Jan 5 - Jan 11

Lastchancelj

LW 227.8
TW 227.9

Not too bad. I'll consider that maintaining for the week. I did get ONE walk around the block after work on Monday. Last night, I had to go visit Rhea (having withdrawals). We played on the floor doing a puzzle and then some snuggles but that was about the extent of my activity. Crazy busy workweek since I'm back from vacation and still "catching up". MIL is back. She's using the walker upstairs and the one downstairs as well ilo of her cane. We're ok with that. Hoping she'll get stronger in the next couple of weeks to go back to the cane. Only time will tell.

Ok. hoping Sarah isn't starting a new thread at the same time.

Can't wait to read your updates later.

SarahMaxx

LW: 130.8
TW: 129.4

Whew. So glad to be home and able to get back to my routine. Most days now, I walk with my new walking buddy. Who knows how much longer the mall will be available, but while it is, I'm taking advantage of it. Tonight, Azi has physical therapy so it will be a dreadmill night. A couple of nights ago, I decided to go down and get a little more walking in even though I had walked earlier, and I saw the stretchy bands that hubby bought for his PT and thought I'd also get in some arm exercise. Well, within a few minutes the area of my hand where I had looped the bands started itching like crazy and I noticed a few small blisters forming. So I dashed upstairs, washed my hands and took some Benadryl. By the next morning, my hands were fine, but it appears that I've developed a latex allergy. And that really bums me out because after the face issue a few years ago, I've developed a real fear of allergic responses. When I go back to the doc in March, I'll ask her if I need to revisit the allergy specialist to have a test. In the meantime, I'm going to order some latex-free bands. Seems my autoimmune system just has it out for me and that it's always something!

I was able to get my 7-day step average above 10K again, but I am not yet reaching my burn goal of a 7-day average of 1800. For the past week, it's 1733. I'm going to keep on plugging.

Kelly and Sheesh, you would laugh at us, but we are delighted with our 3-4 inch snowfall that came night before last. It's so cold, it has stayed around, even in the trees, and so my drive to the dentist this morning through some back roads was lovely. I know you both see lots of snow, but global warming seems to be robbing us. We used to get several small snows and a couple of deep ones each year, but for the past two years, we've seen hardly a flake. And a little more is coming tomorrow night. Just think--a week ago, we were walking outside and had to take off our light jackets because it got too warm!

Well, it's time to go down and put some salmon in the oven. Looking forward to hearing from everyone. And by the way--look at your credit card bills carefully. In December, I paid several bills online with my card that I usually pay by check because the mail is being so unreliable. I found out yesterday that the credit card company now has these as recurring payments even though I chose one-time payment. The credit card company said contact the companies--the companies all said call the credit card company. Many phone calls and a lot of stomach lining later I decided to just wait and see what happens next month.

GaGasheesh

Last time: 123.2
TW: 124.2

Up another full pound . . not surprised and actually somewhat relieved it's not more.

I'll have to come back and read all the posts I missed, but it's late here and I'm pretty tired after the family visit. The last of the family flew home yesterday late afternoon, so today was spent putting away Christmas, cleaning up, doing laundry, and getting a 30 minute workout. I was able to get some workouts with my kids over their visit, but the intake and some alcohol shows on the scale today.

I'll catch up later on all the posts.

wiredkell

Happy New Year ladies! The holiday season was a bit overwhelming and stressful so I wasn't in the right mindset to come and post.

On December 4, one of my Mom's Brother's passed away from rectal cancer. He battled for a long time and was in a lot of pain unfortunately. My Mom wasn't ever super close to him, but in the end it hit her really hard. She was able to spend some time with him while he was in the hospital and it actually ended up bringing her closer to her 2 other brother's, which is a positive of it all. Then on December 24, my Dad's Sister passed away from Pulmonary Fibrosis. She was the closest Aunt I had on my Dad's side and although she was very sick for a long time, it hit us all really hard, especially because of the time of year and the day it happened on. Loss is so very hard... but this past year was especially hard.

On a positive note, we managed to stay within our provincial restrictions (only 10 extra people allowed in a household as long as everyone is vaccinated) and were able to have Christmas with both sides of our family. We went to my parents place on December 23 and had Christmas Supper with them and my Brother & his family. Then on December 24 we had my husband's family over for Christmas Supper at our place. Both were super nice and way better than 2020 when we couldn't have Christmas with family at all.

