2021: Think Positively for a Better Year!
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I’ve made grilled cheese sandwiches in my air fryer. I butter the bread and then put cheese between the unbuttered side. I put a toothpick in to keep the sandwich together. Otherwise, the top lice of bread blows right off the sandwich. The bread coms out super crunchy cooked that way. I think I had the temperature around 400. I probably cooked it 15 minutes, flipping the sandwich halfway through to brown both sides.
Okay, I've got a cool mental image of the bread blowing up LOL!0 -
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We’re getting ready for Hurricane Henri. The projections keep shifting but we’ll have some impact. We stocked up on batteries and we have food and books to keep us occupied if we lose power. The last hurricane here was 30 years ago. We were without power for 5 days. The utilities have worked on the grid over the last several years so maybe they’ll restore power faster.0
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We’re getting ready for Hurricane Henri. The projections keep shifting but we’ll have some impact. We stocked up on batteries and we have food and books to keep us occupied if we lose power. The last hurricane here was 30 years ago. We were without power for 5 days. The utilities have worked on the grid over the last several years so maybe they’ll restore power faster.
DH has been watching that on the radar maps Here's hoping you don't get it too badly!0 -
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Helene, here’s hoping you don’t get hit too hard. Stay safe!0
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Thanks. We’re busy doing hurricane prep today before the storm arrives tomorrow.0
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This is scary:
Doctors who immunized 120 nursing home residents against COVID-19 with the Pfizer/BioNTech mRNA vaccine found protective antibodies in only 28% of the residents six months later, compared to 84% of residents immediately after full vaccination. The research, published on medRxiv https://bit.ly/3AXXlwz in advance of peer review, adds to evidence showing that protection from the vaccines wanes over time. Vaccinated healthcare workers had higher antibody levels than residents, which is not surprising because they were younger and healthier, but they too experienced "significant declines" in protection over time, the researchers reported. Given the "rapid antibody decline" and "the rapid spread of the Delta variant and reports of vaccine breakthrough," they concluded that booster doses are probably needed. On Wednesday, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said it would "begin efforts to deliver booster shots directly to residents of long-term care facilities," starting in September.0 -
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This week I took Smokie and Sammy in to the vet. Neither needs a dental (wow, surprising). Smoking is 11 (we know that as we got her as a kitten). Her labs look almost like a kitten. Sammy we got as an adult. We think he's 8 or 9. Two labs ago he was in stage 1 chronic kidney disease. Last labs were a little better. We'll see how this set comes out.
Meanwhile, I'm poking and prodding and googling, trying to get information on the use of lasers in cats with chronic kidney disease. I think it's sort of like acupuncture but with laser instead of needles. I actually got a detailed response from a vet in MA who has used it on 140 cats. I liked how balanced his response it. Apparently they have the cat's parent use it at home. He thinks it would be worth trying at home even if I can't find a vet with a laser who wants to get involved. But I'd need a vet to help me learn what "places" to target. So I'm trying to interest at least one of my cat's vets in jumping in with me. I saw the owner of the "general cat vet practice" yesterday. I could tell her first response was sort of like most of us if told to try horse meds for covid. I could actually see in her eyes when it dawned on her I was serious, I'm a good client, I talk her up in our newsletters, and she'd better at least pretend to be interested. It all flashed across her eyes above her mask. Pretty funny.
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All is quiet here. We had a bit of gusty winds but no rain. We didn’t lose power either. RI and CT took the hit when the storm turned west. We may get leftover rains tomorrow. We were very lucky.0
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Glad to hear it wasn’t too bad, Helene!0
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All is quiet here. We had a bit of gusty winds but no rain. We didn’t lose power either. RI and CT took the hit when the storm turned west. We may get leftover rains tomorrow. We were very lucky.
YEAH! I kept thinking about you when we saw everything on the news! We had an on again/off again grey skies/rain weekend. Luckily that's all the closer to us it got.0 -
I’m so sad for a friend this morning. The first post on my Facebook newsfeed was from her. Her house burned to the ground last night. She escaped safely, but was unable to get any of her four beloved cats out. These cats are her world and she is beyond devastated by their loss. I don’t think she even cares about the total loss of her home and car at this point. She has family nearby who will help her in the short term and is fully insured, but nothing can replace her four furry family members.
