I'm so sorry that the shingles is hitting you so hard @shanaber . I hope your recovery is on the faster side. Hopefully being in good shape will help your body fight it off.

I haven't heard from my cardiologist yet, but did see the test results from the stress echo I had last week. There were no abnormalities found. That's good, but still no answers. Things are getting better on their own. Makes me wonder if it is a long term affect of CoVID.

Good morning!

@shanaber Yeah, I am trying to get it all done! Thankfully my PA is great and will do whatever I ask with little justification LOL We might go your route for dental. I was looking at all the plans and they aren't that great. $50 for 2 people and all that is fully covered is cleanings and 1 xray a year. After that for major work they cover about half, unless you upgrade to the $80 a month plan, then they cover bout 65%. DH is going to check his company plan, he thinks it might be $30 a month for basic. We don't have any dental issues so that might be a plan to just put the money away, how much does a cleaning cost? I can imagine shingles would feel like being sick, it is a virus. Hopefully you are the downhill side of it running it's course.

So updates:

Ranch: Nothing LOL Hopefully we get the public works engineering report soon. Plans for the house are with the structural engineer till mid Apr. While I am impatient, it is kind of nice to have nothing to do.

Critters: Oof, we are hemorrhaging money right now on these guys. Grey cat had his follow up for his fluid in his lungs, Vet said they look better but he has a lot of "weirdness" in his lungs between remaining fluid and inflammation. We had a long talk about our way forward. I love her, she is so creative and really works hard to treat them. All his blood work came back great though! Even his kidney values improved. Of course the next day he started vomiting and dry heaving and hasn't really eaten in 3 days. But we are pros at that and he is slowly coming around again. Feb totals: $300. Black cat had chemo yesterday, he got a B+ on how he handled it. He lost another 1/4 pound and he is 1/2 pound from "oh *kitten*" weight. Again, another fantastic doctor and we had long talks and she said clinically he can have another dose but we need to work on getting him to eat, kidney diet be damned. She thinks it may take a couple doses. He was super perky for 1 week after the first dose and then became lethargic. So she hopes this time we can make it 2 weeks and it will show the chemo is working. Feb totals $900. We also had a horse go down (did I ever mention there are 2 left on the ranch?) They are super old and not really adoptable. One of them is a choker and he choked so that was an ER after hours vet visit. Cost: TBD.

Me: My PA called me 3 days after my MRI, usually they call to schedule and appt to discuss, but he called directly. I have 3 vertebra (C5-7) that have slipped. Explains a lot actually. I guess my stiff sore neck has not been stress and the sensation issues also in my hands are a C7-8 issue. I already have an appt with ortho. Also got all my blood work from rheum. I was negative on all the big markers for obv rheum issues. She also ran pretty much EVERY inflammatory test out there and I am in the high normal range for a bunch of autoimmune markers. Also interestingly, my kidney function is just below normal which I think has happened before. I have an appt with her today to see what she thinks. Might be time to clean up my diet LOL.

Reselling: Sales are picking up, sucks being at the mercy of technology. While black cat was at his chemo, I drove about 40 min south to another Goodwill outlet in SoCal. It was bigger but oof, it was at the pro level LOL. When the new bins came out the ladies (who all reached about my shoulder) would just push you out of the their way. One lady just leaned on me to try and push me and then grabbed everything that was in front of me. At lunch, all the taco trucks arrived. IDK what they do with the stuff, maybe swap meet sellers...that is big business for the immigrant community. I spent about 2 hours there and I got about 20 items, but oof, it was hard work and stressful. IDK if that will be a place on my rotation. Next appt I am going to go a bit further south to another one, hopefully it is better.

Good news, DH mentioned to a coworker we were looked for a place and they gave our name to someone who is looking for a short term renter. We don't have all the details yet on how long the lease would be or the rent amount, but fingers crossed it is not crazy high rent and for 1 year! If we can get it, we would move in May...so that would give us until Apr 24 to have the house built and approved for occupation.

Food/diet? Yeah, nothing.

Well, best get to it! Have a good week!

@swenson19d - I am so excited about your JH interview and that it went so well!! You look terrific in the picture and no your makeup looks great. Actually looks like you had it done. Did DD help or did you do it all yourself?

