Daily Check In: Are You On Track Today?

Paulawilldo

Shari, I share your sentiments and beliefs about prayer. I know first hand how powerful it is. Today is a wonderful example. All good news with my ultrasound results....a benign cyst rated BI-RADS 2 (which when I looked that up means 100% chance that it is benign). I got the results after the ultra sound tech showed the ultra sound to the radiologist. I didn't even have to meet with the radiologist. The relief and joy and thankfulness I felt and continue to feel is almost impossible to express! I am so grateful for my good and prayerfully faithful friends. And I will continue to pray for them all as they have prayed for me.

shariletts

Paula!!!!!! I am so so so so so happy for you. What a wonderful gift from God. I love the encouragement you have received from the prayers and that you continue on with your faithfulness of praying for others.

I have some sad news to report on one of my friends. Ali Wilson was our first youth intern at the church I work at. I remember that FB was new and I had looked her up. She had blue hair and facial piercings. I was quite intimidated. But we became fast friends and have remained friends ever since. My old boss (who had been supervising her internship and current pastor) messaged me yesterday to tell me that Ali had suffered a few strokes and hit her head as a result of a fall. She is now brain dead and her family took her off life support last night. I don't know if she has passed yet. Her family asked my old boss to let me know and I feel very blessed by that.

I had planned a date night for my husband and I and I was in such shock and grief after I got the news that I barely made it through dinner. She is younger than I am. She never married although she really wanted to and she wanted to have children. I am incredibly sad but at the same time I am so happy that she is now in a new body with a new life. I will see her again one day.

I will get to meet you and DW one day. That will be so special and brings me the hope that I need that comes from God the Father, Son and Spirit.

Paulawilldo

So sad about your friend Ali. Sending you hugs and support. I will add Ali to my prayer list for the departed when you tell me she has passed for sure. Our custom is to pray for the departed for the 1st forty days after they pass. We do this because Christ walked the earth for the 40 days between His Resurrection and His Ascension. Your grief is understandable as is your insight regarding seeing her again in the Kingdom to come. I too share these beliefs that assure us of hope and peace that only our Lord can give us.

I had an easy day today with few demands and didn't force myself to do too many "to do" items. I will have to make up for my easy day sometime next week as things on the list are accumulating. My pain level was high today so I rested and relaxed a lot. It was also a high carb day for me. John wanted a delivery meal today so we ordered. I had shrimp scampi but it came with penne pasta, and I ate almost all of it. It was so good too. I hope now that the carb thing is over and I will get back on track tomorrow.

A blessed Sunday to all!

shariletts

I learned this morning that Ali did pass away on Friday.

I love all of the symbolism in the Orthodox church. It is so beautiful and I believe so thought out to direct us spiritually.

I watched a YouTube video and it was how to make Shrimp Scampi. Yum!

Looking forward to a peaceful day today. I do have to go to work from 7-9pm tonight. I agreed to help with our AGM. One of our executive admins had to rush to Newfoundland because her dad suffered heart failure. I will be helping the exec admins with something. I am not sure what yet.

Paulawilldo

Ali is now on my prayer list for the departed. May her memory be eternal!
I hope your working on a Sunday evening wasn't too tiring. It is kind of you to help out and step up when needed like that Shari.
It was another lazy, relaxing, enjoyable day here. I didn't have to cook because we had enough leftover from yesterday's delivery....always a bonus when that happens. Tomorrow morning a mobile lab from our local hospital is coming to draw blood from me and John. This is the first we have used this service, but it is another good service for us given how difficult it is for me to leave the house these days. It has been about a year since we had any blood work done.

Here's to a healthy good week for all of us and a blessed Holy Week for you Shari and DW as I know you will celebrate Easter on the 31st. (Orthodox Pascha [Easter] is late for us this year, May 5. Last week was our 1st week of Lent.)

shariletts

Helping out the AGM was pretty easy. There were not many staff in attendance, but about 130 attended. Not a great turn out seeing as we can have 3000 people over a few services on a weekend. I didn't feel up to attending the meeting. I am a bit tired this morning.

Paula- you are finding a lot of great services and that is wonderful.


A short week this week, that will be so nice.