Once Christmas hit though, the omicron variant was in full force in our province so lots of people we were with ended up sick. Surprisingly, none of us have had it yet.. that we know of. Shawn had a stuffed up nose and a bit of a cough for a couple days, but he did a rapid test and it came back negative and then the next day he was fine. Some of his friends and family got it and ended up pretty sick, but luckily they got through it. I got my booster shot 2 days ago so hopefully if I get it, that will help. The kids should have been back to school yesterday, but they delayed it until Monday and then so far it's a week of remote learning first... which will probably be extended. I'm back to working at home full time and not going to the office at all. So sick of it all already.

On a health note, I have been really focused since Boxing Day on getting at least 30 minutes of activity every day. I have closed all of my rings on my apple watch every day, except yesterday when the booster shot kicked my butt and I had the most wicked headache ever. We also bought an exercise bike from Amazon and it should be here next week. Something new and we're looking forward to it.

Ok.. that's a bit of an update as to what's been happening with me. I'll have to go back and read what I missed. Miss you all and hope everyone is well.

SarahMaxx

Kelly, I am so sorry to hear about the loss of your aunt and uncle. It's especially hard to lose people around the holidays. I'm glad your mother was able to realize something positive in the middle of such trying times. And yeah to you for closing those rings and for getting regular activity in again.

When you mentioned the kids tele-schooling, I thought that when the virus hit in 2020, we had no idea that we'd still be dealing with it in 2022. As someone who has worked in public health for many years, I knew that someday a pandemic would come. Due to the fact that what I do is not disease specific, I was sometimes included in drills and would see "Alert, Alert, Alert. Prepare to be re-assigned" in giant letters scroll across my screen. But something like this always seemed way out in the future.

We woke up to 5-1/2 more inches of snow and the sound of our young neighbor (12 years old) shoveling our walk. Such as nice surprise because our new snow blower is still in storage. As I said before, you and Sheesh would laugh at how little snow it takes to cripple folks in this area.

My new walking buddy gave us half of a chocolate mousse cake that she bought at Costco and it called my name yesterday. So I was not surprised to see the scale up today and those red items in my food diary. I went over my goals for sugar, fat, and sodium and did not meet my goal for protein. So I'll try to go in the opposite direction today and get more protein and less of the deadly trio.

Things have been a little tough around here because hubby's neck pain has been pretty bad and his physical therapist has been out of the office. When he's in pain, he's cranky, and it begins to wear us both down. Thankfully, most nights I get out to walk and I've chatted with friends on zoom and by phone, which helps.

Yesterday I had my dexa scan and I'm hoping that all this walking on hard surfaces will help that score. I wondered if having a broken bone recently would have any negative impact. I hope not. I'm not in a good space for any bad news. But I am slowly getting down the list of things my doc wanted done.

Well, time to get productive. As I've mentioned, my goal is to end this year stronger than I entered it--which reminds me that I need to order those latex-free bands.

GaGasheesh

I'm so sorry, Kelly and Lois, that you experienced losses during the holiday season. It's difficult any time of year, but it seems especially heart wrenching this during that time. My father passed away on Dec 21 in 2009. I was the only family member by his side when he passed at home. I was glad I was there to hold his hand.

My family was ALL here for the holiday, and we had a wonderful time. Some of our plans to go out had to be dropped or modified because of Covid. Hubby and I had gotten hold of several rapid tests before, so everyone agreed we should all test upon arrival, which we did. And when our daughter here visited her in-laws, they tested before coming back here. Everyone except the baby and the 3 year old are vaccinated and adults mostly boosted. It seems to have worked well . . nobody has gotten sick at all. We did go ice skating and tubing and played in the snow. The adult children went out to see the Matrix and to Park City while hubby and I had movie parties and played with the grandkids. We did puzzles (some of which were gifts . . my daughter in law knows I love puzzles and gave me one that you could win a million dollars . . . or 25 cents . . if completed and photo submitted . . which we did and won 25 cents, lol) We love the escape room games and cards too. The grandchildren exploded my house with forts and fun. They especially love the "room" under the stairs, which is actually a very small closet with a door and sloping ceiling. They fit a child's table and chairs in there and play all day, lol. Everyone took turns cooking, and on the day we had a "fiesta party" in my gym, my daughter made enchiladas. The kids made "Spanish" decorations and put them up. I had downloaded a lot of Spanish music, and daughter taught us all how to Salsa. We did relay races with beans in a spoon. We had fun. . . to hell with Covid, ha ha ha! We had Santa Christmas on the 25th for son and his family that was here, and our own Christmas Day on a day after Christmas so daughters and families could be here. Our Rec room was filled with wrapping paper and boxes!!

