I’m trying to ‘gird my loins’ to help my husband change the tires on our truck today. We need to get the snow tires off and the regular tires on, aired up, etc.
When we first bought our truck, we bought an extra set of wheels so that we could have snow tires mounted on them. We store them in the back of the shop, along with the lug nuts that go with them, so that we are able to change to snow tires reasonably quickly, if needed.
This was in 2006, so that was awhile back when we weren’t as older-than-dirt as we are now, and at our mature age, 17 years makes a big difference.
I tried to convince my husband that I could take the truck, with the regular tires and lug nuts in the back, to the tire place and get this done tomorrow. I discovered that this is apparently now a thing of pride – that we are independent, capable, and NOT older than dirt – despite appearances.
I made it through the day yesterday without stuffing my face the way I have been. I’ll try to do it again today.
Another arrow in my quiver – I’m NOT going to loosen the fastening on my jeans to make myself more comfortable during the day. I’m going to keep them fastened, reminding myself that my overeating has CAUSED this discomfort, and that acting ‘maturely’ might relieve that if I keep it up.
I’m in this fight by myself, since my husband insisted we stock up on a bunch of assorted chips. Maybe a bit of frustration and anger will help me in my goal…
Each person makes a decision – or a series of them – when he or she wants to change, in the effort to STOP a bad habit or START a good one. I’m trying to look at all the excuses for what they are – smoke.
TODAY I will eat healthy meals and try not to eat anything in-between. I will drink a bottle of water if I get hungry, and I will do a good session of yoga this afternoon. Maybe I can earn another small pat. :0)
We’ve been out since all afternoon running errands. The biggest thing we did was to iPhone 13 SEs. My husband wanted to go in and check it out because of an ad he saw on his computer. Usually we don’t qualify for one reason or another, and it was the same this time. The offer was for people on cell phone plans who basically had iphone 8’s or newer. We didn’t qualify because we’re on a cell phone plan as the basic house phone which has several stations all over the house.
We priced just getting new phones rather since we didn’t qualify for the trade-in’s or special deals and it was only a dollar or two more per month than the ‘deal.’ The biggest cost was the sales tax today plus the ‘upgrade fee’ for any changes on your plan. We decided to bite the bullet and get the new phones.
The lady who helped us was really nice and very patient with us. She got us the best deal she could, upgraded the new phone that needed it, transferred our data, etc.
My husband has been fuming for half an hour or so that ‘someone’ was talking to him through the phone and wouldn’t stop. It was some kind of verification message. Instead of listening to it, he just wanted it to stop. We played with all the settings having to do with sounds, notifications, etc., thought we had it turned off and then she would start talking again. He finally listened and found out the lady wanted him to verify that he wanted a Google for business or not. He couldn’t find the keypad, so I helped him with that. He hit “one” for “NO! NO! A THOUSAND TIMES NO!” and she miraculously stopped. HOORAY!!!!!
We didn’t get any paperwork with the phone, so will go online and see what general things we can find. The one thing I tried to look up talked about a button on the left side of the phone that you moved the switch so the orange showed. I couldn’t find any button like that, so gave up. I’ll study my phone more later.
My technical ineptness is rearing its ugly head again. If all else fails this evening, we’ll go back to the nice lady and see if she can get our phones to be on vibration and silent mode.
My husband is working on all of our computers, trying to get them to “see” each other, share files, etc. This is causing daily changes to my computer and is quite a challenge for me, since I’m am almost a technophobe.
Today the type on this page is humongous, rather than the almost-too-small-to-work-with type I’ve been working with. I have no clue how to change it. Also, the way I find and save and use images here is completely different. When I ask my husband about it, he says he hasn’t done anything to change those.
So the sweet gif I found of a cat massaging a dog’s head that I wanted to use for this post to talk about the massage I’m getting this morning is saved somewhere not to be found. I thought maybe it was because it was a gif rather than a jpg extension, so tried to save a jpg. That didn’t work, either. My images aren’t all showing in the list and aren’t in alphabetical order, so trying to use anything is a real challenge.
He will be working on my computer again today, so I’m hoping things will eventually straighten out. I may also end up bald from tearing my hair out…
A SHORT HISTORY: We married in 1969. Between then and 1977, we lost three babies to miscarriages. (Rh Factor) In 1978 we had our son. In ’79, we lost another baby to miscarriage. In ’80 we had our daughter and our family was complete. Two months later, on February 5,1981, we lost our daughter, Jade, to Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS).
“Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) is the unexplained death, usually during sleep, of a seemingly healthy baby less than a year old. SIDS is sometimes known as crib death because the infants often die in their cribs.” The peak incidence of SIDS occurs between 1 – 4 months of age; 90% of cases occur before 6 months of age. Babies continue to be at risk for SIDS up to 12 months.”
She was “perfect,” and she was gone. Our minister said, “Jade was born, lived a little while, and then died.” I couldn’t listen to more.
The pain was so intense that we both seriously considered suicide, then decided we had to live for each other and for our son. I read everything I could find on SIDS, and discovered the experts knew very little about it – why it happens or what can be done to prevent it. The experts also told us we were lucky that our son was only 2 – that he wouldn’t understand or remember it. Soon after we lost her, he took Jade’s blanket across the room to the trash can, threw it in and said, “Broken.” So much for the experts.
Lasting effects –
I still can’t hold a baby in my arms without crying, even after all this time.
I worry for pregnant women or women with babies under 1 year
I can’t go to a funeral without falling apart and bringing all the attention to me, so I try to show I care in different ways.
There ARE some positive effects, though –
I have learned that there is a core way down deep inside that enabled me to not only survive but to enjoy life again.
I have looked at life differently since then, cherishing the people in my life, and all the things that are beautiful and bring me pleasure.
I am much more forgiving, even though I threaten my husband from time to time of having the backhoe guy on speed dial to dig a hole for him in the back yard.
Our family grew closer and stronger.
A really frustrating thing is that the experts know little more now than they did 42 years ago about SIDS. There are now baby monitors that are very helpful to parents. The experts now suggest that babies sleep on their backs. I haven’t found anything more about the shots that babies get at two months. I will never forget, though, that our pediatrician came out to the house when he heard we had lost her, and cried with us.
I hope that one day I will see Jade again, finding that her spirit is healthy and happy; and that one day the mystery of SIDS is solved.
My husband suggested that we might leave our 96-gallon trash can toward the bottom of the driveway, putting our bags of trash in the back of the truck as we have always done and putting them into the can and wheeling the can down to the street before pickup each week. Right before lunch we drove down to get the can. We wheeled it up to ‘behind the robot’ and I used a LONG bungie cord to secure it to the welded edge of a pole so it shouldn’t blow away in the gusty winds we sometimes have.
Since we’ve had some washing rains lately, my husband put a flat-bottomed shovel in the back of the truck so we could move some of the gravel ‘chat’ off the street and back onto the driveway. We discovered that a little of THAT activity goes a long, long way. We took turns, and it was really hard going, using the shovel to break up the chat and then move it onto the driveway. We lasted about half an hour before pooping out. This will take SEVERAL sessions when the weather is cooperative to complete.
We inadvertently paid Hot Rod Magazine twice answering renewal notices. Last month we got TWO copies of the same magazine. I asked my husband to see what he could do. I discovered today, when we got yet another notice that our subscription was about to end, that he had done nothing. Thankfully, he still had the two magazines. I got online and contacted their customer service people via the ‘leave a message’ thingie on their website. I gave all the info on the two subscriptions, as them to merge the two into one so he got only one copy each month, email him with a new subscription expiration date, and STOP sending us more notices to pay our bill. I thought it might be like throwing a bottle in the ocean, but he just told me he got an email from them saying they are ‘looking into it!’ Hooray!
I think I’ve finally done it. Oddly enough, I’m convinced I’ve done it because I HAVEN’T been able to exercise lately and I am thinking about it and MISSING it. YES! You read that right. I AM!
In my former life, The fact that I’ve not been able to continue my ‘however-many-days-in-a-row’ streak and continue putting starts on my calendar would have caused me to give it up. My current feelings are more mature (yeah, I know – hard to believe), but I’m simply looking forward to feeling good enough to be able to do a session of yoga. Each day I’ve been closer, and this afternoon might be the time I can do it again. And also, hopefully, when I’m able to do that, I’d like to start with my alternating warm-up and weights videos one day and elliptical trainer the next again.
I’m writing this day down on my calendar because it’s hard to believe that I’m not having an out-of-body experience or something. It doesn’t MATTER that I haven’t been able to keep up my ‘streak.’ I won’t even keep track of it anymore. The IMPORTANT thing is that I’m doing ONE DAY AT A TIME.
ANOTHER EXAMPLE – I just received a text from Patty, Linda’s daughter. She said that Kay had called her and said she was sick and wouldn’t be at Lunch Bunch today. Patty is out of town and said that Linda wouldn’t be there, either. I told my husband that Lunch Bunch was called off for the week. He said, “We could still go to the Waffle House.” I thanked him for the offer, but told him (again) that I was really trying to eat right and that when we had a chance to do that, we should, and that I would rather just stay home today and eat our normal lunch. I managed to NOT eat anything in-between meals yesterday, had bought some dried fruit to eat if I DID eat between meals, and that I was trying to take one day at a time, eating right and doing my exercises.
