Friday, January 31, 2025

There is a mild fragrance with almond, but it is not strong. In an orchard you can smell it, but with a single tree you have to put the blossom right up to your nose. Orange, lemon and grapefruit (my favorite of the three scents) are glorious! My neighbor has a huge grapefruit tree in the backyard that hangs over our fence. I sit below it when it blooms and breathe it all in. I LOVE the smell. I don't know if you have night blooming jasmine in Minnesota, but that is another delicious scent. It fills the air and comes in the windows at night.

I think I'm starting to turn the bend toward better health!

Good news, Paula. I'm glad you're feeling better. I never feel as good as I do when I "turn that corner."

Beach club bliss! I've started my pre vacation ritual of checking the 15 day forecast, and it looks lovely in Florida right now.

I'm up another pound. I'm hoping this new medication is making me retain water and not actual fat... maybe, because my breast that had lymphedema hurts. Time to get put the compression bra and do some self lymphatic drainage massage.

DH is airborne right now on his way to Boston. Its quiet here, AND I'm almost out of Fair life milk! I'm going to have to enter a grocery store instead of sending him a text of what I need! The horror! I will definitely be going to the fancy grocery store with the excellent deli.

No real plans for the weekend. Snow predicted tomorrow, but if its only a couple of inches I was thinking of going to a mall two towns over that still has lots of stores. Its called Southdale, and is the first enclosed mall in the U.S. It's not too far from Mall of America, so it's a wonder it has survived, and is actually still thriving. And then on Sunday there is the reading of the papers ritual.

Well off to the grocery store!

Do you shop at Byerly's? I remember loving that grocery store when I was in St. Louis Park. In the 80's it was carpeted and had chandeliers. Super fancy!

Yes! There are stores closer, but when I want a nice deli selection, it's Byerlys. And their bakery is glorious. It's our go to for birthday cakes. And they bag the groceries for you. No other store in Minneapolis does that anymore. If you want, they put your bags in tubs, give you the big number thing, and then you drive around to the side, and they load them in your car. So fancy!

I forgot to ask a protein shake question this morning. Here it is:

Within the next half hour after drinking a protein shake, do any of y'all get tummy bubbles, pains, and a signal that you need to find a bathroom ASAP. Turns out I don't always actually NEED a bathroom at that point, but sometimes I really do. To be quite blunt about it: protein shakes sometimes precipitate an urgent bowel movement for me.

If anyone suffers from this ailment, what do you think is going on?

Protein powders do that to me for sure and a new protein bar I am trying so far has been 2 for 2.

Yeah, having a whole protein shake does this to me too. Always has (since VSG). Which is why I usually drink small portions of them...

ABSOLUTELY! That is why I had to stop drinking them. I was fine for several years post VSG, but something happened and I am pretty sensitive now to concentrated whey protein and whey protein isolate. That's why I do the Fairlife ultra filtered milk protein drinks. So far they don't have the same effect on my gut as the drinks made from the whey concentrate blends or the whey isolate.

My guess the reason for my reaction is that I have developed an intolerance for the concentrated amount of whey protein. As a baby and toddler I was lactose intolerant, but developed a tolerance for milk as I got older. I have wondered if my lactose sensitivity as a child offers a clue to why I can't tolerate most whey protein products.

As for the urgency issue... I have had some reactions that were so intense that I didn't quite make it to the loo! Not fun!