Something so wonderful about new life - beyond precious

Liz - Enjoy your day

Thinking of Peps, Diane and Cec - in the fires. I know only too well just how scary they can be - and that smoke is suffocating.

Be safe everyone - love to you all

S

I'm totally safe down here! We had none of the lightning, so none of the fires (or smoke) this time.

Back from my haircut, and my niece did a great job. But holy $!#t, there were a number of people in the salon without masks. It's one of those places where stylists rent their chair. Last time I was there, everyone was masked up. This time they had a sign on the door, something to the affect of, masks are required, in accordance with the ADA, people with a health condition who cannot wear masks will not be asked to document their condition.

They were still doing social distancing, so there were 3 stylists and 3 clients. My niece was wearing a shield instead of a mask, so not too good. But she is 36 weeks pregnant so maybe she actually has a reason... And I knew she wasn't going out at all, except to work. But I didn't know her workplace was so lax. I was the only one wearing a mask. I would have left, but when we started, my niece and I were the only ones in the salon, the other stylists and clients came about 45 minutes later. And one client brought 3 unmasked kids with her. They at least didn't start running around the salon until I was leaving. One of the kids ran up to the counter as I was paying, and came to a screeching halt when I made eye contact with her, and stood staring at me. I'm guessing my mask looked really odd to her. There really is an urban/rural divide. In the metro area, people with health conditions that preclude wearing a mask are politely given other accommodations such as curbside pick up, or different hours for service. Very few unmasked people in stores. This counties infection rates are just a bit lower than the metro counties. Lots of people who live in the area (where I grew up), commute to work in the metro, so it's not like they are a little enclave, far removed from Covid transmissions.

I realize people are going to insist on their "rights" to not wear masks. I don't socialize with virus deniers, I don't go to their hang outs like bars. I'm fine with just avoiding them at this point, and letting Darwin have his say. There is no way to convince them otherwise, so peace be with them, stay away from me, and I will do the same. I'm just so shook, because I was going to a hair salon, not a bar. I had no idea I would be sitting in an enclosed space with adults not wearing masks. I feel ick.

That must have been a real shock! I love your summary at the end. "Letting Darwin have his say..." sums my thoughts on anti-maskers up perfectly.

That would have blown my mind. Here in Massachusetts we really can't go anywhere without a mask and I rarely see anyone without one (usually is is a mistake). Even the kids put them on almost automatically.

Hi and Happy Monday - so glad the school day is over. Zoom outages started at 6:00 am EST and lasted until about 11:00 am. Lucky for me Zoom was up and running about 10 minutes before my school day started. Other than a few little glitches Zoom worked well for me today. But having the stress of the potential Zoom disaster was not the way to start the day. Personally, I am able to go with the flow, it's the teachers who start freaking out that get to me and get my anxiety level revving.

I could go on and on about school, but I won't. What I will go on about is that I noticed that school has messed with my self care routines. I am not getting the same sleep I was getting, which I think may have been a cause in the uptick in my weight last week. Insufficient sleep triggers stress hormones, which we know scientifically cause weight gain. Also, fewer hours of sleep results in an increase of appetite. To combat this trend I have committed to being in bed by 11:30. If I get up 6:45 that will give me roughly 7 hours of sleep. That may be enough. I will also have to make sure to schedule down time on the weekends. I was way too busy this weekend and it took its toll emotionally and physically. I was too tired to get any quality school work done last night.

Second run on the elliptical this evening after my session with the shrink. It was still hard, but maybe just a little easier than on Saturday. I am hoping the workout will also help my calves recover and my lats to ease up. Had to break up some of that acid in teh muscles!

Well, off to make dinner and get cleaned up for a quick morning tomorrow.

Sorry so late. I'm just sitting here waiting for my late night Amazon grocery delivery. I was gambling that being the last 2 hour window means it won't be melted and delayed because what kind of crazy person has groceries delivered from 9-11pm?

I had a horrible fright on the scale this morning. I'm hoping some is carb water retention, but the ugly truth of it is, I popped up as "obese" in my weight tracking app. **** Maybe that's the scare I need to turn this around. Lord knows nothing else has spurred me. Needless to say, all my groceries being delivered are healthy ones.

I also had my therapist appt. Every time I think, why am I going twice a week, I only need once, she zings me with Truth and I cry for 50 minutes. Sigh. Twice it is.

Tomorrow morning I'm walking with my friend. Today was ever so slightly less humid (50% instead of 73%) and a couple of degrees cooler. Apparently we are supposed to go back into the 90s, but the humidity will drop so it'll be a "dry heat". I'll take it. How did I come from Carolina/Georgia and Ohio River Valley ancestors? I have no ability to function in humidity! Whatever that gene is, I didn't get it.

Anyway, big hugs all around. PS, DianeO, I read most of the ancient redwoods have survived the fire. At least one good thing happened in 2020...