It’s funny. I’m older than dirt, but am just NOW starting to act a bit more like an adult. :0) The question of how long does it take to build a habit varies a lot from person to person. The answer for ME is around 172 days – at least on exercising. The ‘habit’ of eating right is just in its infancy for me, but I won’t count.
My husband has been having a computer problem. As I understand it (only a relative term), he wants to delete a program on his computer and replace it with another one. The computer won’t allow him to do this. It says my husband doesn’t have ‘permission.’
He finally got on chat with Microsoft support and wanted me to type for him. (Since his strokes, he really has trouble, so this is an easy thing for me to do. The guy on chat asks a question – my husband dictates an answer – I type it. It becomes more troublesome as we go, though. My husband gets frustrated when the guy asks for something that doesn’t make sense to him. I type whatever my husband answers, and then the guy on chat gets confused. Things escalate. To say this becomes ‘stressful’ is an understatement. My contribution is to keep my mouth firmly shut and do or type what my husband says, trying to remain calm.
We got to the point where the Microsoft guy was saying the problem was beyond his scope, then my husband asked if he could help us add another user. He did that, and we thanked him.
So now my husband is wrestling with another part of the problem intensely, so I’m keeping a low profile at my computer while he mutters at his.
Now I’ll drive down to get the mail and fix us some lunch.
I received a call from our local clinic awhile ago. The receptionist said they were having trouble verifying my new Humana card. She said there was a problem about my birthdate and my coverage. I called Humana to find there was an estimated 20 minute hold time. I then went on the website and found a chat option. After verifying that the information was correct, and also finding that proof of my coverage was a 20 page pdf, (arrrgh) I called the clinic back. I couldn’t get through, so left my number. (arrrgh)
They called back and I was passed from one person to another, but the lady who had called me still wasn’t available. (arrrrgh) The lady I was talking to went ahead and tried to help me. I told her what Humana had said. I told her that my birthdate hadn’t changed in almost 76 years now, and that my information on the card was correct, according to Humana. There was a number on the back of the card for any questions from the provider. The lady told me that my ID number was different. I read her what was on my card and she verified that was the number she was seeing. I told her that was the same number that was on the last statement I had received from Humana. She said they would call the number and see if they could resolve the problem.
I’ve had the same insurance for almost 11 years now. This is definitely under the categories: “nothing is ever simple” and “it’s always SOMETHING.”
I’ve been alternating between a warm-up video and weights exercise video one morning and a session on my elliptical trainer on the next. The sessions on the elliptical have been a character-building exercise, to say the least, because they’ve been done in silence.
My MP 3 player was ‘lost,’ then found – only to discover it was ’empty,’ having dumped all the music recorded on it into the ozone. My husband tried to fix it, but finally pronounced it ‘toast.’ I was going to try to find another one on the net.
We went to Lunch Bunch yesterday, and Patty told me about Pandora – that it was free to use on my phone. I downloaded that when we got home, but the only earbuds I have are too large and hurt my ears. I ordered a cheap, but compatible pair that I should receive soon.
Meanwhile, my husband found another MP3 player on one of the high shelves in the office! Apparently, years ago when we ordered the one I’ve been using, we ordered TWO. It was still sitting there, ready to be used, except the black fabric-like covering on the earbuds was crumbling off. I cleaned up the earbuds while he figured out how to load music onto the player. He actually found a list of some of the songs I like on HIS computer and downloaded them for me!
SO –
I switched the earphones I had been using on the old MP3 player to my computer, so now I won’t have to wear the huge, clunky ones that fall off my head when I’m trying to do the online exercise videos.
I put the new MP3 player on the charger so it will be ready for me to use later this morning.
I will receive the new earbuds I ordered for my phone, on which I now have a Pandora account and access to lots of music when I’m out
Went to the post office to mail our Christmas cards, Christmas packages, etc.
Stopped at the UPS box on the square to return a package for my husband
Then went to my friend, Linda’s, new place at the retirement center
I was pleasantly surprised at the retirement place. It was nicely decorated and had a huge, welcoming foyer. Two ladies met me, along with two dogs. One was named Lucy and had lived at the place all her life. She was kind of the ‘communal dog, greeter, and all around friendly, SWEET doggie.’ The second dog was some kind of ‘doodle’ and was the dog of the owner. The dog’s name was Jacob and he was friendly, too. I remembered the owner, I had met her years before. She’s a good friend of Linda’s, and owns both the place where Linda now has an apartment, plus the local nursing home. The other lady was her daughter, who is the active manager of the place.