I had a doctor’s appointment with my primary care doctor that was interesting. My blood pressure was quite elevated so he increased the dosage of my medication and wants to recheck it in 3 months. I also told him about the hip pain I’ve been experiencing for several months now and what I’ve done to treat it (consulted an orthopedic doc who recommended PT, which did not help). After he poked and prodded and made me hurt a lot he agreed that PT likely isn’t going to help and recommended a steroid injection. I was hoping he would agree to that course of treatment and he was able to do it right away. My hip already feels better. It was particularly bothersome while I was trying to sleep, so I’m hoping for a better night’s sleep tonight.
The interesting part of the visit was that we discussed the need for booster shots and I was surprised to hear him say that he is not in favor of them, at least not at this time. He doesn’t trust the recommendation because it seems to be based solely on a small study coming from Israel and the CDC has not released any of the data used to make this recommendation, even for medical professionals. He advised a wait and see approach, or if concerned about the level of protection I still have from the first 2 doses he offered a blood test to check the titer level. I decided not to do that at this point, but I may do it later before a trip I am planning to visit my cousin who is currently recovering from his 3rd brain surgery.0 -
Pam, That is such sad news about your friend’s house burning and losing her cats. Do they know what caused the fire? Losing the cats is so devastating for her. I hope she considers counseling. She may need to talk it through to begin healing. I’m glad you’re getting relief from the steroid shot.0
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My friend is a counselor, as am I and we met while working for a behavioral health managed care company. I don’t know if she will get counseling or not, but I know she knows the value of it. She lived in the middle unit of a triplex and shares common walls with both end units. She said the fire started in one of the end units and spread within a matter of minutes to her unit and then the third. All three are total losses. She’s holding onto hope that somehow one or more of the cats escaped and that someone will find them and take them to be scanned for a chip so that she might get them back. I think that sounds like a fairly remote possibility, but I understand her need to hold onto that thought. So tragic.
She’s undoubtedly the second best cat mom I know, only coming in slightly behind you, Maryanne. Her youngest cat had a congenital heart defect and she was continually taking him to specialists to figure out what was wrong and how to care for him and keep him healthy. Another suffered from some sort of GI issue and again, she sought all kinds of specialists and special treatments for him. 2 of her cats were Cornish Rex brothers. The other 2 were similar breeds but different. The youngest one was only a little over 2 years old. Her only human child is married and living in Israel, so her cats were truly like her children to her.0 -
Let’s hope at least one of the cats got out. When the building in Surfside FL collapsed, a cat emerged from the rubble more than a week later. Was your friend home when the fire started? If she was, she’s lucky to have survived.0
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She was at home. Some of her neighbors alerted her and almost had to drag her out because she was trying to find the cats. Her doorbell camera recorded the fire before becoming disabled. It went from a little bit of smoke to fully engulfed in flames in under 3 minutes. She’s lucky to have escaped. She posted tonight that the adjuster told her the neighbor’s kids, ages 5, 7, and 10 were experimenting with fire and accelerant and it got out of control. No idea where the parents were. They were renters and had no insurance. My friend had insurance, so unsure how that will factor into the settlement, or if anyone will be criminally charged for the fire. Given the ages of the kids, I doubt they will be charged, but the parents may charges for negligence. I think that might actually make her feel better, though it won’t bring back her cats or any of her possessions.0
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What a tragedy. I'm so sorry for her. My worst nightmare - fire. It's the reason we haven't had a fire in our fireplace in years and years and are fanatics about the smoke detectors. I just know the cats would all run and hide if there was a fire and we'd never get them out.0
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My hoped for good night’s sleep didn’t happen. I had forgotten that steroid shots make me feel wired for at least 24 hours, as well as starving constantly. I finally fell asleep for about 3.5 hours around 5:00 and am feeling very sleepy today. I’m trying to resist eating all of the time and concentrating on getting as much protein as possible when I do, but I’m still starving. I hope this passes soon. On the plus side, my hip is feeling much, much better. There is almost no soreness left now.
