Sunday, August 1, 2021

August!!! The summer is 1/2 over!

We had a fun day at the retirement party yesterday, then stopped for a small dinner and drinks with an old friend. It was a good day overall. And today Mike cancelled golf to go to the beach with me - I didn't ask him to but he wanted to. That was nice.

Another week of eating out almost every night. Not good for my weight and I see my WLS doctor on Friday. We have a birthday dinner tonight, a girls get-together tomorrow night, and Mike and my 1 year anniversary out on Wednesday. Followed by the wedding weekend. Oh my! But life is short and food seems to be part of every celebration.

So, did you know that Medicare (and supplemental plans) only pay for an ambulance to take a person to the nearest hospital providing medically necessary services? They will not pay for transfer to a facility nearer to home. That is medical repatriation and requires travel type insurance. Who knew? In other words my friend can't get transferred near home in New Hampshire because the hospital he is at can provide all cardiac services. We aren't sure if they can get it covered to be transferred from Cape Cod to Boston should he require surgery and want a surgeon/hospital at a higher level of capability than the one here.

Time to fold laundry, then get ready for the beach. Have a safe and healthy Sunday!

Greetings All

Sorry to be awol. No excuses. Yesterday was a bit wild as I got called in to work at one gallery. I did not know I was scheduled and the posted schedule conflicted. Good thing I went as the town was packed with tourists. No where to park. And there was an Art Night scheduled - the first one post covid. I have a feeling things are going to swing back into restriction as the delta variant is nasty. But I will do whatever it takes to get rid of the darn virus. Our county has a high level of cases again and its young people and attributable to concerts. I am glad to be of an age where big rock concerts have no appeal. Give me a nice sofa and a big tv anyway.

Yesterday was a carb fest in the food department. Not loads of it but just the wrong stuff.

Liz glad your SIL is having treatment success. Sorry your friend can't be moved to a closer hospital. All this stuff makes no sense.

Gallery checks to be done today. Sales have been great.

Poppy is doing well. Beginning to be house trained. She loves being out in the backyard with her mom Tesla.

And Peps you rock the dog world!! So satisfying to have home bred champions. Love following on FB.

Not much new. So far no fires here. Grateful for that. Diane S

Liz, I can't begin to think how expensive that long of an unreimbursed ambulance trip would be. My trip from the radiologist office to the hospital was 2 blocks and cost $1300.

We normally have Sunday breakfast, usually bacon/pancakes or bacon/eggs/muffins. It's not a lot of food (like 2 pieces of bacon and 2 small pancakes), but it's high calorie. While I love breakfast foods, I find myself not looking forward to it as there's pressure to then skip lunch within the family ("how could you eat?! I'm still stuffed!" Basic food shaming). I was thinking about it last night, and I pinpointed my issues with it. I could take or leave eating in the morning. I love my coffee but aside from that I don't need to eat. But come noon and forward to dinner, all I can think about is eating regardless of whether I ate breakfast. So to keep myself out of caloric trouble it makes the most sense to have my coffee for breakfast and eat a sensible lunch and dinner rather than loading up on fattening breakfast and then stewing on not feeling "allowed" to eat lunch, feeling deprived, and overdoing it at dinner. So I passed on breakfast today and feel really good about it! They just gobble it up, then dive headlong into iPads, so it's not like I'm missing some valuable family bonding time.

I leave for the UK in a month and would like to get a few of these pounds I've gained off so my clothes feel better. I walked 4 miles today and dragged my dad and his wife with me. I didn't mention wanting to lose weight to them as that just invites them to police me which I neither want nor need, but she proposed a family August challenge of a walk every day. My dad was not as enthusiastic, but it might help keep me motivated.

Tonight unfortunately we are going for ****tails and appetizers at one family and dinner at another. Argh. Lord help me not over eat!

Hope you all have a nice day!

1. Don't give up on our tribe..we are weaving in and out and connecting the best we know how. I tried a new church today and it felt like home. Two days without any C interactions. I have added ice cream to my essential foods.

So glad you found a welcoming church. It will be good for you to have more support.

Hello All

Popping in quickly whilst I eat some lunch. The day is hectic as always

Got back from the farm around teatime last night, did some chores and collapsed into bed. We weaned the calves on Saturday night so it was safe to say there was little sleep happening. The poor mummas bellowed all night as did the babies. The girls are pregnant again and its cold - so we are struggling to keep condition on them. It was time for the little fatties to be weaned at 9 months old. They however had other ideas. They are in one of the properties front paddocks with very long grass so in a week or so will be content to just wallow in plenty of food and no bellies full of warm milk. We got a lot achieved up there, orchard is finished - the berries will go in this week as DH has stayed up to keep an eye on the calves. I did hours of mowing Saturday as well. Always lots to do.

Things here are like lots of other places - with Delta variant. QLD went into a snap lockdown over the weekend, NSW remains in a pretty bad state and have just increased restrictions to try and regain some control. We are (fingers crossed) looking like we have managed to get on top of our latest outbreak - which was delivered to the state by furniture removlists from NSW! 2 cases today and had been in quarantine. Its doubtful that we will be able to rebook our holiday - with everything so volatile its just too hard. And we are about to launch into our crazy busy time at work.

I am scrambling to try and give my mum a lovely 80th birthday. I had planned 4 small get togethers but there is need for constant change around the restrictions. However, I am bringing her up to the farm this weekend and we are having dinner at a hotel with DH's extended family - we will bring her home on Sunday and have a lunch with my Aunt & Uncle at another hotel. Next Tuesday is her actual birthday and assuming they ease restrictions - she will come to our home for dinner - we currently are allowed no visitors. Then Saturday is the dinner at Thai restuarant with all our kids - currently capped at 10 ppl and there are 12 of us so Im hoping for a change in numbers. Its a juggle but we push on

Liz - sounds like you have a lovely social week :) I love reading about your outings. Thinking of your friend. Hard times indeed

Cec - Sounds like you are having a lovely summer break :) Wow only a month till you leave for UK - thats gone fast

Diane S - Good to hear Poppy is doing wonderfully :)

Peps - You are KILLING it at the shows - so proud of you and its testament to all the hard work and dedication you have poured into your gorgeous dogs

Diane O - Much love to you and glad you have had 2 C free days. Hoping it continues

DD - Loving seeing your posts of your trip :) What a lovely birthday

Well I had best get back to it - much work awaits

Love to you all - including those who are not here as much - you are all thought of often from my little part of Australia xxx

S

Dealing with the lockdowns must drive you crazy. It does seem weird though that you aren't allowed visitors to your home but can gather at a restaurant (in small numbers). Isn't that somewhat inconsistent?

It is driving me a bit crazy - harder n harder to maintain a positive outlook... but getting there

The research here shows that a massive % of infections are coming from home transmissions. One person brings it home, spreads to their family and visitors to their home. We are seeing higher transmission rates in communities that have multiple generations living under the same roof

QLD entered a snap lockdown last weekend and their numbers are climbing too. Its such a highly contagious variant - just leads to a volatile situation for everyone. We are left feeling like you cant make plans for fear of continual changing goal posts. I personally dont cope as well with this as I function best when I feel organised.

Our vacination rollout hasnt been handled well at all - with changing recommendations and a bun fight between all the states for the pfizer jabs. Astra Zenica shots - of which we have a lot of - have received such bad press due to complications, that coupled with changing advice from Health Professionals has left a lot of people too concerned to have AZ and more open to waiting for pfizer shots. A mess indeed......