There is a kitchen, dining area, and living room type place plus the manager’s office as you walk in. Linda’s apartment was straight down to the end of the main center hall. I passed a pool table, a kind of game room, and a nice sitting area with doors on both sides where one could visit and see outside.
Linda’s dog, Bentley, met me at her door. We all had a good visit. Bentley likes the other dogs and so has made friends for the first time in his life. I found out that she does not have her car there, so I’ve now offered to take her where she would like to go. We’ll just have to plan carefully, so I don’t have to leave my husband alone for a long time. We just need to adapt a bit. Linda knows several people there already and is meeting others. One of the ladies goes to her church and took her with her to church yesterday, the first time in a LONG time that Linda has gone. She was greeted like a much-missed celebrity by the Sunday school group and then by people after the church service – a wonderful reunion.
Even though it will take her awhile to adapt, I think she’s in a good place now. Her world can open up again, rather than continuing to implode. She was really isolated in her former place although her daughter did her very best to see she had everything she needed and was taken where she needed to go. She can now be social if she wants or be private when she needs to.
She seemed to be delighted with the jigsaw puzzle I brought as a housewarming gift. She can either do it by herself in her place or take it to one of the tables in one of the common areas and invite others to help. She might even learn to be a pool shark! :0)
I tried to find out how Benjamin Hall, the Fox News reporter who was so badly injured about six months ago, was. I clicked on an article that said he had come to a Fox News meeting recently. There was a box that said, click “continue” if you wanted to see the video. I clicked on it, and then another and suddenly there was a huge box on my computer screen saying I didn’t have access to my computer and needed to call Microsoft Support with their phone number for a tech to help me. The screen said not to turn off my computer or try to reboot.
I’ve never had this happen before and it really scared me. I didn’t see anything else to do, so I called the number. I started talking to a tech and noticed it was time for lunch. I took the phone into the kitchen and told my husband what had happened and who I was talking to. He followed me back into the office and told me he wanted me to hang up. I did. He wanted me to call a support group for which he had paid to help us with problems.
We decided to eat lunch, ME try to calm down, and then I would call the other group back.
When I returned to the office, the Microsoft screens were gone from my computer screens and all looked normal. I rebooted, and then talked to my husband again. He still wanted me to talk to the support group he trusts. I did.
The tech cleared all of the background advertising off, and the notifications and looked around at things. He thinks everything is clear now.
I had to reboot again to make some enable some of the changes to finish from our session, but all seems to be working as usual now. I’m still not sure what happened, but my husband admitted that he has had the same type of problems before because he went to an article thinking he knew the source, but it turned out the place he clicked on had changed the spelling of the website and were malicious. I will try to be more aware in the future.
Our son has been upset with my husband for years because he insists on having a video of singing and dancing Corona Beer bottles dancing on his computer. My husband and I agree that if you can’t have ‘dancing beer bottles’ (or the equivalent) life isn’t worth living.
“KF5UTC” is my husband’s ham radio ID. He was really excited about getting the best set-up he could when he started this hobby several years ago. He joined the Ft. Smith Ham Radio Club, studied and took the tests, got his license, etc.
We’ve had a series of antennas, each able to access a different band. We laboriously put them up and he played with them, trying to contact people. He was thrilled when he was able to talk to others, find out where they were (sometimes in other countries!)
We got all kinds of equipment – ham radio, headphones, an antenna switch, antenna controller, signal analyzer, and numerous other things he has enjoyed over the years.
Suddenly, one day last week, he decided to give away the 40 foot ham radio tower. Yesterday, George and a friend came, laid the tower down, dismantled it, and took it, the controller, a signal analyzer and various paperwork away.
The photo ABOVE shows the tower as it was yesterday.
This is what it looks like today. All you can see is the slab we poured as a base for the tower.
As you can see, we poured it in July of 2017.
“KF5UTC” still has an antenna on the well house roof, and another on the roof of our house, plus the ham radio and the antenna switch. If he decides to use it, he can still contact more local operators.
MOST people fight over money, kids – important things. My husband and I have discussions over ‘trash’ and when to put it out – laughable to most sane folks, but an ongoing issue for us.
“I” want to put it out either the night before or first thing in the morning of trash day. My husband says, “They won’t pick it up until mid afternoon or later, so we can wait until we’re leaving to run errands.”
Last week he was right. We left it when we went for errands about 9:30 or so, and the can was still there, full, when we came back after 2pm. THIS week when we had left it and started to town, I noticed that the other trashcans on the way were empty, with the lids open. We missed them.