My friend is feeling terrible guilt over being unable to get her cats out of the house now. She was finally able to get a little sleep last night and is starting the process of rebuilding her life. She did suffer some burns to her arms and legs and described having to literally jump through a ring of fire to escape her burning home. I’m sure the guilt and nightmares will be with her for a long time.0 -
I look around our house, especially the basement sometimes, and think "we'd never get the cats out". I have carriers stashed on all levels of the house but you have to be able to grab the cats first and that would be problematic. I can't even imagine how your friend must feel. In all honesty, I probably wouldn't go on.
My beloved Tuffy is at the vet. I didn't sleep Saturday and Sunday nights fretting over getting him into a carrier and out to the car (he's BIG and heavy). And then last night I thought I'd sleep but I missed him curled up next to me.0 -
We had 3 cats over the years and all had long happy lives. I can’t imagine the pain she’s going through with the tragic way she lost them. I’m glad she has you to talk to about it. That goods news about your hip. The hungry horrors have probably passed by now. I’m off to book group this morning. We used to meet at the library but they haven’t started having group gatherings yet. We’re bringing lawn chairs and beverages and meeting in the park across the street from the library.0
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I’m feeling much better today after a good night’s sleep. My appetite seems back to normal as well, thankfully.
My friend’s cat sitter has started a GoFundMe account for her to help her with out of pocket expenses until she receives her insurance settlements. She literally got out with only the clothes on her back, so she is truly starting from scratch at this point. Plus, she has to pay the cost of demolishing the remaining structure and having the debris hauled away, which just adds insult to injury, IMO. I sent her a donation last night via the Zelle app from my bank. I didn’t want it to go through the GoFundMe account as I’ve been told that they keep a percentage of the donations for administrative costs.
Today I need to make a grocery store run and then start making the decoration for a birthday cake I’m making for a party Saturday night. I’m going to try to make a giant sunflower using candy melts. It’s going on a lemon orange flavored cake, so I thought the sunflower would complement the cake nicely. If it doesn’t turn out I have a back up plan.0 -
Pam - I'm glad you're feeling better and still so so sorry for your friend! (According to the internet gofundme keeps about 2% and I'm sure she can use that extra).
Check your smoke detectors everyone!
I fed the colonies this morning and made a grocery store run. I'm wondering how long we'll feel safe going to the grocery store. They are fairly empty here at least in the morning so that helps. Had a particularly bad grocery delivery yesterday (bad substitutions, short dates). I hate the thought of going back to that for all my groceries.
I was thinking of doing one more restaurant get together but DH is adamantly opposed.
I ordered several at home COVID tests to have on hand. Unless we were deathly ill I don't think we'd go out to get tested but it might be good to know. Walgreen's is selling/shipping them and they are about $24 for 2 tests.
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I have totally fallen off the wagon with respect to eating. After my sister died I hung in until my cardiologist appointment and then I fell off the wagon big time. I'm determined to start back in tomorrow and hope I can really do it this time!
I've got frozen food set for tomorrow, pulled out packets for Saturday and Sunday, have JC food pulled out for Monday, and NS food for Tuesday and Wednesday. Ordered 4 days of NS shelf stable. Sometimes it helps if I just say "for the next 4 days I'm eating out of this box". I have a colonoscopy the day after Labor Day so for the week prior I won't be able to eat all the raw vegetables I usually snack on when I'm being good.0 -
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Maryanne, it’s perfectly understandable that you engaged in some comfort eating following the loss of your sister. You’ve figured out a plan to get back on track, and I’m sure you’ll be successful.
My nephew who quit his job as an engineer at ExxonMobil to become a firefighter tested positive for COVID yesterday. He was unvaccinated, seldom wears a mask, and continued to socialize pretty much as he did pre-COVID, so I’m not at all surprised. The only real surprise is that he didn’t get it sooner. So far he only has a low grade fever and a headache. He has a 3 year old and a 6 year old at home, so I hope they don’t get it. Their home doesn’t have an extra bedroom, so I’m not sure how or if he is quarantining to protect them.0 -
Hopefully his wife is staying in the kids room and leaving him in the master bedroom. Is his wife vaccinated? I hope he recovers and the family stay heathy. Maryanne, use your spreadsheets You do really well when you use them. I’ve got 52 days of logging my meals. That’s probably a record for me.0
