January 18-24, 2021

SarahMaxx

LW: 133.0
TW: 133.8

Read it and weep! This has been a week with more desk time, so I guess I need to assess how I can offset my oh-so-sedentary work time.

The good news is that yesterday marked 4 months that I have made my 10K each day. I have just made that my priority. Yesterday was a little tough because I had a toe start hurting like the dickens, but I mustered through.

Thanks for asking about my sister Lois. She is still unable to walk, even to the bathroom. I worry about her husband and the toll caretaking has to be making on him. He's 8 years older than she is. Her spirits are a little better though, and I'm very thankful for that. Her doctors were more or less giving up, but they did refer her to a nerve specialist and he is referring her to another nerve specialist for some more tests. She said it gives her hope because at least he is trying to find a cause.

Sheesh, I'm glad to hear your sister is doing better and I hope your BIL does not have vision issues from the shingles. We had a friend who went through the same thing years ago, and he had a good outcome. I also fear shingles. Apparently, I had a mild case once. It was a line of blisters on my neck. I was wearing hard contacts at the time and having some problems with GPC, and the doc had given me some drops of some kind that same day. Luckily, hubby recognized the shingles and I called my eye doctor who said I was lucky to have not used the drops yet, as they could have made the shingles worse. When I got the shingles vaccine (the old one), I mentioned to my doctor that perhaps i didn't need it since I had shingles, But she said actually, having them once makes you more susceptible. So I am definitely going to get the new 2 part kind. I keep putting it off and I need to get my behind in gear.

And mentioning getting my behind in gear, I need to focus on work now. I have not been given a schedule yet, so I feel like I need to log in every day, and of course my reason for taking part-time work was so I didn't have to do that! But I know that that my team lead is being stretched super thin, so I'm trying to be patient.

Kelly, I hope Shawn's gout is soon under control. I know that when one partner is dealing with pain, it affects the other one, too. I went through that with hubby's neck.

Maybe we can start setting some small goals for 2021 now that the holidays are behind us. As I've said many time, when I tell you ladies I'm going to do something, I'm far more likely to at least give it a good try.

Happy hump day, everyone!

GaGasheesh

LW: 134.2
TW: 133.4

Okay, I'll take that. I'm logging in late tonight . . I had a busy day on playdates, phone calls with friends wanting to talk about the inauguration mostly, did cardio and weight training workouts, and made a roast for dinner. Also, I confess I couldn't take my eyes off the inauguration. It was a good one . . so good I think they should do virtual ones from now on, lol.

Kelly, I'm happy your back is feeling better, and that you're getting in for your physical. You're young, so you can get away with 3 years. How's the puppy training going?

It's a great time for us to set some goals, Sarah. Mine would have to revolve around intake. I'm not sure what I might try, but I saw a video on YouTube about mindful eating. I think it's called "Eat Right Now". There's an app, but it's probably a subscription. The video made sense with just really slowing down, focusing on the food we eat . . how it feels, really tastes, and whether we're getting satisfied. I know I need to do that more, and not be watching television, thinking about something else as I eat, or just eating too fast.

Well, it's so late, so I'm signing off to try to get some sleep.

Lastchancelj

LW 230.0
TW 229.9

Ok...so I thought I weighed in yesterday, but it may not have registered. I had to jump in the shower and head way on the other side of town and the day was just insane from beginning to end. I was EXHAUSTED when I got home from the office. Anyhow, I pulled up my Garmin info to look at yesterdays weight and umm...it's showing as my hubby's weight, not mine...so I guess I didn't get my weigh in to register yesterday. And while I'm super happy to see the 229, however, I'm also scared to report it. That was this morning.... yesterday I had an egg sandwich on the drive over to the other side of the world and a Starbucks egg/cheese protein pack for lunch with a peppermint mocha through the day. I did a horrible job at getting in my water. For dinner I baked a frozen Costco meatloaf with potatoes and corn...not the healthiest but I couldn't even think by the time I was home. And, because I had so many files to print in color, I did get over 11k steps at the office running from my office to the color printer and back from 11am - 5pm. Holy cow! Plus my shoulder and arms are feeling the punching and filing motions for that entire time. I will NOT wait that long to get back in the office to file (I think these were from before Thanksgiving). Anyway, as I said, super duper happy to see 229 and want to keep inching downward!!