When we finished our errands, we stopped at the bottom of the driveway and put the full can back into the bed of the truck to put back in the garage until NEXT week.
The reason that this is a larger deal now than it used to be is that the trash company gave us a can they want us to use. Their truck guy can pick it up and empty it into his truck without leaving the truck. This saves the company having to pay two men to ride on the back of a trash truck, picking up bags of trash or emptying non-regulation cans by hand while a third man drives the truck.
I would just handle this myself, but I cannot get the empty, much less full, trash can into or out of the truck alone without hurting myself. I found that out the hard way the first time we tried to use the can, two weeks ago. We got it into the truck together, but my husband waited while I got it out at the bottom of the drive. I strained my back somehow and am still working on getting it straightened out. We agreed that this will be a two-person job from now on, and he actually got out and put the can in place this morning.
NOW, since we’re living with our trash another week, he has agreed that we’ll put it out when we first wake up next week. HOPEFULLY that will be early enough.
Kay, Linda, and Patty were all there!!!!!!! That’s the first time in WEEKS!
I hugged Linda’s neck when I saw her, and then again, when we left. I told her how much I’ve missed her and encouraged her to come back. I hope it got through how important she is to the group and how much she is loved.
We saw that the local library was having a fund-raising sale next door, so we headed there, getting several books, as well as information about the new library to be built in the future. I asked a lady about the location of it, since we were all gritching about it at lunch. It’s going to be at the intersection of the main street in Greenwood and the larger highway that goes to Ft. Smith. I had forgotten that the library is a REGIONAL one, not just for Greenwood, but also for the whole South Sebastian County, plus Scott County, and the new location will be better access for the others. She also told me that the ideas for expanding the current library just weren’t workable, since the building was built in 1965, I think, and is considered ‘unworkable’ at this point. (I have to admit that I got a bit ‘huffy’ internally at that point, since MY date of origin is even older…. ) I got several biographies of people I admire, and I’m looking forward to reading them. I also found a couple of books about quilts that I’ll make sure get to Kay.
Strawberries will be served with no-sugar-added ice cream for tonight, plus fresh salad ingredients to go with our dinner rounded out our errands.
A happy morning to be sure. I hope that YOUR day is a happy one, too. :0)
We bought two sets of new dishes while we were out. I’ve just finished washing them and putting them in the cabinet. They are Corelle, (you have to really work at it to chip or break them) so I will no longer have to bite my tongue when another piece bites the dust. We’ll pack up the old set of stoneware. I’ll call to see if our Veterans’ Thrift Store in Fort Smith is taking donations again now or not.
I downloaded this to my new Kindle this morning and have been pouring over it while I made a new system disc and new data backup disc for my computer.
This appeals to me because of the limit on ingredients and inferred simplicity of the recipes, particularly since I’m just trying to get started.
So far, I’ve started a notebook of generalities about the Mediterranean eating plan. It may very well be that I just collect recipes here and there and end up with a new lifestyle using their suggestions for healthy eating, but not-so-much their actual recipes.
My main concentrations are on
including LOTS more veggies,
some fruit – but mainly as a ‘dessert’ or substitute for sweet things,
a LOT less meat, (little red meat. Chicken and turkey are okay)
more fish, (twice a week)
more whole grains,
more nuts and seeds.
beans
less dairy (twice a week, rather than every day)
I’m a bit worried about the fruit. I love it, but it contains a lot of sugar – something we’re trying to avoid. We’ll see how our numbers do.
Of COURSE they want us to drink more water and exercise.
Under ‘character-building exercises,’ I have been dealing with our main credit card being frauded, then cancelled by the credit card company, then receiving the new card (my husband slogged CAREFULLY down our steep driveway Saturday to retrieve them from the mailbox, since the UPS guy couldn’t get up our icy driveway, and we then began notifying the people and places who need to know the new information. My husband quickly got frustrated and angry, so I told him I would do it. UGH. I’m finally down to 2 places and hopefully I can get through to them today.
We are getting a lot of melting where the sun can reach the ground easily now. Our driveway will, as usual, be the last thing to thaw, being long, steep, bordered by trees, and on the north side of our property. I heard our driveway alarm and found our truck gone from the garage. I swept out that side of the garage and my husband came back up with the mail, plus Amber happily riding in the bed of the truck. We’ll be able to take our trash down tomorrow morning, retrieve our mail, and run some errands!
itl.cat
I’m more than happy to start a new month tomorrow, particularly one that includes the beginning of SPRING! :0)
Our son is really into meditation and it has really helped him.
He used to have quite a bit of frustration. At times it would erupt – one time resulting in broken bones in his hand when he ‘punched a chair.’ (The chair won.)
