Thursday 9/17/2020

Weight? We are in an amazingly cute cottage looking at the ocean and drinking coffee. No scale here, but I felt like my food intake was somewhat reasonable yesterday considering that I went out to eat twice and we had "****tail hour".

Today may be warmer than it has been of late so we may go to the beach for a bit and/or take Justice for a long walk when we get back to my house later this morning.

Have a safe, healthy and social day!

173.4

No ocean view outside any of my windows- I wish- but going to be a nice day here. Probably a romp for Swann in the hayfield. The cooler weather has brought out the feisty zoomies . Until the corn and soybeans are harvested, the hayfield is the only open area. Deer season is upon us and any of the hedge rows will be dicey till the middle of January.

Today is deck washing and sealing- what fun. I am channeling Diane's composit decking, hoping ours will clean up as easily, but, well....

Hang in there, Shirl. I would like to think this ****ty virus would just burn itself out- surely there is a resolution to be had. In the meantime I'm sure there will be a way to take care of those lovely cows. Looking forward to calf-pictures!

Scale moved back down to Tuesday's weight.

Yesterday a neighbor posted on NextDoor that she's a real estate agent and she had clients who just moved here from MN with their 10mo old baby. At the last night in the hotel before they moved into their new home, their U-Haul with all of their possessions was stolen and cleaned out. They have nothing. So the neighbors have organized a collection to get emergency household items for them. I have been itching to get rid of some dishes, a table, and a bunch of really nice All-Clad pans I messed up by putting in the dishwasher and the outsides got all chalky white. But the cooking portion of the pans are in great shape (all exterior cosmetic damage). I figured they would be good until they were able to replace them with something they liked anyway, so I rewashed everything and boxed it all up. Felt good to part with it all!

I walked this morning with my friend down at the water district ponds. It's where they let reclaimed water percolate back into the water table. Sounds yucky I know, but it's so important in a droughty area and it makes for some world-class bird watching and 12 miles of trails. The number of birding photographers with massive telephoto lenses was amazing. We saw maybe 20 huge white herons along with a lot of birds I didn't know the names of. At least it was something different neither of us had done.

Ferg is going to the vet for his ear at 2, but first I have therapy. I think that's all I know!

What a sorry introduction to a home place- but what a wonderful introduction to new neighbors- well done, you! A pox on all mean spirited SOBs.

Have been checking in daily and responding, but not feeling much like "posting". Posting today mostly just to post, so I get back in the habit. I realized I haven't really been active here for a week. Never a good sign for me....

Been very tire. I've not been sleeping well. For instance, woke up from a dream about 3:30 am and then was awake until 4 something. Looked at the clock to see it was closer to 5 than 4. Slept until about 6:30 then dozed with the snooze alarm until just before 7. Tired for days on end does not bode well for eating choices. Neither does feeling super busy. Couple that with LOTS of work related stress for Ron and how that unfolds at home, it's just not been a great couple of weeks.

Taking it all in as information - cuz it is what it is! LOL! I'm observing, taking notes, and feeling the feels. Guess that's about all I really can do.

I can celebrate that I am still binge free, but did have a bit of a grazing party Sunday and Monday.

This COVID pandemic... thinking about Shirl and her draconian lockdown or our crazy response here. Seems like COVID is going to extract major suffering in any scenario.

I'm coming down the home stretch on radiation. I had my weekly meeting with one of the radiologists, and they assure me again that I will not be any more susceptible to the virus than anyone else, that my fatigue, a common side effect, is not because of a stressed immune system. This simply does not make sense to me. I understand that radiation doesn't attack my immune system, but spiking fevers, fatigue, nausea seems to me, my immune system is being asked to step it up. He did say if the fatigue lingers, they would be happy to write a letter saying I need shortened hours. So current plan is to be back in the classroom on Monday, September 28th. I am scared and excited at the same time.

My skin is holding up really well. I have 4 more treatments, so I'm hopeful I will avoid some of the skin issues others have suffered.

It's chilly here, (furnace is running today, I am wimpy that way) but we are expecting some 80s next week. I deeply hope that my fatigue does lessen in the next few weeks, because I'm longing to kayak some more before it's way too cold.

We were going to a wedding next week, but the venue required the guest numbers to be pruned yet again, so the bride had to disinvite us. I'm actually relieved, the bride is my husband's cousin's daughter, and while I like them well enough, I wasn't sure I wanted to risk indoor dining in this case. My daughter refers to it as the love quotient, the higher it is, the higher the risk one is willing to take. The love quotient for my nephew is very high, so his wedding is a definite go this fall.

Well, time for a nap!

Good Late Morning All, Finally popping in. Have been up since early and got a fair bit achieved. 3 loads of washing out on the line and Im cleaning the house in my breaks from work. Boy do I miss our cleaner. Loved having the house all shiny and clean by lunchtime every Friday.... Something else to look forward too I guess

I have found some energy and drive so figure Im best harnessing it - hence the house clean and tidy up. Frees up the weekend. We have nearly finished re-levelling half the back yard, new soil has been raked and we are starting the grass seed this afternoon fingers crossed. Goodbye bumpy yard - will make mowing so much easier :) My eldest DH is coming over after I finish work so I can do his tax and clipper his hair and beard. Breaking the rules but I need to be able to help my kids. He rarely goes out so its a calculated risk. My summer veggie seeds are starting to sprout so thats good. We have 4 more garden beds to put together and get soil into once we move the current fence. I think that will be this weekends jobs.

Have my cooking mojo back. It always makes me feel better. Made an amazing Mongolian Beef the other night plus 7 extra meals to share with mum and pop in the freezer. Last night it was KFC - Korean Fried Chicken. Marinade the chicken in rice vinegar, soy, salt and pepper then egg dip and coat in Tapioca Starch - double cooked in the air fryer. Coated with sauce and served with snow peas, pak choy and carrots. It was yum. I always cook too much so we have leftover for tonight :) Tommorrow is Chicken and Mushroom Risotto. No doubt there will be some for my mum and the freezer.

Liz - Your cottage sounds lovely. I am so very happy for you. You shine with happiness and contentment

Diane O - Much love to you re the boundaries. We both know how draining that is. Here for you x

Diane S - Hope the rest of your birthday was wonderful and you enjoyed your takeaway. What did you end up deciding on?

Cec - You are one of the kindest people I am priviledged to know. Good on you for donating some things to those poor people. What a welcome to the neighbourhood ! Some ppl are just disgraceful

Peps - Hope the clearer air allows you some time outside in the sunshine - that will hopefully make you sleep a little more fitfully

Miss - Zoomies in the hay field with Swann sounds like pure bliss. I cant wait to show you the calf pictures too - only 2 or so months and we should have 5 or 6 safely here

DD - Sending you my love and strength. You are handling this treatment with such grace. Im very proud of you

BB, Leap, Paula and Ann - miss you all lots.

Well I had best keep going. No weight yet - maybe next week. There is still DH vanilla slice and I am being naughty... enough said

Love to you all

S

Once again you put us all to shame with your industriousness! If you could bottle it, you'd make millions!

I was really just happy to have someone who could use it all to give it to. Once I took a load of donations to Salvation Army, and I watched as the workers there were carelessly throwing boxes of things into a big skip for later sorting. You could hear everything breaking. It made me realize that anything breakable was not going to fair well being sent there. So this was a perfect solution, though I couldn't be more sorry for what they're going through.

Ha ha ha - its about time I got moving again. Ive been a sloth

Oh that would have broken my hear****ching them throw things and break them. I think what you did was a wonderful thing :) Well done