2021 goals are for me to get more active (doing my daily walks 2/day when home) and working on meal planning and depending less on Door Dash for meal deliveries. I need to sit myself down and pick a date on the calendar to get back on the bike/tread and use my Peloton app. It will mean leaving my bedroom windows open during the day while still running the heater to keep MIL warm in her room. Weighing the dollar cost for that decision or make her bundle up on those days.

Kelly - with Shawn's foot... If the gout medication doesn't work (and my son says it can take a week or more for his to get under control), it may be worthwhile to stay off of the meds so they can take a fluid sample. That will provide the best answer for the dr to provide a good treatment plan. I know it sucks, but if the meds don't work in the next week, he's still going to be in pain. Sorry. and hopefully your back will continue to feel better.

Sarah - hoping you can find a good work/life balance.

Being in the office yesterday, and back in my old office space, made me miss the work office environment. I am going to pick one day every other week to work from there. This will keep my filing under control and get me out of the house for a while - which I think I need to do for my mental state.

Today is going bonkers as well. Have a great day everyone!

wiredkell

Ugh my back is back to brutal today It really feels like something needs to pop back into place. I don' t have another physio appointment until Monday, so hopefully it gets better before then. She tried to manipulate me last time, but nothing would move.

Shawn managed to get a different medication today from his doctor for treating the gout. We are almost positive it will work, as it's what helped his foot last time. There is 1 pill for treating gout long term so it doesn't return and that's what his doctor originally prescribed him, but now he also got the one for treating an immediate attack. The last time he took it, it helped him by the next day, so we're hoping that it does the same.

Our province announced the loosening of some of our restrictions starting Saturday. We're allowed to have 2 people (apparently designated.. but that's never going to happen) inside our house and we're allowed to have up to 5 people plus our household outside. At least this will allow us to see our parents and for the kids to have a friend come skate in our backyard. They are also allowing haircuts again, up to 25% capacity and they are removing the non-essential item shopping restrictions, which is awesome. They're going to do that for 3 weeks and see how our numbers are doing. Organized sports still haven't resumed, which is really hard on the kids as they really want to play hockey. I'm pretty sure some rinks are just going to call it quits for the year and pull their ice out of their rinks. It costs too much to staff an arena that isn't being used.

Well my work day is coming to an end. Tomorrow I have to go to the office.. maybe just for the morning, but maybe all day. I guess we'll see what the day brings.

I will weigh in tomorrow.. as I forgot this morning. I know it won't be good with the lack of movement though. Oh well. Great job on the reductions ladies!

SarahMaxx

Kelly, I so hope your back and Shawn's foot are both doing better today.

Yesterday, I had an absolute awful afternoon. I had not received my mortgage bill for February so I took a break around 4 p.m and called. I almost paid it by phone, but I noticed it was $50 more than I usually pay, so I waited to speak to an agent. It turns out that the $50 is a late fee for the January payment that I made in December and that has cleared my bank, but for which I was not credited. Thankfully, I had received my bank statement, but I had to stop and talk to two other agents and then send an encrypted copy of the bank statement so they can "research" it. The same thing happened with an insurance payment for January. It was mailed in December, is on my statement as having been cashed, but I wasn't credited. And Medicare is not being as nice as Bank of America. They would not even let me send a copy of the statement and said they would not even research it until more than 30 days had passed. Because both checks cleared my bank the same day, i.e., Christmas Eve, I am beginning to wonder if something is wrong at the bank. As I was dealing with this, I had to get some help with encrypting from hubby who got all cranky (at them) and said he'd just tell them it cleared the bank so it's their problem. Leave to the one in the household who doesn't take care of paying things. Like that would work!

And because instead of a 5 minute call, I ended up dealing with this for more than hour during the work day, I now owe my client some time this weekend. Obviously, I've put in more time than that that I haven't billed, but I still would feel better if I had more items in the "sent" folder.

Added to my stress is that the client I'm working with and love may have to go back to her regular job. Working on the COVID-19 response team is supposed to be a temporary, revolving job for regular staff and she has been leading the Epi Task Force for almost a year. She doesn't want to go, so I'm crossing my fingers.

So that's the stressful stuff. Now for the good stuff. Even though I was at my desk beyond the mall's 7 p.m. closing time, I drug my behind downstairs to the dreadmill and got in my 10K steps. 4 months, 3 days. I know a day will come when something will come up and I'll have to say that I just can't do it that day. But I don't want to chalk the day up just because I'm tired and stressed and running late. I checked in this week with my walking buddy Toni, and she said that she has been walking outside even on the coldest days because there are family issues causing her great stress and her job is stressful (she works for the county housing department, so you can imagine) and the walk is her source of peace. So I've started equating walking with peace of the spirit.