Over the years he has practiced meditation, even going to places where he could receive instruction in how to do it better. He has taken bits and pieces and made his own form now. He practices every day now, getting up early so that he can practice before he starts his work for the day. I don’t know if he does it again in the evening or not. It has made a world of difference for him. He is content and happy now, able to handle even really frustrating situations with an amazing maturity.
He has tried to get ME to try it, and I have. I’m a dismal failure. I guess I don’t want to do it badly enough. I simply cannot turn my mind off, rechannel my thoughts, or use any of the many suggestions he has made. I envy him and now look to HIM when I need help dealing with things.
The best thing I’ve come up with is finding Art – like that above – in which I can lose myself. Music is a huge help, too. Music I loved in the past transports me to where I was when I first heard the song. I’m finding new music and new artists I find amazing. Frustration, anger, and depression simply melt away. Books help. I dive into the worlds of characters I love, leaving my concerns somewhere else as I immerse myself in their lives. Yoga is becoming a coping mechanism, as well. It’s really hard for me to totally relax, but I come really close when I practice my yoga stretches and poses. When I finish, my mind is calm and my body feels looser.
The world is a very complicated place now. I hope you can find something that works for YOU.
This photo above is very similar to what we saw going to town and then returning from errands this morning. It felt almost as if they were running along side us, like a dog tries to chase cars. Happily, they didn’t try to cross the road or crash into our truck. Beautiful animals.
Postal Store – USPS
Did I tell you that I hate to do anything involved with the IRS? Our son lives in Thailand, but still has to file income tax stuff for the states. I try to handle the stuff for him. I mailed a self-employment deferred Social Security ‘whateverwhois’ certified with return receipt for him this morning. I’m hoping this is the end of things for him for awhile. My eyes glaze over whenever I try to read letters from the IRS. I send images of whatever it is to our CPA, who ‘translates’ it for me and tells me what I need to do. I do it, send him copies, and breathe a sigh of relief until next time. You would think I was an embezzler or something with the huge negative gut reaction I have to things like this. :0)
The NY Times
We have a cell phone with base that acts like our house phone. We have extensions all over the house. I thought about changing carriers recently, thinking maybe we could save some money. Though I could get less expensive coverage for my personal cell phone, I gave up because we would have to buy another cell phone system and couldn’t get the extensions we have. The system also has an answering program that we love that requires callers to push # or something to indicate they are a real person and aren’t selling anything before we hear a ringing phone. It really cuts down on calls we don’t want. I’ve actually had people laughing when I answer, then wanting to know where we got the answering thingie.
Recently we got a letter from AT&T saying they wouldn’t cover our house phone cell system anymore because it was only a 3G. They said they would send us a replacement phone that they WOULD cover. We have no idea whether the new phone is anything like our present one, our answering program, if it will have extensions, or we can use the ones we have, etc. The only thing that MAY stay the same is our phone number. UGH. We really don’t like change.
Cards Recycling Service
Under that same heading of not liking change is that we got a letter saying our trash contract was bought up by another company. The new service started 1-3-2022, according to the letter. We have no other details as yet. We put out our trash as usual this morning, hoping for the best….
Amazon.com
While trying to put in new fluorescent tubes in a fixture in the kitchen recently, we dropped the cover, breaking it. We tried to find a replacement cover for it, but couldn’t find one wide enough, either locally or online. Yesterday we decided to buy a 2-tube fixture, using it to replace a 4-tube fixture in our office, and using the cover for the kitchen fixture.
Hours later, we finally had the new fixture installed and working and the cover transferred to the fixture in the kitchen. No lives were lost. If we need to consider this again, I’ll opt for candle light.
“Here come bad news talking this and that (Yeah) Well give me all you got, don’t hold back (Yeah) Well I should probably warn you I’ll be just fine (Yeah) No offence to you don’t waste your time” ~ “Happy” ~ Pharrell Williams
I received some scary news through the medical portal on a test I took recently. I’m a wimp, so I essentially decided my life was over, started worrying about my husband (he doesn’t know what day it is half the time, what our schedule is, etc. – he has a wife to worry about the details.) I cried, couldn’t sleep, stayed up half the night…
I finally decided to tell my two best friends via email. I’m very lucky to have two such great people who care about me. Both got back to me right away with care and support, plus some much-needed guidance.
My doctor’s office will probably contact me this coming week with what the next step is. I’m much calmer than I was. Although I’m a wimp and would rather just stick my head in the sand and go on in ignorance, acting as if I were immortal, I need to be an adult. I want to be here to help my husband – even wanting to be here to fuss at him when it’s needed.