DW2022

Good Morning! Paula, I celebrate your GREAT news with the testing results!! I have been praying and am so thankful for this answer to our prayers!!
Shari, I am so sorry about the passing of your friend. I, too, take comfort in knowing that we will see our loved ones again ( including you and Paula), and I don't know how people who don't believe ever cope with loss.
I have been crazy with work and exhausted when I get home. I have been feeling very run down and started back to taking my vitamins two days last week (then forgot again-LOL!!). Friday evening I had to go to an art opening after working all day. The opening was a 1.5 hours drive one way and was not at all interesting or fun. DH says that he won't enter that one next year. Fingers crossed that he still feels that way!
My weight has been up and down but my eating has also been up and down. I hope to do better this week! I am the liturgist for our main Easter service on Sunday. I always try to avoid the holidays but had already said"no" to one Sunday and the person asking followed up with Easter so I felt that I couldn't say "no". It will be fine-I will just give it extra practice! Have a great week!

Paulawilldo

DW, So good to see your post. We missed you! Thank you for your prayers and support. Please take care of yourself to not run yourself too hard with work and your other busy activities. Wonderful that you are able to be the liturgist for your Easter service. Very impressive!! Your church must think highly of you!

Wow Shari, you are a part of such a big church. It must be a very busy place all the time with such a large congregation. Woo hoo for having a short week1

The mobile lab tech was wonderful, and we already have our results. I am very very pleased with my results and John's too. I tend to be concerned about type II diabetes because both my dad and his mother had this. But my glucose level is perfect. Whew! My cholesterol numbers are excellent too. My C reactive protein, a measure of inflammation, is elevated, but this is common in people with RA. Now I have to find a way to have my family doctor agree to do a telemed appointment if at all possible. I will start working on that soon.

shariletts

DW- I could never be a liturgist. It sounds like such an intriguing thing to be able to do! I would be happy if I could only sing a bit better lol. Hard to believe that Easter is a few days away (for some of us). I am not ready at all.

Paula- I can't believe that you got your lab results back so fast. I am glad for the great results.

I have tracked my food the last two days and was happy with the calories and macros. I need to keep this going if I want to see results on the scale. I am still stuck around the same weight. I do need to give myself some credit for being healthy and not take that for granted, but it's not easy.

Paulawilldo

Yay for you Shari for tracking your food. I have gotten a little lazy about tracking. I am planning to get back to my routine tracking tomorrow. I find tracking really helps keep me in a good point range. I did ok with food choices today, though I am gravitating towards too many carbs again.

I was able to arrange for John's next medical appointment and mine to be done virtually. We were scheduled to go to the office on April 8 so now we will just have online appointments that day instead. I am already compiling a list of things to discuss with my family doctor.

shariletts

Paula- You are doing so well looking after your physical needs and accessing ways to make it so much easier. That is great!

I have a full day today. I need to go to the office and then after work I am seeing a friend and then after that I am dropping off a chair for my oldest. We picked it up for him at Fedex as the box was too big to fit in his car. I will enjoy a little visit for him.

I had a rough day emotionally yesterday and I did not sleep well at all. I hope to make it through the day with enough energy. I just got up and I am already looking forward to going to bed.

Paulawilldo

Shari, I smiled when I read that just as you got up you were looking forward to going to bed. That is me every day! I almost never feel well rested upon waking. I also understand how emotions can drain us of our energy and stamina even when we are well rested. I empathize with you for sure. I hope you made it through the day and enjoyed the time with your friend and your DS...two likely bright spots!

I had a very good day today. I added in some Tylenol extra strength to my meds again, and it makes a big difference in my pain levels. I am also taking the muscle relaxer again. I had stopped it for a while because I thought it was causing me to sleep during the day. But I did ok today so maybe I will keep trying this combination. I am reluctant to take the ES Tylenol too often because of potential long term side effects, so I will talk with my doctor about this next month. My food choices were good again today, and I was not overly hungry. Craig was here today for several hours and as usual was a tremendous help to me. I don't know what I would do without him. He is always so helpful and pleasant too. I feel good paying him too because I know he needs the money.

shariletts

I made it through the day but I felt tired all day. The two visits were so good and both parties heard my stresses and were very supportive. I had authentic tacos for dinner last night and really enjoyed them. No change on the scale which is good news and bad news. Good since the meal didn't cause me to retain water, but then no loss to celebrate either. Maybe I will have good news next week.

