Saturday, November 30, 2024

120.2 - a day later than my usual official weekly weigh-in.

We slept on the pull-out couch in the living room last night. It was quite comfortable to my surprise. DH wants to sleep on each of the beds to try them out. I don't like the idea of washing so many sheets.

Which reminds me that there are going to be a LOT of sheets and towels to be washed after the family departs today. I expect some rolled up socks to surface from under furniture as well. 3 family members will be dropped at the local airport around 10:30, then we drive the other 3 to Orlando mid-day. Back by 3:30 then we have a Friendsgiving dinner at 5. I don't know how much energy I will have left for that but I committed to it before this week was upon us.

It is a little chillier today than it has been: about 60 this morning. We need to get out with Justice before the rest of the family is up and about.

Have a super Saturday!

Successful holiday Liz! Your family is lucky to have you and DH orchestrating so much fun for them!

We felt pretty slick that the one big table was open at our coffee place when we got there yesterday. Had the kids also visit St. Vincent De Paul's next door for the full experience. DD bought a dress.

Wicked was entertaining, if you like the musical, you would like the movie. Both leads were tremendous.

Today is Thanksgiving with our friend's family. Our friend is so lovely, he has told DH several times how happy he is that both our kids are able to come. I've been trying to think what to bring. I'm going to get in gear here and make some cookies.

Happy Saturday!

A more relaxing Thanksgiving today without the drive? Have fun!

Happy Thanksgiving Saturday. I am a little sad that I have to go back to work on Monday. I've really enjoyed the week off. I am more and more aware just how ready I am after 32 years of teaching to close this chapter of my life. I still love it when I'm working with the kids and that is what makes it easy to keep on keeping on. I had a dream last night that admin put me back in the classroom for my last year, but didn't give me a real classroom. Instead my class was to be held in the cafeteria and the playground. They gave me 30+ students with a large group of unruly, joyfully naughty boys. I was PO'd for sure and demanding at least a portable in which to teach. Of course, no funds.... Why I had a dream like that, I can not say, but I did tell them to get it together or I was retiring mid year! LOL

Weight dropped a few tenths, but not much.

Had a great workout yesterday.

Today I have a couple of dogs to trim and my new tree is supposed to arrive, so I will get that up and fluffed.

The year I had VSG I bought an artificial pre lit tree to make my Christmas easier. I had my surgery on December 7 and was worried about post surgery. I wanted everything ready before my surgery. A live cut tree in the house for over a month was worrisome to me, so I got the fake tree. I thought it would be a single year thing. Oh, hell no!!!! The fake tree has made the entire tree experience so much more pleasant. I have loved having a fake tree ever since. Last year we decided it was time for a new tree. I guess getting 12 years out of a fake tree is pretty good and very cost effective. I'm sure I saved over $1,000 in fresh tree cost in that time.

Chilly morning with Tule fog. The arrival of the Tule fog means that winter has arrived. Nice thing is that I'm comfortable in winter clothes at this size and weight! Yay!

Ann, you looked absolutely vibrant in the Thanksgiving pic you posted from Churchill Downs!

Diamond D, glad you liked Wicked. We will see it tomorrow. I am a big fan of the book. I did not love the musical - especially the ending which strayed terribly from the book. But the movie looks like it will be quite good. I'm impressed that they actually built sets instead of using CGI for all the effects. Munchkinland and Shiz were actually built. The river in Shiz was constructed. Amazing! There are some great snippets to be seen of the behind the scenes stuff.

Off to the races like a herd of turtles!

I love fake trees! They can stay up much longer and don't have that awful mess after removing them.

147.1, up just a smidge. Finally got in just over 1,000 calories yesterday! I had gone too many days between 600-700, especially on Thanksgiving Day when we got in over 16,000 steps!

Today is our official Thanksgiving. Potatoes are peeled, I put together the Broccoli Supreme Casserole, cranberries and apple pie were made yesterday. So all that is left is stuffing (I'm doing stove top this year, which I normally don't), cooking everything and mashing the potatoes and making gravy. DH will run to Costco and pick up 3 rotisserie chickens this afternoon. After dinner we will do some games and the kids will exchange Christmas gifts!

Last night we did some games on the t.v. with our phones. Each person's phone is their controller and you can play lots of different games like trivia, drawing games and quips games where the most clever answer gets the points! The game pack is called Jackbox and you download it to a gaming system (we have X box but I think it works with them all). It is a win, win! Everyone can still be tied to their phones but we are interacting together (hard to accomplish these days).

Sounds like some great family time!

Still in jammies! I was talking all morning to my friend who needs to break up with her boyfriend. It would be so much easier if he was a bad guy. Theirs is a very imbalanced relationship where she is his dream come to life and she doesn't feel anywhere near the same. Complicating matters is they have known each other for 30 years and he's always pined for her. She has tried and failed to force herself to feel more for him. You can't make yourself love someone or be attracted to them. Sad all around. Given she's already a mess thinking about all of this, I questioned her ability to keep up a facade through the holidays and think while both options are terrible, getting it over with now rather than breaking down on Christmas is the kinder option. Or God forbid, he proposes on Christmas! At least today is still November...

I did way too much online shopping yesterday and most of it for myself!!

Lordy, my neighbor and I walked the dogs yesterday and Kirby was AWFUL. He barked non-stop and generally acted insane the whole way while trying to get at her. He has a prong collar and I'm surprised his neck wasn't raw by the time we got home. As soon as we parted, he was an angel for the rest of the walk. Sigh. No more visits with Lucy for the foreseeable future. He's not interested in her other dog Luna who is older, spayed, and has no patience for him. Dog friends, will Lucy being spayed next week change anything? Or Kirby being neutered? Or should I expect his obsession to carry on past any sterilization? Is this poor socialization of him on my part or hormones or both?

That's all I have today. Hope you all are having a great weekend!

Lucy's spay will not cause an immediate change in Kirby's behavior. She will enter forced menopause if they do a complete ovariohysterectomy. If they leave ovaries (which is unusual) his behavior may be unchanged toward her. As Lucy's hormone levels deplete gradually, his drive to breed with her will diminish.

As far as Kirby's sterilization changing his behavior - the only behavior neutering will affect is sexually driven behavior. If the barking is driven by frustration, he will continue to bark when he is frustrated. Make sense?

You also have to understand that Kirby is in teh absolute most difficult stage of his mental development right now (12-24 months). His long bones have finished growing, he is beginning to look very adult as his secondary sexual mechanisms begin to develop, but he still has puppy brain. He is the equivalent of a 15-18 year old teenaged boy. Hormones out of control, doesn't think all that logically at times and even when trying to do the right thing, decision making can be illogical and impulsive. So honestly, you're not going to see a lot of behavior changes by sterilizing him now. The benefits of waiting far outweigh the minor benefits you MIGHT see (and that's a big MIGHT) by neutering him now.

Kirby, as you describe him, is a dog with what we call in elementary school, "BIG FEELINGS". That is his nature. He was born with that character trait. You just need to learn to work with it, rather than try to curb it. It's like my Lucky. He's a barker. He likes to sound the alarm and talk back. We have worked it out. I thank him for his alarm and assure him that I have things under control and give him some love. If he's talking back to me (e.g. barking when I go get the mail without him, answer the door, etc...) I ask him to come to me and tell him I'll be right back, pet him, and let him know I have his back. It seems counter intuitive, but it works.

And then sometimes, you just need to lay down the law and let them know you MEAN IT!

This picture makes the rounds a lot in golden circles!