Trying to eat right and take care of yourself becomes more and more complicated as you age. If you are married, the complication explodes because you are dealing with not only different health needs, but also different ideas of what ‘good food’ is, how seriously needed changes should be taken, etc. My husband and I are in the process of yet another adaptation since I had an ultrasound of my carotid arteries.
I’m lucky, in that the problem in my carotid arteries is not to the point where any procedures are necessary, but I am trying to adapt my eating to include food and drink that dissolves, lessens, or prevents plaque. I’m ornery enough now without having strokes! Happily, I found an article on the net that lists 16 things I can include in my diet. I have several of them already and eat them. Yesterday I started drinking one glass a day of green tea (I found sugar-free). Since beets are on the list and I can’t face eating them, I’ve ordered supplements for that. I’m making a grocery list to get other things. I’m feeling very lucky that there are things I can do about this situation that may improve my chances to continue being ornery… :0)
A downside that complicates things a bit, is that I gained a couple of pounds yesterday. I refuse to worry about that yet, though. I will try to include the new food and drink, continue to exercise at least three times a week if not more (elliptical trainer and yoga stretches), and will give the changes some time before I worry again about lardage.
Here’s to doing what you can to get and stay as healthy as you can for as long as you can.
Oh, please. This is cute – and depressing at the same time.
I will tell you, though, that I’m making a bit of progress on getting the lard off. I lost another pound, so my total off now is 31, with almost 29 inches gone. It’s especially hard during the holidays to try to keep my mouth shut. My goal is to TASTE it all, enjoying every bite, but TRYING to maintain my dignity…. :0)
I did discover – to my horror – that some of the meals we have been getting from Stu’s Clean Cookin’ have too much sugar for us. Last night we decided to SHARE one individual meal and eat an extra veggie on the side. That worked out well, and gave us half the amount of sugar we would have ingested otherwise. We need to be more vigilant. The food is high quality and excellent, as is that of Real Food. They are not made for diabetics and weight-challenged, though, and we need to keep tweaking what we are eating more intelligently. Stu’s lists sugar, salt, calories, etc. Real Food doesn’t, but lists ingredients. Both help us keep our portions good. So we will try to do better homework, plus do more sharing.
I started using cronometer.com a couple of days ago – first to get some idea of
how many calories I should aim for each day to lose weight
how many calories were in my normal eating day now
how I was doing nutrition-wise
After I filled out the information, the website said that I should aim for 1200 calories per day in order to lose the lard. My normal eating plan now is right about there, even with snacks, so that’s good, but the nutrition part showed I was eating too much fat. I decided to tweak that, plus I decided to pare down a bit on what I’m eating.
Yesterday I left off the one slice of bread I’ve been splitting to make a ham sandwich for lunch. I pared down my mid-afternoon snack, cutting out the slice of ham and a slice of cheese and just eating a hard boiled egg.
When I weighed myself this morning, I was UP half a pound. ARRRGH!
Cosmopolitan
I’m telling myself that this could be water retention and not to worry about it. I’m going for the WEEK’S eating – not just one day. Since I’m supposedly a ‘mature’ woman, not dependent on instant gratification, I will see where I am at the end of the week with these changes.
It WOULD be encouraging to see some progress by the end of the week…
Today was the first Lunch Bunch since our waitress, Susan, retired. We are all happy for Susan, giving her a good send-off last Friday, her last day, before she started taking care of her grandchildren. She has spent many years working hard, getting up early to go to work, do the prep necessary before opening the restaurant, making pizza dough, cutting up veggies, all the things that need to be done to have the place run smoothly. She’s still getting up early every day, but now will fill her days with life flowing from the plans of the grandkids. She grinned from ear to ear last Friday, clearly relishing the change of focus for her life.
So today we gathered once again. Mikey, our other treasured waitress, took our orders. We talked about the fact that SHE kept feeling that Susan was “just on vacation,” and would be back at work soon. WE kept thinking she would come out from the back, drying hands on her apron, smiling and joking with us.
One Green Planet
Things change and we must change with them. Susan has our permanent invitation to join us at the table for Lunch Bunch. We HOPE she’ll take us up on that some Friday very soon. Happy for her, sad for us, resistant to change…
I’m afraid for all the good people trying to get out of Afghanistan. My heart breaks for those left behind. This is an unending nightmare from which we will probably never recover. We have all lost so much already. People in pain over the situation, the incredible lack of planning, bad decisions, broken promises, loss of life, the desperate prospects on trying to get out, what we’re leaving for the people behind. Incredible bravery in the face of all this.