Now, I'm totally buried in laundry and putting away cots and bedding, but it was worth it to see everyone and have everyone together We had 15 people sleeping here on the two nights my daughter and family stayed here rather than driving the 40 minutes home. Everyone wants to do a Disneyland family trip in the summer now. Hopefully the pandemic will cooperate. Everyone got along. I'm so glad my family all likes each other!! The only downside is that I'm exhausted. My daughter's nanny got Covid while in Nebraska for Christmas (fully vaxxed and boosted) so she couldn't travel and didn't get back in time for daughter to work. So, I went and took care of baby for 2 days last week. I'm beyond tired today, but the washer and dryer are going, and I got a good night's sleep last night, and coffee is my friend today.

Kelly, a new exercise bike will be so fun, and what a great way to get a good start for the new year. I'm so glad Shawn was negative for Covid . . there are a lot of other bugs going around. Working from home and kids on virtual school is ridiculously hard. I'm sending you virtual support.

Sarah, I was sorry to read about your sister and her hubby's health problems. It's a helpless feeling when family has these issues and you are far away. It's a lesson for me that my health is up to me to a great degree. Sure, things happen, but in the end, we are in charge of us, and nobody else can really give it to us or even help that much. Everybody has already got things on their own plate to deal with.

Well, that's my long holidays report. As far as health goals, I'm setting out my schedule for workouts and going back onto my eating plan today. . heading to the kitchen to throw out all the holiday treats!

I'll try to post a few photos later.

GaGasheesh

GaGasheesh

SarahMaxx

Good morning and happy Monday everyone. Sheesh those pictures are wonderful. Thank you for posting them here. I'm so glad that you had such an enjoyable time and was able to get everyone together this year.

I so wish Christmas was a happier time for us, but--well, acceptance! Like you, I'm going to try to continue to do what I can to stay healthy as I age. (And thank you ladies for your support.) Unfortunately, my sister cannot do anything to change her condition. I talked to her yesterday, and she had a series of new shots last week that gave her one day of pain relief, and then it was back. For that one day, they were able to go out to dinner and enjoy some time out of the house. Thinking about how much she endures gives me gratitude and also makes me feel bad about being such a wimp sometimes. For example, I've been having some discomfort in my nose. Honestly, I don't know if it didn't heal well after the break or if there's something else going on. I mentioned it to my doc a couple of appointments ago, and she said that it takes many months sometimes for nerve ending to heal, so I'm trying to be patient. But it has more than 5 months now, so part of me says make an appointment before my next one in March, and then there's that part of me that just wants to go into denial. (If I ignore it, it isn't real!)

Kelly, again, I was so sad to see the post about Diesel and shed some tears for all of you. I hope the new year takes a better turn. I think 2022 owes a lot of folks some good happenings!

Lois, I hope you're getting caught up with work and that you're taking some time for yourself. My quick check of the weather map this morning suggested that you're finally getting some nice temps, and I hope you'll take some walks to get away from work and home tasks for a short time. And I keep thinking about those roasted root vegetables you mentioned--which is a good thing.

Well, I've logged my food and it's time to get moving again. I was up and out early today because I had to follow hubby up to our mechanic's shop. We think (and hope) that they just forgot to tighten something when we had the brakes done a few weeks ago). And I'm meeting Azi to walk after she gets off work, and I have a virtual meeting to attend this evening. In the meantime, I have also made a commitment to get some paperwork taken care of this week and to get back to cleaning and organizing the walk-in closet in my office. (Eighteen years of teleworking and a pack-rat tendency with financial records have taken a toll!)

wiredkell

Sheesh - Thank you for posting those photos. They definitely started my day with a smile Everyone looks so happy in the photo. It was great to hear that you had such a great Christmas and it was so fun. I can feel your exhaustion but I know it was for sure worth it. Oh and I'm not sure if I've told you this before, but I also LOVE puzzles. I go through stints where I have to do all of them that I own until I'm done lol I also have a puzzle app on my ipad, which I do almost every day when I find some time to relax.

Lois - I'm so sorry to hear about your family's loss. It sure has been a difficult time of year. Glad you're able to spend some quality time with that grandbaby of yours. I'm sure that brings such joy to your life.

Sarah - Thank you for the kind words about the losses we have endured lately. The freshest one being our Diesel dog 2 days ago. It's still extremely difficult. Family members are difficult to lose, but especially those that are your buddy and loved you unconditionally. Even though we still have Cash, our house feels empty without him. We know he's in a better place and not hurting anymore though, so we know we made the right decision for him.