Paula- Good to hear that you had a very good day. There is a fine balance between pain meds and the impact on the body. I wish there was another option that would offer the pain relief and no side effects. Pain can be so exhausting.

Paulawilldo

Shari, Your authentic tacos made my mouth water. I would have enjoyed that meal very much. Positive news that the scale didn't go up. Spending time with people who care and share like your DS and your friend means so much, a wonderful way to spend your time.

Buster had a vet appointment today for his overdue annual check up. I had arranged for the new driving service to take us there. Just minutes before the driver was to arrive I got a call from the agency that the driver was running late. I had to cancel the vet appt because we would have been over 30 minutes late. I was so very disappointed. The representative from the agency apologized. I know it wasn't her fault. These things happen. I will have to try again. I was a bit tired today so I used the found time to get in some extra rest. I ate well but didn't track as well as I could have.

shariletts

I had an off day yesterday with eating. I started out well. It felt like Friday, but I had an evening meeting and by the time it was over, I made poor eating choices. I will do better today. I guess I gave myself permission to stray. Two good days should undo the damage.

I haven't really made plans for the weekend yet. I want to so that it doesn't slip away on me. I will have to wait for DH to wake up and see what he would like to do besides the church services.

Paulawilldo

However you decide to spend this weekend Shari, I hope it is a blessed time with joy in the Resurrection and great meaning for you spiritually. I hope you are able to relax a bit and take care of yourself.

I had a very good day today. My pain was mostly manageable and tolerable. I was able to cross off quite a few items on my to do list. It was about time for that!!! And it always pleases me when I make such progress. I did well again with my food choices and have not been terribly hungry lately. I plan to accomplish a bit more of the to do list tomorrow and to eat well again. Sunday will be a day of rest and relaxation for me, I hope.

Happy and Blessed Easter Shari and DW!

shariletts

I was up early and I am having a cup of coffee and I am going to do some reading. I am working through the Narnia series. I have owned them for quite a while but never got through the whole series. It's not my favourite kind of genre and I didn't care for the first two books. The third and fourth have been more enjoyable.

I am spending time resting in hope and assurance of the resurrection.

Paulawilldo

I think John read some of the Narnia series. I am interested in it but haven't read it yet. Sounds like a good way to spend part of your Saturday.

While yesterday was such a good and productive day for me, today was kind of the opposite, except for my good food choices (wonderful,delicious salmon). Unfortunately my pain level was high as was my fatigue so I didn't accomplish much of anything again. Ugh!!! Days like this disappoint me, but I will continue to work on finding ways to make things better.

Happy Easter dear friends!!

shariletts

Happy Easter!

I am up pretty early this morning and will repeat yesterday with a cup of coffee and my book. Mornings are so peaceful and hold so much potential. I really hope to spend today well.

Paula- Sorry to hear that your pain level was high and you were tired. I prayed for you to have a more productive and a low pain level today.

DW2022

Hello! Happy Easter! Paula, I hope that your day has been better with less pain! Shari, I hope you have had a blessed Easter! It was a wonderful day here until DD got mad at me and stomped out ...it is good that she isn't mad at her father and he can support her if needed until she gets over being mad.
I got up early and went to the "sunrise" service at our church (no sun here today). That was followed by a breakfast at church and then the regular service, which is when I had responsibilities. I think it went well -my goal was to honor the Lord as best I could.
I made a mid afternoon meal and DD came for that and was working on a couple of things that she's been thinking about. I cautioned her about one of them (selling a vehicle online) and that is when she got mad at me.
The weight continues to go up and down as does the eating. I did have a nonscale victory yesterday. I came across a pair of pants that my sister had given me for Christmas 2022. They didn't quite fit then but I tried them on and they were wearable! I wore them to church today with a jacket that looked spring-like. This week I am once again busy every night and all next weekend. Tuesday I have the dreaded board meeting and I will decide if I will run again based on how it goes. Have a great week!