@CMorning99 - Vet costs are SO high. When Hobbes hurt his paw and had x-rays it was so expensive. $400 for the x-rays plus $75 for the visit. I love our vet though and appreciate all they do for us. We have been going there since we moved into our house in the 80's and she was brand new. I was also reading that there is a veterinarian shortage in the US. Mostly because of the high cost of the schooling and not as much payback as for a medical degree. CA is looking at some kind of loan forgiveness for vets who work in shelters and underserved communities. I really think the vet 'industry' needs to look at acceptance rates and available public schools. They have limited themselves for so long by having so few public vet schools available and then limiting the acceptance rates. For many kids they end up going to a private vet school and paying really high tuition.

I am doing a bit better. The shingles rash is mostly all gone so now it is just dealing with the weird nerve pain. Most of the achiness is gone but sometimes the area itches, sometimes there is stabbing or cramping pain and other times it feels like bugs or worms crawling on me. The Neurontin seems to be helping some with all of that so I think I am finally on the down side of it all even if it takes a couple more weeks to completely go away. I did get out yesterday for a good, long (6.4mi) fast walk. It was cold (for us) 55F feels like 48F and the wind was howling. I think if the wind hadn't been blowing it would have actually been nice. It looked beautiful out and I went with just a light hoody and the wind went right through it. A normal person would have stopped back at home and changed but I kept thinking if I walked faster I would warm up 😂
For most of the rest of the week and through the weekend it is supposed to be really cold and rainy. It is 10am here and only 45F out and has been raining off and on. It is supposed to get to 50F but I have my doubts.
@CMorning99 - are you getting lots of rain or even snow up your way?

@CMorning99 I'm glad the animals are hanging in there, even if they are costing you the big bucks. Sounds like you have great vets working with you. And, I don't think you had ever mentioned that there were 2 horses at the farm. If you had, I forgot. Dental is something that I keep looking at, but never do. I add up the dollars and decide, unless something major happens, I would be losing money if I had the insurance. My 6 month visits are typically around $150 or less. Fingers crossed that the house rental works out for you.

Congratulations @swenson19d ! So excited that your interview went well. You look great in the photo and it sure doesn't look like you have gained weight!

@shanaber Glad to hear that the shingles are getting better, even though the lingering symptoms sound horrible. I hope you feel better and better every day.

Sorry I haven't checked in this week. It's been a tough one...super busy a couple of days and tummy issues Tuesday night that made me sleep on the couch to be closer to the bathroom. LOL At least I lost a couple of pound that night. Usually, I'm the same and it really makes me mad. If I'm going to lose all of that stuff (diarrhea), I should at least be lighter the next morning. I just didn't sleep good most of the week either, which made exercising hard, but I did get something done everyday.

When I weighed myself this morning (I did gain back that weight, so it was all water) I realized something. Over the last year I have gradually put on about 10 pounds...going up a little, down a little, up a little more, etc. But, I have been within a pound of the same weight all the month of Feb and actually down a little. I'm thinking that I'm like a car. You're headed in one direction, but before you can put it in reverse, you have to come to a stop. So, I'm hoping this is my stopping place and I can get the gear shift into reverse and start heading in the right direction. I am currently at 153.2 pounds. My goal is to be back to at least 140 by the end of the year. I think I can do that, if I start watching just a little bit of what I eat.

It's rainy here today, so will be cleaning house and doing a treadmill run. I hope you all have a great weekend and I'll try to check in more often.

@swenson19d I would take the blue jays as a positive sign. I hope you hear from them soon. How tall are you? I think I would be too small if I were 124 pound at 5'6". I liked the way I felt and looked at 135, but that didn't last very long before I started gaining again. Maintenance is hard.

@swenson19d - I agree the bluejays are a sign! I had no idea that was JH's mascot though. My DD never had anything with the school logo or anything on it other than binders and her diploma of course.
I am shorter than both you and @quilteryoyo but I weigh now about the same as @quilteryoyo. The weird thing for me is all my clothes still fit fine so I am not exactly sure where I have gained.

I also wanted to be in the 120's. Made it to 125 for an instant, maybe 6 mos and then settled in and hung around 130-135 for several years. I have lost a couple of pounds from my latest high but would really like to get back down to 140ish. I like 130 but I don't think I can get back down there.

just back from the vet with Hayami Mochi.

The sadness is setting in. She isn't likey to get a good prognosis with the heart murmur. EKG will be done before she gets spayed which will be a baseline. Vet says that cat murmurs are almost always malignant. Life expectancy is 3-4 years. 🥹😔

@shanaber How long is this supposed to last? it's shingles that still keeping you down, right? Sounds like a struggle indeed. I hope you enjoy the trip. It sounds nice. I would love to visit Monterey. It was my ultimate running destination. Enjoy the couch snuggles with Hobbes.

