VSG Maintenance Group
Recent Posts
Hope the rain let up for you Liz! It's raining right now in Porto Alegre, but there is a stretch of really nice sunny and partly sunny days starting when we arrive.
It's been hard to get excited about this trip for awhile. In October I started to sense my Mom's health was entering another stage. I guess the doctor recommending Hospice was a good indication that things weren't what they had been. And now, with her death so recent, everything has a layer of sadness. But this morning I did have a shot of joy, as my friends shared they drove past the building that houses our Airbnb apartment, and it is surrounded by cute cafes and a nice grocery store with a deli and take away meals. Exactly what we wanted. Lots of things within walking distance.
it's going to be a long day tomorrow, with two connecting flights. We're leaving our house at 7am Monday, and we'll arrive in Porto Alegre at 11:45am on Monday, which would be 8:45am my time. In Brazil, it is considered very important to receive someone at the airport. So our friends will be there to greet us, and then they'll put us in a taxi to our Airbnb, and we'll take a nap, and then get together for dinner. I told them we could take the Uber ourselves, but that is just not how it is done. It's sweet.
Just need to get my meds in order, and I think I'm ready to go. DH just weighed the big suitcase we are sharing (we're both bringing carry ons too) and it weighted 49.5 pounds. He took out one pair of pants to lighten the load. Pretty masterful packing. If we need lots more space for souvenirs, we can shift my carry on to checked, and buy a carry on bag to take on the plane. Probably will happen : ).
Your comment about bringing home vegetables to rot in the fridge reminds me of a meme I saaw: I like to precompost my vegetables in the fridge.
And good heavens, keep the Diet Coke!
on 1/18/26 9:12 am
PS - eliminating Diet Coke is NOT on the health agenda! I can only work on so many things at once...
on 1/18/26 8:38 am, edited 1/18/26 12:39 am
I can't believe it, but I have come down with a cold. Fever and chills, then a drippy sore throat last night. And I couldn't get comfortable, so I only slept from about 6 to 8. I don't think this is related to the covid I had. Which means I guess I got it at the car dealership? That's the only place I went this last week aside from the grocery store yesterday and colds don?t materialize that fast. I could cry! I read a thing on gargling to shorten colds, took some echinacea and zicam, but I think it just is what it is. Either my immune system is tired and overworked or I need to step up the handwashing/hand sanitizer or both. Yesterday was the first day in weeks that I felt pretty normal until I started feeling bad around bedtime. Whaaaaah.
In honor of the new food pyramid along with being 139 days from the wedding (I put a little countdown widget on my phone), I went to the store and focused on whole foods. Yesterday I had greek yogurt, berries and a sprinkling of granola, some nuts and a string cheese for lunch, and a sort of improvised chicken salad with chicken, avocado and tomatoes and some fancy lemon infused oil and vinegar I had bought and never used. It was really good. Oh and broccoli. And a Sumo tangerine when I got home from the store. Man, those are a delicious January treat each year!
I just had more yogurt/berries/granola. I bought stuff for a shrimp and vegetable stirfry and a roasted veggie farro salad (it's salad 31 on this list) since Paula got me thinking about that. And I took some skirt steak out for the freezer and got that marinading. Not sure what of that I'll feel up to making today. Makes me think of DianeS and bringing home vegetables to rot in the rotting drawer. Hopefully I will eat these as I had to throw out a bunch from the rotting drawer when I unloaded the groceries yesterday.
Today is shot day and I need to water my plants, but otherwise, I am going to try to nap on the couch. Hope you all are doing well!
We are at our first stop in Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic. It was raining when we got here about an hour ago but looks like it is clearing. Probably going to be a muggy day. We are planning to wander over later to a resort area near here where there are pools, bars, restaurants etc.
The seasickness cleared up late yesterday afternoon partially because it wasn't as rough and partially I assume because of the medication. It made me so sleepy though. I ended up napping on the deck chairs in the afternoon and slept like the dead last night. But in between I showered, we went to the ****tail party, and had a nice dinner on the deck. Great lamb chops! Right now we are having room service breakfast. Quite good and better service than in the restaurant the other day. But boy did DH order a lot! We have a whole plate of pastries, which I am not inclined to try at all right now (I am eating 1/2 of an eggs Benedict without the meat and am already full).
I finally figured out how to watch the Patriots game this afternoon. Now I just have to figure out the start time here LOL. It is 8:20 am here now, which I think is 7:20 eastern time. So I guess the game would be at 4 here (starts at 3 EST). We had to have the right app on the right device to access it - the WiFi here doesn't allow app downloading or streaming services under the browser apparently. Weird!
Have a super-bowl slated Sunday!
Liz 5'3" HW: 219 SW: 185 GW: 125 LW: 113 Desired maintenance range: 120-125 CW: 119ish
So exciting that your trip is finally here. Your Dad will find his way. DS and his GF are so sweet!
Liz 5'3" HW: 219 SW: 185 GW: 125 LW: 113 Desired maintenance range: 120-125 CW: 119ish
I guess the Bills lost? No idea if we can watch the Patriots today. Have not figured it out yet.
Liz 5'3" HW: 219 SW: 185 GW: 125 LW: 113 Desired maintenance range: 120-125 CW: 119ish
Sounds like a lovely venue and how nice that you can wear what you want.
Good that you are improving - me too but oh so slowly it seems.
Liz 5'3" HW: 219 SW: 185 GW: 125 LW: 113 Desired maintenance range: 120-125 CW: 119ish