Lois and Sheesh, it sounds like you are both very busy. Lois, your job sounds really hectic, too. I can't imagine getting all those steps at work! Wow. Sheesh, some of our close friends (the ones we usually have Thanksgiving with) are posting pictures from your corner of the world today. They are in Park City skiing. Ben worked as a ski instructor there years ago. Now he's a nurse! And he had COVID early on and survived it. So they're due a nice vacation. You live in such a beautiful part of the country.

Well, time to get busy. I think of each one of you every day, and I'm looking forward to us setting some personal goals and having a much better 2021.

SarahMaxx

I am on a wicked pendulum ride with my weight the past few days. I weighed 132.0 on Saturday. Oh happy day! Then I weighed 133.2 yesterday, even though I my intake and activity was okay the day before. I figured it was water retention. Then today, I weighed 134.2. Yesterday, again, I was okay with intake and activity. In fact, it was more than okay. I stayed within my micros and had a nice deficit. I hate these roller coaster rides! I'm tracking weight daily so that I can see the ups and downs and perhaps figure out what contributes to each. It's frustrating when I can't. So I basically, I just logged in to complain! LOL

How is everyone else? We are expecting some ice and snow (just a little) later today, so I'm just hoping that I can get to the mall to walk. Besides the actual movement, I also need to get outside of these walls for a short time. Hubby just took our second car out for a ride since we haven't driven it in a while. I think he's feeling the same way. I just looked at an email asking us when COVID will be over. I so wanted to say, "Dude--if only I knew!"

Lastchancelj

Super busy day. Super rainy and COLD.

AND HAIL

SarahMaxx

OMG Lois. Your yard looks almost as white as mine did about an hour ago. We've gotten more snow during the last hour, but this started out as sleet. However, I did make it to the mall to walk, and there were a lot of walkers there. Hubby made me get up from my desk at 5 p.m. so I could get home a little earlier. I don't think we're getting much, but even a little can make things dicey here. I know that Kelly is up there in Winnipeg laughing her behind off at me. And I know Sheesh also gets lots of the white stuff every year.

Cold in Phoenix is hard to imagine. Stay safe, and thanks for posting the photos.

Lastchancelj

I know to the three of you that's a spring splash, but for the Phoenix area it's all over the news. It's number one of the news stories... haha. I did go for a walk around the block after my workday...made the PHX mistake of a long sleeve lightweight cotton blouse with a light fleece top and no mittens/gloves. It was 42 (didn't check temp until I got home) but I was chilled about half way through the walk and then about three houses away from home, it began to rain -- big drops. I was on the phone with my sister and I think I caused her to chuckle because I was " crap crap crap crap" until I got home and hoping not to get soaked. I was wet, but not soaked. And thank goodness I only opted go around the block for .6 miles and not the full mile or I would have been on the other side of the neighborhood with no umbrella. So, lesson learned that I'll toss on a Columbia jacket and even take an umbrella with me today. It's cold again this morning, still 41ish, If it's not raining, I want to walk at lunch. The storms are also contributing to my headaches so I really want them to pass. I know we need the rain, but I'm tired of Advil and Tylenol.

So this weekend another of our friends had to call 911. They are both drs. and his wife was having some chest pain. I never knew that she's had an arrhythmia problem. Well thank goodness she woke up and the EMT got there quickly and the defibrillator worked. She's been in the hospital and will have a cardiac ablation this afternoon. If you're the praying type, please add her to your prayers. They are incredibly awesome people and they are more like our family than just friends (we used to gather for all holidays, bdays for everyone etc before COVID - and them being drs and higher risk for mom we've had to keep distance). Anyhow, if you pray, please add Marta to your prayers.

Sheesh - like you - I like to break free of my house. And you can tell by the pictures I failed to get the furniture covered before the storms hit...so that's going to be fun in a few days. I do like them uncovered in the winter so I can go and sit outside read and such. It's kinda peaceful. We keep them covered in the summer due to the sun and it's usually way to hot to sit out there.

Kelly - I'm hoping your back is feeling better. A good chair is worth the $$ if you're working from home still. It really does help. Hoping Shawn has good results with his new medication. You two need to be pain free today to celebrate your anniversary!

Sheesh enjoy your playdates!!