Tuesday, March 1, 2022

We leave for the Florida Keys today and that means I didn't sleep enough last night. I have been awake since 4:15 am. Once Mike is up we are going to get a hearty breakfast (egg based), then pack the car and start the 5 hour drive.

My other SIL arrives here to take our place later today so it is a busy household here. I am so glad the first SIL is able to have this great family time. She is the one with lung cancer and the grandmother to my sweet 16 month old grandnephew. Both SILs will come visit us in the Keys for a few days in a week or so.

Yesterday afternoon my friends here had a pre-wedding party for me. I have been so blessed to know this fantastic group of women!

Have a safe and healthy Tuesday!

Argh! Ate my post! Love you guys, hate this site sometimes.

Another of my friends is moving. It made it crystal clear that I am spinning my wheels in the sand. I've been talking about moving for 2 years now and two of my friends have started thinking about it and done something about it in that time! Procrastinator extraordinaire.

So after walking with my friend yesterday, I came home and cleaned off my kitchen counters. A high visible project that will hopefully jumpstart me. I had soooo many small appliances cluttering the counters. A lot of counters, a lot of clutter... So while the counters look great, I now have a kitchen table full of small appliances I need to figure out what to do with. Blender, InstantPot, FoodSaver, air fryer, SodaStream, electric kettle, Nespresso... things that rarely get used, but don't have a cabinet home. The Great Cleanout of 2022 has begun!

Hope you all have a great day!

Perhaps choosing your new locale and putting an offer on a house will kick your ass in gear to sell? That is how my parents operated the two times they moved in later life.

I do get more accomplished when I'm under the gun!

Do you live anywhere near Ontario?

40 miles or so? Not far. Are you going to be there??

Awesome! Check you email..... I'm going to be there this weekend... Friday and Saturday. Maybe we can arrange something.

I googled "blazers for short fat guys" yesterday and came up empty, but I did find a great sight for heavy short men for jeans and shirts. I'm really kind of excited about ordering a pair of jeans and seeing how they fit. Won't hurt to try, right?????

I am really stuck on aligning my behaviors with my desires. I struggle so much with getting my behavior and food choices to match what I say/believe/claim I want. I know part of it is that I "ostrich" and avoid looking at the deep truths of how my behavior benefits me emotionally. I really have to work on that. I don't even want to be "thin" anymore. I just would like to be smaller than I am now and increase my aerobic stamina again. I would like to not think of myself as the fat guy....

I know part of it right now is the whole body adjusting to the spinal decompression treatments. It's not easy to retrain muscles while the spine is also repairing from the little tears the decompression causes in the discs.... I am certain the long term benefits will well outweigh the current discord. I can already feel a significant difference in my posture and stance. Today my lower back feels close to normal.... It's going to take some time, but I'm pleased with the overall progress. March 10 is the day I have chosen to start working out again. I am looking forward to that.

Yada, yada, yada...

Liz, so exciting to be on the countdown....

CC, I read your list of appliances and know the feeling. The nespresso and electric kettle get used everyday here. But that darn airfryer/instapot, I never use it and its heavy and huge!

CC and Peps, a meet up!!! Will you post pictures? Here or on TT?

Liz, I really loved Key West 30 some years ago, and I was there during rainy season. Raise a drink to the sunset for me. Wonderful your family can visit you there too. And lovely your friends were able to start your celebration off with a party.

I'm discovering I lost so much strength during the Covid work from home days. I can't move nearly the weight I used to be able to on the resistance machines. But I feel so good knowing I am finally tackling the issue. Like Peps, I'm not even looking to be thin, but I want the strength and mobility needed to live a quality life. That means increasing strength, aerobic capacity, and my core strength for balance.

That being said, I won't work out tonight for a good reason. Our son has to visit a client in Southern Minnesota. While he's traversing Southern Minnesota from east to west, we're going to drive south about an hour and meet him for dinner. He'll then travel onto his hotel, we'll turn around and go home. He'll meet with his clients in the morning, and then start the 6 hour trip back to Wisconsin. It will be good to lay eyes on him.

Tomorrow, we have conferences in the morning, before school, and then again after school until 7:30. I'm kind of sad to miss Ash Wednesday service, and another work out.

On the topic of allowing ourselves to spend our time and money as we wish, I do think there are certain seasons in life where that is more possible. From what I've observed, the healthiest, most engaged people I know slow down quite a bit in their 80s. If they have a partner, that adds another aspect. My aunt is coming up on a very healthy, vital 80. But her DH, also a vital 80 something, now has Parkinson's disease. Things now must change, new plans made. If you are fortunate to have health and some discretionary funds, the two decades of 60s and 70s look like the season to go for it.

Time will slow down everything, including spending. When my Dad was 80, he bought a new pick up truck. He told me, well, that's the last new pick up I'll ever buy. I didn't like hearing that initially, but I think he's right. He might still have another decade ahead of him, but I foresee he will probably have to stop driving before he actually wears that pick up out.

My parents bought their Florida house when my Mom was my age. They sold it this year, when my Mom turned 80. Her health precludes her from traveling, and maintaining 2 homes was getting to be too much for my Dad. But wow, those 20 years went by fast!!!

A personal grievance, my Dad is currently obsessed with leaving an estate (Not for me, I honestly don't know if I'm getting anything, more for my brother and his son, but that's another story). They will not spend money (and they have a good amount of resources) on things to make their lives better. Instead of hiring a housekeeper, the house is dirty, unless I go clean it. Things like that. I have told them again and again to imagine how I will feel knowing that they lived a diminished life, so they could leave behind a couple 1000s more dollars. It breaks my heart. They lived a full and interesting life before. Acting like they are impoverished is a terrible thing to watch.