Tuesday, November 15, 2022

It would have been deceased DH's 70th birthday today. So sad that he isn't here any longer. He did all the things they tell us to do to live a long life and avoid dementia: Stayed very active and slim, ate healthy, never smoked, rarely drank other than some wine periodically, read a lot, did crosswords, etc. The moral is to make the most out of life while you can because you never know what the future will bring.

We went to the neighborhood Pool Party and I brought mini pumpkin whoopie pies, my stepdaughter's recipe. I have seen her make them and it looked pretty easy and it was thank goodness. They were a big hit so only a few came back home:) I am going to make some for Thanksgiving as Mike's family didn't seem to like the pies I made last year but these are usually universally liked.

Today is the only day for the next 11 when there is nothing specific on the agenda. Thank goodness! We will do a long Justice walk and probably go to the beach club for a bit.

Have a thoughtful Tuesday!

At the new house trying to figure out the drip system. Why she didn't leave instructions and descriptions I don't know! I don't like things that don't make sense and this does not make sense. I think they added the landscape in stages so one plant next to another won't be on the same station. Grrr. And she had turned the timer off altogether, so it's been parched since lord knows when. Thankfully it hasn't been hot, but still. It's dry here!

Edit: after all my ranting in my head and here, I found a sheet with scribbles about the sprinklers in a drawer! Not sure how much it helps, but at least she tried.

Also talked to Container store that left a bunch of stuff out of my order and sent different stuff. It wS so complicated that she just told me to keep the wrong stuff and she'd resend the right stuff. Bonus stuff!

Apparently my stuff comes Thursday morning. Hallelujah!

Food wasn't the best, but not awful. I think the infusion of carbs makes it hard to get back to eliminating them.

I give up for the day. Heading out...

Happy 70th to Paul! It is tragic that someone so vibrant, kind, and intelligent, who did all the right things to keep the disease at bay, succumbed to Alzheimer's. I thought it was timely that a friend sent me a tiktok on Alzheimer's today. I think she is worried about me because of my father's vascular dementia diagnosis.

Diamond D, I read your post about the hurt inflicted by your parents. Echoes of my own childhood rang in my ears. Certain things still sting when i think about them: "You'd think with parents as good looking as your father and I, you would have turned out better", "Your brother is so studious and works so hard. Things come too easily to you. It's not right. You should be more like your brother." Parents don't always realize what they say, but I think that sometimes my mom knew exactly what she was saying and it was said with purpose. Luckily, I have had years to work through my relationship with my mom. I did right by her so I carry no guilt. It is nice that my brother now admits that since he is 5 years older and was already out of the house for my teens he wasn't aware of how differently I was treated than he.

CC, sounds like you had an amazing time with your friend - even dealing with the challenges of airport travel. I'm glad your move in is coming along. It'll take you months before you know the ins and outs of the house and how things are hooked up.

Diane S., how is old Chip faring these days? The drama at your studio/gallery makes me chuckle. Isn't it nice that this is the type of drama with which you must deal? Country living away from the big city, crime and urban poverty certainly has perks. (Though i know there is a lot of rural poverty up your way, too.)

As for me, well, not much to report. I think I reported i have taken a hiatus from my trainer. I sort of reached a saturation point of spinning my wheels last week. I just need some time away from obligations of the self help type. I need to assess where I am, why I seem to be spinning my wheels again, and what it is that I really want to do.

I am really tired of hurting. Growing up with a bone disease, I am no stranger to regular aches and pains - especially in my joints. Juvenile arthritis packs a wallop, as does tendonitis. But since I tore my meniscus in September of 2021, wrecked my back in the spring of 2022 it has been just one pain after the other. My achilles tendon on my left leg is constantly inflamed, my left knee is still not completely healed, my lower back still hurts on a daily basis and I have been dealing with tendonitis in both elbows for a few months. Believe me, I have seen the doc about the pains and there is not much that can be done other than anti-inflammatories at this point. I continue with weekly chiropractic, but will probably stop when my prepaid year of service is complete in February 2023.

I am fast approaching 59 and am dreading another year "spinning my wheels" before I turn 60. I am really at a point where I want to make some changes, but I am not sure what those changes really need to be. Fascinating work this therapy stuff. It would be so much easier to make a call to the bank, transfer the money, fly to Vegas and get a "turbo" sleeve revision surgery. But I figure I need to do the work or even with another surgery, I'll end up right back in the same place!

Happy Tuesday to all!

I so appreciate you sharing your inner struggles and the work you are doing. It's not easy! But hopefully well worth it.

I find it interesting and irritating that after several weeks of little to no finger arthritis pain on keto, a weekend of carby eating and the pain and stiffness is back. Maybe worth looking at sugar/carbs from a pain perspective to consider if eliminating would feel easier to do with that as a goal as opposed to weight loss? It wouldn't carry the years of emotional weight with it.

Have you ever done acupuncture? It's something I grow more and more curious about. I am a very western mind, but I can't help but feel there is something to a practice that has endured 4,000 years.

Greetings all

Somehow I miscalendared board meeting. It's not until Thursday. Oh well I was not prepared anyway. But I did the dentist and supposedly have a zoom meeting tonight. More gallery drama though the one person quit because a few people criticized her by laws. Now drama queen #2 has sent around some absurd remarks about board appointment of a person to sign tax returns. Not sure what this is about since I am the person who has prepared and signed them for our entire existence. I wish people would just say what they are after instead of games. Oh well. Not gonna sweat it.

Peps thanks for your thoughts. Wheel spinning seems to be our national pastime. Done plenty myself. Within the last couple of years I realized I did not constantly need to have projects and goals like I did as a younger person. Those were all about the future and the future is here now. Not saying thats for you but it does give some peace. And ditto on the aches and pains. Me too. Sometimes I think I have some disease like fibromyalgia but my doctor thinks not.

Happy birthday to Paul who is greatly missed. Alzheimers is indeed cruel and no one deserves it. Hoping for advancements in science.

Got some pork burritos from the deli tonight. No pot pie. Yeah I should not be talking about anything with carbs but thats what the deli has.

Good luck with the drip system CC. Seems like sprinklers are always messed up and no one knows how to fix them. We have not used ours in years but we don't live in a desert.

Not much else. Cooking for the dogs. Yes, old Chip is two weeks short of 16 and is slow and senile but he still loves to eat. He paces the house a lot.

Diane S

Alzheimer's is such a thief, and robbed you and your children of a good man too soon. I hope there is some solace in the memories of other birthday celebrations you shared.

Liz sounds like the holidays are upon you!

It is true that we have to embrace the time we are given. Last night I learned a childhood/family friend passed away. She was 58. She wasn't feeling well, and asked her daughter to come and get her dog for the night, because she felt too sick to take care of her. When the daughter came back to check on her in the morning, she was dead. Covid? RSV? Flu? There will be an autopsy. I'm so sad. I've known her since I was 7 years old. I just sent her a birthday message 2 weeks ago about how we'd know each other for 5 decades and wishing her many more happy birthdays.

Tonight I had enough energy to do some house cleaning with DH. I love, love, love him, but he cannot seem to do, working part time, what I did working full time. When I said we were going to clean together he said no, I'll do it, you rest, but I can't rest, because nothing ever gets cleaned all the way. So proof that I am feeling better, because even if I cared last week (which I mostly didn't) I simply didn't have the energy. But now the kitchen and dining room look great. The living room is picked up, and we'll dust and vacuum tomorrow, along with tackling the bathrooms. Making my way back to my life.