Wednesday, March 13, 2024

I seem to have adjusted to the time change better than usual. I have been able to fall asleep pretty well, but am waking up earlier than I should (probably because my mind is starting to churn around all the events coming up). It is so dark when I wake up early. It is 7:30 right now and the sun isn't even up yet.

One week to surgery - today is the first day I stop taking vitamins. The next thing I have to do is stop the arthritis meds 3 days before surgery and start washing with antimicrobial soap.

It will be busy in the days leading up which is good - today is our last somewhat relaxing day and it is supposed to be gorgeous again. Tomorrow we need to start packing for a couple of days in Key West for our anniversary/my birthday. Sunday we come back and go to a St Patrick's dinner with our neighbors. Monday we fly back north. Justice has no idea that his life will be in upheaval beginning in a couple of days.

Hoping you are all doing well. Have a wicked Wednesday!

Today I need to clean my house as supposedly my friend is coming up tomorrow. He's cancelled every time for the past year and a half, so I would not be surprised if it happened again, but at least I'll have a clean house. He's an absolute neat freak who's house looks like Architectural Digest is arriving any minute, so mine will fall short regardless!

It's unexpectedly rainy today. Kind of nice!

I took my 6th shot the morning. Had a bounce up on the scale this morning so the total is still 14.6 pounds. i do get more peckish the last couple of days before my next shot as it wears off.

Nothing else from me!

Peckish! I haven't heard that word in years but it really describes how one feels when we think we want something to eat.

Greetings all

Junk men have come and gone. Paid a bunch of money for what DH could have hauled away. But it's done. Sort of. There is still a lot more that I would like to have gone but just not up to the drama. At least the garage now has space for some stuff and the back yard has a bunch of old broken shelves and wood gone. I tipped the guys well so they will be happy to come back. DH was fussing a lot before they came. I know it upsets him to part with any of his treasures even if they are broken junk. On top of that, the old SUV would not start to be moved out of the driveway. DH knew this but did nothing. He thinks it is out of gas. Why let that happen? Drives me nuts.

But at least it's a sunny crisp day so my stint in a lawn chair in the garage was pleasant. I got the gallery tax returns mailed and need to go to the dreaded CVS for coffee and such.

Liz GL with surgery prep. Do they give you that Hibiclense soap? I was told to take a shower with that before VSG. Good day for you to get some sun and relax. Key west! How fun.

CC I hope your wandering friend shows up. Some people are just like that - unable to follow through with plans. Maybe you should NOT clean to insure he shows up. If you take an umbrella it never rains. Did the gas stuff get fixed? Any balloons today?

Dinner tonight is unclear. And rats, my favorite restaurant has been closed by the health department. Rats! Rats is the reason it was closed. It's a cool little place with a million dollar view and great food. I am sure it will reopen but the rat image sort of kills any desire to go there. Surprising since this is a kind of fancy place. Not a dump.

Cheers all. Diane S

Rats! Yuck! Of course you know they are probably in many fancy NYC restaurants.

Yes, I have to use hibiclens for 3 days prior to surgery. I assume it is the fear of MRSA. I had to have a nasal swab ahead of time to make sure I wasn't carrying it.

Rats indeed Diane! How bad does the problem have to get to actually get a restaurant shut down?

Liz, I hope you are able to relax and enjoy your Key West days. Pretty soon you will be on the other side of surgery.

CC, enjoy your clean house, and hopefully your friend's visit.

A pretty ordinary day I guess. I am weary of the constant beat of paperwork. Because my caseload went from 16 to 24, the paperwork load became unsupportable. The amount of paid time to complete the work didn't increase, and I'm not giving them any (well much anyhow) free time when they're insulting me with a 1% raise. Embracing the serenity prayer, trying to accept the things I cannot change. Spring break is coming, and then only one more quarter. I can definitely do this.

My scale says it needs batteries. DH has to go to the store in a bit, so he'll get more. Thank heavens! How will I know I'm not losing weight if I can't use the scale? :)

You know I used a physicians balance scale for the first few years after VSG. I wanted to be as precise as possible. Of course now I use the usual battery operated kind.

In CA a single rat seen by the health inspector will temporarily shut down a restaurant. Won't reopen until the entire premise has been treated and then reinspected. I dealt with the inspectors when I was a asst. manager at a popular restaurant in Walnut Creek. They can be extremely harsh where vermin are concerned. Rats can still carry the plague! They are much more lenient about roaches!

Isn't a case load of 24 special day kids against Minnesota Ed. Code????? We have a cap of 12 in our district for a multiple subject classroom and a cap of 16 in middle school. 24 seems absolutely impossible - especially if you are teaching core subject matter. How on Earth are you supposed to manage the IEPs for 24 students and still find time to plan and teach those high need students. Absolutely untenable expectations!!!!! They increased your workload by 50%..... I now loathe your district! Perfect example of why young teachers bale out within 5 years.

And for you non educators reading this: Teachers in Special Ed. have much harder and labor intensive paper work, assessments, and reporting standards than a regular classroom teacher. Each IEP (which is written annually and then majorly revised every three years) is a mini novel about the student. All data must be described and disaggregated and evaluated. Every goal written in the previous IEP must be assessed and analyzed and then a new IEP must be written and approved by a team: Teacher, Parent, Administrators....

In my district SPED teachers get extra prep and additional pay. (It's not much, but at least it is recognition that the work is more involved and requires more time than a regular ed teacher puts in....)

Food noise is welling up.... Funny how I can tell it's Wednesday by what I'm kind of craving.... LOL! I did have a mini Snickers bar today because it was right in front of me for the taking and LORD, it had been a trying morning! (Young students have not yet adjusted to the new time and their behavior reflects their little bodies' confusion. It's hard to get up in the dark when you're 5,6,7 or 8 years old! Hell, it's hard for me!) I digress... Nice thing is that a single mini Snickers did the trick and didn't start me jonesing for more! That's a new thing!

Work out was all upper body today since my back has been acting up a bit since Sunday. I've been taking antispasmodic meds. They are a God send! Not at all like muscle relaxers. Easy to function and get stuff done. Somehow it it triggers the muscles to let go, which allows them to heal. My back has healed very quickly from this last trigger event on Sunday. Yippee....

Inflammation still seems at bay. My mobility is so much improved. What a lovely (and IMO major) benefit of the semaglutide. Sure am looking forward to tomorrow's shot. After that I go up to the next level dose.

Liz, I loved your Wicked Wednesday.... So Massachusetts!