The people in Tennessee are trying to pick up the pieces after the devastating flooding. Relentless wildfires in California continue to wreak havoc. Ida is bearing down on the Gulf Coast today.
Each of us reacts on a personal level to all happening around us. Things boil down to each of us handling things in our own little world the best we can, plus reaching out to try to help others. The cliche’ is that ‘we’re all in this together.’ Our world is small enough that things happening across the world affect us. As we have painfully seen, a virus starting far away is lethal to people all over the globe.
We need to concentrate on being aware of what is going on, protecting ourselves and those we love the best way we can, and reaching out to others – if not able to help – to at least show we CARE. We can’t put our heads in the sand. We can’t just simply close off. We have to be as strong as we can and be there to do what we can when we see a way we can help.
I FINALLY got back to the 30-pounds-off-since-my-heaviest mark this morning! HOORAY!! Thanks again to Maria, who suggested in her blog – FlowingWatersArt.wordpress.com that big goals should be broken down into more doable chunks. I haven’t met my “doable chunk” goals for the three weeks I’ve been trying, but my motivation is high, and that’s the more important thing right now.
I’m building good habits – watching my portions, eating healthy snacks, drinking THREE to FOUR 17.9 oz bottles of water each day (my eyeballs are floating as I run to the bathroom), exercising, etc.
I’m doing yoga stretches and abdominal exercises every day.
This week I started exercising with 5-pound weights- Monday, Wednesday and Friday. I do a pretty short session – enough so my arms are definitely feeling it, but I’m not incapacitated on doing my normal activities. Monday and Wednesday I did two short sessions with the weights during the day plus my yoga.
Yesterday I found a 3-minute video on the net. The lady was using 3-pound weights, so I switched to those and exercised along with her. She was doing different things than I was doing with the 5-pound weights. My arms felt pretty ‘used’ when I finished, but this is a good addition to what I’ve started to do. I plan to do a session with the 5-pound weights and another with the 3-pound weights with the nice lady MWF next week.
I feel good that I’m taking one day at a time, making short-term goals that seem more achievable, am moving and exercising more.
Short term goals are –
Work to try to lose 2 lbs in the coming week
Check off my exercises each day (giving myself gold stars :o) )
Drink 3 to 4 bottles of water daily
Work toward the idea of earning “Bear with ’40’ on his chest” in the near future.
Realize that I’m working to lose the lard and get stronger – that ANY progress toward that goal is a victory and should be celebrated.
FIRST – My husband said I should write this blog post!
SECOND – I was right TWICE yesterday and he acknowledged it!
We took one of our vehicles for diagnosis and service first thing yesterday morning. I told my husband I would follow him, since when senses of direction were passed out, I was AWOL. I can get lost in a paper bag. He said I KNEW where the place was – at the curve of two streets in Ft. Smith. I told him that the company had been sold and they had relocated to the autopark, wherever that was. He got angry, so I let it go and told him I would follow him.
We got to the place he said. There was a big sign that has been there at least a year that says, “We moved!” and gave the address at the autopark. We wound around and around, finally making it to the autopark. We made it in time for our appointment, and he said. “You were right.” as we drove home together.
We changed our TV provider recently. That meant a lot of changes, and as we age, we seem to learn the new procedures with less and less grace. The biggest remaining problem for us with the new system was that our whole DVD collection, taped on a system called, “Synology” was gone. Since my husband got rid of the DVDs as we taped them on this, it was really upsetting.
My husband has been working with Microsoft – who did an update recently that disappeared our access to the program, and the tech support from Synology, trying to solve the problem.
Since I am amazed that my computer works at ALL, my function at these times is to keep my mouth firmly shut rather than voice what are probably inane suggestions.
This once, though, I told him that I THOUGHT I remembered that we accessed the movies through our Playstation. He blew this suggestion off right away, irritated that I interrupted his train of thought. This was two or three weeks ago.
Finally, we were able to access the collection through the Media Player on Roku. This was a really good thing, but he is still not satisfied, since it’s not coming through our main system, but an add-on. I finally suggested that we get on the Playstation and see what it showed. My husband did that, a pained expression on his face. There – right in front of us – was “DS218” – our movie collection! We immediately accessed a move and watched it.
When the movie was over, my husband looked at me and said, “You were right.”
Last night, he said, “You need to write a blog post about this.” I told him I was marking my calendar – that first – he said I was right twice, and second, that he wanted me to tell others about it. We agreed that since we are now considered, “Elderly” by many (though not close enough that we can punch them in the face for saying that) that we need to work together when we have problems – listen to each other more and consider that the other might have a point.
Words to live by. MAYBE I’ll be right again sometime… :0)
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