Wednesday, August 25, 2021

Only one day until I have a kitchen again! Yahoo!

We had a good lunch with Mike's friends yesterday but the husband's health definitely has deteriorated since I met them last year. He had a stroke when in his late 30's but was able to carry on after that except for a few physical deficits. But in recent years he apparently has had several health issues. Mike and I were talking last night how it seems like so many of our friends who seemed young and unstoppable 5 years ago are changing quickly now so we have to be prepared for that.

We were supposed to walk on the Cape Cod Canal today with some other friends but it is going to be 90 with a heat index of much higher than that so I think we are going to reschedule for next week. Lying on the beach with an umbrella may make more sense. I am going out to dinner with my two SILs (no Mike), as one of them is leaving the Cape for home on Saturday after a two month rental here. I wonder if renting vs. owning in the future might make sense for me? Lots to ponder over the next 9 months.

Have a safe and healthy Wednesday!

Happy Hump Day!

Choreographed a workout yesterday that was inspired by my conversation with Diamond Diane. I included single leg dead lifts, kettle bell swings, and medicine ball squats for balance and lower body strength. For upper body I "parted out" just a bit - shoulder presses, overhead tricep extensions, 7/21 bicep curls (long to explain), and battle ropes. My butt is feeling it today! LOL

I thought a lot about my eating yesterday - not just in general but also in reference to the article I posted for Liz to share with Mike. I have to say that while I do a lot of what is recommended in the article already, keeping sugar to a reasonable level in my diet is tough. It is interesting to ponder what I am willing to change at this time and what I am not.

Considering what I don't seem to be willing to change right now (e.g. ice cream), I am also more inclined to accept my current physical state as an okay state. Working out by myself in front of walls of mirrors yesterday was a good exercise in self acceptance. I noticed I didn't mind so much checking form in the mirror. I didn't let my imperfections or size detract from my concentration or appreciation of my body. That is a pretty big deal for me. In the past I have often become side railed by glancing in the mirror.

Cece, I hope your trip preparation is going well. When is take off day?

Diane O, how is NY state and visiting with family?

Shirl, how's lock down these days? Are you managing? Hope depression from lock down is not visiting!

Liz, I'm not a big proponent of being a renter for my permanent address. I would think long and hard about selling any property that I owned on Cape Cod. I'd sell my Florida place first and rent there (or just live at Mike's) before selling the Cape Cod house.

DD - thanks for the great conversation the past several days. Your questions and writing have sparked my own thinking, which is always a good thing!

That sounds like a CrossFit workout!! Our gym has no mirrors supposedly to prevent us from becoming distracted! No A/C either with the 110 degree heat index hereð?"¥

Interesting questions to ponder today. Renting vs owning: I agree with Peps that I want to own my residence. We paid off our mortgage a few years ago, and its awesome! My Dad's accountant insists you are better off renting instead of owning a cabin or winter home. I would still like to own, because I like the idea of community, and decorating etc. But I'm not sure when I retire if we will be able to afford a snow bird home. In better years, my parents said they would leave their Florida house to me, and the hunting land to my brother. Hmm, Florida house is no longer, I wonder if my brother still gets the hunting land.

Peps, I have found our conversations so helpful. A lot of thinking aloud and clarifying my own goals and expectations for myself. And as you noted Liz, things can change fast. I feel like the next few years will really set the stage for "my golden years". My Dad's mobility was incredible in his 50s, 60s and 70s. He is slowing down in his 80s, he had to reduce his daily walk from 5miles to 3 miles. :) My Mom has no mobility as she turns 80, some, bad luck, but also, some might have been mitigated. For example, she was prescribed fosomax in her 50s, but wouldn't take it. Towards that end, I'm taking my Fosamax, my Tomaxafin, my vitamin supplements, trying to eat nutritious foods. And now, putting my toe back in the water with formal exercise, not just being " active ". Finally, I do need to lose some of my regain. I don't need to be at my lowest weight for health (or happiness), but this is too much for either.

Peps, its lovely to hear about your self image shifting. I can't imagine having a body that can do what yours can do. And for what it's worth, as I've mentioned before, my husband is overweight, but very fit. And I think he's hot stuff.

Well today was good in some aspects. But remember when I said that some of my colleagues actually make my life harder? A few years ago, we had to keep a weekly curriculum calendar in a shared department folder. For many " reasons ", l but I think really, because my principal at the time wanted accountability. I did a great job on mine, included hyperlinks to Google docs, and videos, and short reflections on what worked, and what didn't. Then I didn't teach the class for a few years. I am this year. Imagine after searching all the files for an hour, I discover that my colleague deleted them last year while I was out having radiation. For what reason? She has never taught this class at this grade level. But remember, my former principal wanted them in a shared folder. WTH? A more techie coworker than I helped me recover them from Google cloud, I made a copy to put in my own drive, took pictures of the history that shows who deleted them when, and sent my boss an email that we needed to meet. We'll see what happens.

My family is calling me for dinner on the patio. Hope everyone who isn't posting is doing okay. Miss you all.

I can and cannot believe that someone would delete such valuable material! I spent one year "teaching" as a volunteer in DD's 5th grade class. I came in once a week to show the kids how to use a computer and ultimately we created their yearbook on it. DD's teacher was young and enthusiastic so was excited about having me do it. Two other long-term teachers got very angry about it and made her work life very difficult. They told her she was making them look bad! She and another really dedicated teacher who was subjected to the same treatment by these bullies left the school after that year. So did DD and DS before he he had to potentially end up in their classes.

Hello! Well, I got on the scale today and it wasn't as bad as I feared! Still holding steady at 10 pounds of regain since I got here. Considering previous years regain and how I've been eating, I call that a win. And with some concerted effort, I can probably get a few off fairly quickly.

Today I went to a local marsh preserve. 86% of Michigan's coastal marshes have been lost, but this one has been preserved and it's beautiful with a boardwalk that runs over a mile through it. Birds, bees, turtles, flowers, jumping fi**** has it all. The nature photographers love it. Today I saw a woman with a telephoto lens that must have been 2 feet long! I can feel myself physically calming when I go there. It's so beautiful and quiet. I also got ice cream as there is an old fashioned ice cream parlor a few doors down from the trailhead. I figured it was an acceptable balance between a treat and a walk. And having to go out for a single ice cream cone versus keeping ice cream in my house is also a positive trade off for me - non-punishing, but also not giving myself tempting unfettered access to high calorie foods.

Peps, I leave on September 1st...

I think that's all I've got!

There's something about having my ice cream in a cone that tells my brain, we're done. Even at home, if I dish into a cone, I'll usually stop with that serving, into a bowl, and I might be back for seconds.