Thursday, April 7, 2022

Getting us started today. I hope Liz is busy, busy, busy contemplating offers on her Florida place! Or, perhaps, she is rebelling at being the initial poster today! LOL.... Only she can tell us.

It is another beautiful spring day here. We hit the low 80s yesterday. I am maintaining just below my redline weight. That's not saying much, but it is something. Maintaining is a hell of a lot better than gaining.

I have a sore on my butt cheek. I have no idea how it came to be. Usually that kind of thing bothers me a lot. Somehow, maybe an "out of sight, out of mind" phenomenon, this is not. I have some antibiotic ointment from my atopic dermatitis maybe cellulitis flare up this winter that I am using twice per day and it seems to be healing nicely.

I had a very comfortable day with food yesterday. I even recognized my knee jerk reaction to eat something "soothing" when I got stressed. I was able to then decide whether it was a good choice to eat or not. I liked having that bit of understanding.

My chest is quite sore from pressing 65s on Tuesday. I will be back to my normal 75s next week. Thank goodness I really didn't lose any of my gains. I was worried about that. What I have to do is add cardio on a regular basis. Booo... I don't like cardio. Blech!

My big declutter of the day was putting away a 50lb package of puppy newsprint, getting the dining room floor cleaned and moving the table back where it belongs. Other than that I did some minor bill stuff, worked on Blitz, took Charlie for her first cafe experience (yeah, rough I know.... LOL! but having to train a 4 month old Airedale pup to be polite at an outdoor eatery and greet people politely is the focus, not the food!) and I did star****ching the new season of Bridgerton while Ron was at choir practice. Guilty pleasure....

Haircut and gym planned for today. Ron is playing hooky from school and wants to go out to lunch. We will see.

Best to all who follow....

It was 90 degrees by 10 am here. Boooo! Heading to 100 today and a few degrees lower tomorrow.

My friend comes in today.

The hospital sent me the estimate for my test and it's $2776. I messaged my doctor saying I'll do it if she thinks it's absolutely necessary, but if it's more nice to have, I'd rather know now. She wrote back with "I can't remember what we discussed, but it depends on the path you want to go down." If I want the radioactive treatment, it's necessary (not sure I do). If I want ablation, it's not as necessary, but by the way, that will require at least 2 needle biopsies to ensure they aren't cancerous and the actual treatment would take multiple times and be done at UCLA. But all of this is conflicting with my goal to move. And then I think about health insurance - I can only use mine in CA except emergencies. Do I get insurance in MI and establish a doctor relationship only to settle in AZ and have to do it again? I hate logistical messes like this.

And then I made a nice person upset with me on the board I'm on and I don't deal well with people being mad at me. She and her husband offered up their land for a concert fundraiser for our non-profit. They were going to do the concert anyway, but thought it would be a nice way to help the organization (and it is a lovely idea). The issue is the musician they are hiring is a water activist (she stressed this multiple times so we would know what we were signing up for). Which is fine for his songs about love of nature and taking care of the lakes, but I listened to several of his songs and they go into corporate hatred and greed, the evils of privatization, and knowing the right thing to do but choosing the wrong because of money. Our group is not political. I think part of its success and good standing with everyone in the community is that it's not political and we have a common goal of preservation. I just asked the question if some of his songs might offend part of our supporters. So the concert is off, she's threatened to resign at the end of her term, and I feel terrible. Ugh. I only asked the question and what everyone else thought. They could have decided to move ahead, but I feel like the bad guy. I emailed her an apology and said how nice I thought the offer was, but it's crickets...

I'm overwhelmed and just want to sit in my closet and eat cheese I can't have.

Your question posed to the board was a good one. The "nice" lady seems to have gotten her panties in a wad and taken her ball home because she wasn't winning the game. You don't need someone like that as a friend, nor do you need her approval.

Agree. She may generally be nice, but a truly nice person should be able to handle a question, or different point of view without all this drama!

This test you're looking at (the one you're prepping for?) is to make a definitive diagnosis? If it is an effective diagnostic test, I think you need to pay the fee, and get it done. It's not frivolous spending, it's your health.

I wonder how necessary it is, but it does give her some information and leaves my treatment options wider than without it as it means she could use it to determine dosage if I choose radioactive treatment. So I'll do it, but ouch!

As for the medical testing. You already know you want the information, so just bite the bullet and pay for it out of pocket, if insurance won't cover it. You are in a position in your life where that kind of money is available, even if it's not the "ideal" way you want to spend it. I was in a similar position last summer. I wanted to check all my levels for post VSG, but my new level of insurance coverage doesn't cover the tests any more, so I paid out of pocket for them. It was not cheap, but I needed the information and I'm glad I did them because I saw that one of my elemental levels was slipping again which meant I had to up the supplementation.

Ha, ha Peps! It sounds like you are in good spirits!

CC, what dilemmas you have! I'd want to cheese out my stress too. Good luck making your health decisions and dealing with your board. It does sound like this particular musician might not be a great choice.

So after showing my house to 5 people and sending lots of pictures to a sixth, I got one actual offer. Another guy really wanted it but his wife vetoed it. That one would have been a cash offer and I likely could have gotten it to a point where I would have taken it but his wife doesn't like the laundry in the garage. I thought it was weird at first too but I learned to like that I didn't have to hear it. The offer I did get wasn't too far off from asking but he was planning to do 95% financing which I wasn't real comfortable with. So I talked with a friend who just sold his place in the park for $10K over asking and met with the broker yesterday. I signed the contract with her today and it will be up on MLS in the next couple of days. I am comfortable with my decision because it means I don't have to be there and all the paperwork will be coordinated by her. I will even be able to close remotely.

We successfully packed everything I needed to pack and got it into the cargo van we rented and my Honda CRV. They were full to the gills with just enough room for Mike, Justice and I to sit in our respective seats (all other seats were utilized for stuff). So now we are unpacking. The furniture I brought is mostly in place but there are quite a few boxes to unpack over the coming days. I got all three TVs I brought working (we left his older ones there).

I am already planning how to make this place look a bit more mine even over the next year while we decide if we are staying permanently. I may paint some things and maybe buy a used item to replace the very modern glass coffee table.

Off to organize a bit more but then I think I need to quit for the day - I am exhausted.

Have a safe and healthy Thursday!

I am looking forward to the before and after pictures as you update yours and Mike's home. When are you heading back to Massachusetts? Any decisions on what will be home base there?

We are heading back on May 10, stopping a bit along the way. We will be in my place on Cape Cod for the remainder of May and June, though 2 weeks of that time will be in Aruba. In July and August we will mostly be at Mike's place on Cape Cod except for the weekend of our wedding "party". September location is up in the air, then we will head back here in early October. That's the 2022 plan anyway.