Regarding the MUSC acceptance.
Yes it is conditional. I have to pass the board and submit my final transcript. I have until March 15th to commit with $485. I'm really hoping JH or OU come through. I dont want decline this offer if it is the only one i get.

Amimal count.
Four cats. Bean 13, Beary 4, Cori 2ish, and Mochi 6 months.
Dogs. Maggie is 12, and the puppies are 19 months-ish.

Cat history
We lost Goober (14) who was Bears buddy so we got him Cori. They play, but Cori isnt as emotionally needy/in touch, he's to busy being a turd outside guarding and stalking birds and other critters. I brought home the little, very underweight female, 2 pounds at 4 months, with intestinal troubles and she disappeared, Mallory. So, for Bubba Bear, we got Mochi since he was so so sad about not having Mallory.


Sure the next few years we will lose bean, mags, and mochi. Bean is overweight and arthritic. maggie is still active and keeps the pups in line. We will be down to 2 & 2 in the not to distant future. Bear will be heart broken, again. Poor guy. Fingers crossed that Mochi's heart defect is benign. I'll have to get him a friend again when she's about 2-2.5.

Viola
Was cancelled today. Im rather relieved since i havent practiced and I am behind in course work. But I am going to make the 45 min trip for a facial. I've never had one but think i'll enjoy the pampering.

@shanaber I'm glad your clothes still fit. Mine start getting tight right away...I think because I gain all over and not in one place. We can lose some, even not not back to our ultimate goals...it's hard as we get older and have injuries, etc. Enjoy your trip and visit with your DD. It sounds like fun.

@CMorning99 That's a lot going on with your back! I hope the ortho can help you out. Also hope you can get that free crown. Sorry about the trial. That has to be so frustrating. Yeah on getting the rental!!!!

@swenson19d Sorry about Mochi. Big hugs.

Good morning folks!

I was so confused again what day it was, I thought for sure I had gone to work yesterday... in a sense I did, just different work LOL.

The weekend was full of highs and lows.

The lows: The CalFire is a bunch of divas who think the world revolves around their mission. I get it, they are trying to save lives and homes, but they ask for the "perfect" set up to do so. Sorry, life don't work that way LOL. They want an 80ft unobstructed improved road turnaround within 50ft of both structures. In order to do that I have to move all the horse pens, take down my moms favorite avocado tree that is massive, and move the gas meter. Not mention as the old song says "tear down paradise and put in a parking lot". There also some unclear words that we may need to upgrade the old mobile with fire sprinklers. We also have to make our driveway 16ft across with a 10ft turnout. Who the heck do they think is gonna be using the driveway? The whole damn neighborhood? So Friday night was a sleepless night as my runaway worrying took over. We only have about half of what mom left me, I have spent nearly 90K so far on this damn property split...I am worried about money running out before we can even sell, especially if we have to have a down payment on the construction loan.

The Highs: The cats are doing better! Grey cat actually had the zoomies twice this weekend! So adorable! I highly recommend Solensia arthritis shots for your older pets. Black cat may have gained some weight! Mind you it was from Sheba and not kidney diet, but we will take it. Hopefully his kidneys' are ok, we find out next week. We have a place to live till 30 Apr 24! We went out and looked at the house formally and it is small but hey, we will make it work. It is so cute! It was built in the mid 1960's so the sqft and layout reflects that...back when "guest" "kid" bedrooms only needed to be 10ft x 10ft LOL. It is going to take some work to fit in there with all my inventory and they had combined bedrooms to make the master and so it is a long narrow room...so I told DH we may be sleeping with some boxes or the dining room table LOL.

I did a lot of you tubing and reading on how to manage my stress, anxiety, over worrying. Can't say I have found the perfect solution yet LOL. DH and I got in a bit of a tiff this weekend b/c in my brain, if you aren't worrying, you don't care. DH is like..."it will work out".

This weeks to dos to help anxiety:

Schedule appt with bank about construction loan. Stressor: Money If we don't have to put $$$ down, we are golden, if we do...oh boy, bring on the stress. Unfortunately I haven't found a credit union who does construction loans so we are at the mercy of the local bank.

Fencing moves: Stress: We need a handyman. I love our guy, but he is so slow and unreliable to show up. I told DH we could really do it ourselves. That led to a talk about how physically lazy we are. After working all week, do we really want to go pound post holes?

I tracked calories all week last week and pretty easily stayed under 1750. If it was accurate, that is about a 250 cal deficit.

I have my ortho appt today, I don't expect much to change from it. Just hope to get VA money for future fixes.

Have a great week!