Thursday, September 26, 2024

Weight 120.6. 2 days until the wedding. The housekeeper comes for the last time this morning, DS arrives around noon, DD and her DF arrive early afternoon. Some of their friends arrive late afternoon so there is dinner out with a few of them this evening. In the meantime I am getting my hair done and DH is escaping to his house to do some work there to prepare for the move in from my house next week.

Yesterday I signed the papers for the house sale in 2 weeks. All paperwork is in.

I may have mentioned in the past that we have a memorial bench for my eldest DD and deceased DH on the harbor. My daughter wants to have some family photos taken there after the wedding (it is fairly close to where the wedding is). Unfortunately the town didn't trim the bushes at all this summer along that side of the harbor even though it technically is a town park. Some of the residents on the street cut them further down but no one trimmed in front of the bench. So DH and I did it yesterday afternoon so the views in the pictures will be much improved. I did feel like a bit of a criminal though. See picture below for the difference. We just evened out the really high areas with the lower ones on each side.

I am looking forward to having no major commitments after we get to Florida in 18 days.

Time to get moving as I have to be out of here in 90 minutes. Have a thoughtful Thursday!

We did a quick (34-hour) run to Kentucky the last two days for a few medical and other appointments for DF. We also had dinner with his daughter Tuesday night, which was lovely. You'd think that driving nearly 1,000 miles in 36 hours would crater two old goats like us, but happily it doesn't. I guess one can build road trip stamina, and we've certainly done enough road trip reps to condition our sitting muscles. :)

Today will be easy--a few errands, laundry, and ironing.

On the fat boob topic, I wish I had a bit more fat in mine. I infrequently receive a post-mammo message that I need to have a follow-up ultrasound because my dense breastage makes it impossible for the hospital to give me an all-clear. Honestly, I also think the hospital just wants to bill Medicare for a second procedure.

CC, I had no idea Pledge was good for door sills. Thanks for that.

Sorry about the puppy's teeth, Peps. Sounds like someone's going to get a wonderful pet.

Liz, we're all rooting for the weekend to be wonderful. The newly landscaped bench looks great!

Diane S, is there someone you can call (Geeks LLC?) to come over and figure out the new TV?

DiamondD, enjoy your personal day. I have zero doubts you deserve it for any or no reason.

Paula, ditto re your free evening. I love being with DF, but I treasure any multi-hour slot to be alone these days.

Lizanne, thinking of you.

Ya'll do your thang!

Those bushes will be better for the haircut! And what a view.

Heading to lunch in a few with two other members of the HOA board to talk about projects for next year. Should be interesting. I spent most of last evening working on the newsletter for the neighborhood. Sometimes it's like herding cats getting people to get back to you! I have 4 emails out to folks needing information...

Another warm day headed to 93. I'm ready for fall.

Scale was 183.8 again today. Back to normal. I do enjoy the days after shot day!

Later I need to tidy as my friend and his new partner are coming this weekend. They aren't staying with me (the boyfriend is a jeweler and has a show at a gallery in town this weekend), but will come by to see the house. We have lots of meals scheduled out, so not sure how good the scale will be this week. I'll do my best.

Not sure I have much else of interest to report, but I'm busy and busy can be good so long as it's followed by periods of "not busy"!

Take care!

160.8. 15 pounds to normal BMI and 30 lbs. to goal weight. Today was injection day. I'm having fun shopping from my own closet, wearing clothes that I have not been in for a while. In a size 8 jean now and medium top which is nice. I'm finding it odd that my weight loss is most noticeable in my face this time around. I always noticed it in my boobs in the past but since I got fake ones after VSG, it makes sense that they have not changed much. I know you lose fat in your face as you age and I am 9 years older now! Man, where did that time go?

Small crowd at woman's Bible study today but good nonetheless. Grocery shopping with DH, short dog walk and made Reuben's for dinner. Weather was actually quite warm today, low 80's. I dressed for Fall as that was what the weather had been feeling like but had to change mid day into short sleeves.

DH working again tonight. I think I will continue to work on the scrapbooks.

These Florida hurricanes and giving me some pause about moving down there permanently, especially since the forecasters say the problem is only going to get worse with climate change. I hate to make the wrong decision. DH says maybe we should just snowbird a few years first and then see. That seemed expensive to me but not as expensive as rebuilding after a hurricane! Lots to think about!

The building codes on newer builds (since 2000 at least) are pretty good. But you don't want to be too close to the water, you don't want to be in too tall a building, and you DEFINITELY don't want to be in a mobile home. The latter has to be considered a throw-away home. Knowing the history of how an area fared in past hurricanes can provide some sense of what would happen if one hits in the future. I did an in-depth study of hurricane probabilities and damage as part of my job in the early 1980's and mostly worked in commercial property insurance during my career. So we knew a lot about hurricanes. And I am comfortable with the risk of a hurricane where I live now (Vero Beach) and where I lived previously (Port Charlotte). I had friends who lived in the park I lived in later in Port Charlotte and saw how it fared after Hurricane Charlie hit ***** Gorda directly to the south. Very little damage. In Hurricane Ian there was more damage but almost entirely to the common buildings and pool fences - the buildings were higher and more exposed than the homes. Of course Hurricane Ian did a lot of damage in Fort Myers and Sanibel/Captiva mostly because of storm surge. So mostly to properties closer to the water. Bottom-line: there is certainly risk but you can mitigate it to a great extent.

Thank you for this Liz! I really want to make a sound decision!

Liz, you did the community a solid when you had the bench installed, and now when you made it usable again. Your DD has really made some lovely choices to make her wedding very meaningful and personal. Her love for her sister and father will be visible throughout. So the opposite of some bridezilla stories we heard about or witnessed up close.

Anne, your road trip skills are stellar.

CC, trying to get capable, intelligent adults to follow through, respond etc is often more challenging than it should be.

Yesterday was filled with deep contentment as the weather was pretty much perfect and I loved being home. I know the time will pass, as it always does, but yeah, rea!!y looking forward to feeling this contentment more frequently. In the discussion of loving time with DH, I also enjoy time by myself. DH went to work in the morning, so it was fun to putter around by myself.

For dinner we drove to Minneapolis, where despite the fears of too many of my family, we did not get shot. Instead we ate at a counter service restaurant at one of our swell city lakes. The biggest lakes all have food service gazebos leased to independent contactors. This one has Jamaican food. Not my all time favorite spice profile, but the plantain**** the spot. And you can't beat the lake side seating. :)

Today things cranked up a bit at work. Tomorrow is homecoming, and the kids are getting wound up. Nothing crazy, just more energy and distractability. Yeah for Friday, and then September is pretty much in the rearview mirror as we move onto October.

Not much for me today. Weight still in the same pound range, so no complaints here. I think the last 30-40 are going to come off slowly. Just my gut.

I checked in with OrderlyMeds today. I chose to stay at 12.5 mg for the next month. I think it's wise to keep a higher does available, just in case I have a signifiant stall.

Low 90s here today. I preferred yesterday's high 70s! LOL. But, IMO, this is better than rain! I truly am a fair weather person. Having a boat load of dogs gets in the way of my enjoyment of wet weather! LOL!

In less than a week I will be back on the east coast for the national Airedale Specialty show. Always a fun weekend. Possibly it might be more fun if I was not president elect of the national Airedale Terrier Club. What I do for the love of my dogs! LOL!!!!!

More later.

Any dogs going with you?