Louisville!

This may or may not be short, as I'm waiting for my friend as she's checking in at work.  Makes me feel like a grown-up (almost): being set up at a desk in an office.  It's been awhile since I've been so...attired. 

Well!  Yes, we are here!  The trip down went well.  The first flight was especially comfortable; the second flight had smaller, more squished together seats and more people.  And they left a bit late, which by the second flight, my back was really starting to squall.  The ad hoc ice bags on the plane do help, but only so far.  Reclining is still sitting, and the recline available on a coach class seat is minimal. 

But that being said, I'm here!  My friend (Sea Monster) was there waiting for us and off we went!  Let's see...it's Tuesday and we got here Sunday.  Things are going great!  Anna is having a fantastic time at camp with SM's kids.  Her family has gone the extra mile to make us comfortable and welcome.

My only gripe is the sun.  We spent several hours at the pool yesterday, starting in mid-afternoon, mind you.  I covered myself in very heavy duty sunblock, I spent my non-water time (of which it was most) in the SHADE, I wore a hat, I wore a sundress over my swimsuit, and yet, I am burned.  That is both lame and unfair.  So this afternoon's loosely planned pool trip has been suspended.  I'm hoping by tomorrow's more formally planned pool trip my burn will be gone, or I'll be cowering under cover and watching everybody else swim.  Darned Northern European heritage!  So between the heat and the burn, I feel like a red and white beach ball--and not in a good way.  Heat and humidity makes me swell up; it's not pretty. I haven't had to have a welder get my wedding ring off yet, so I guess I'm doing ok.

Thursday we're going to Ohio to meet some of my family who've just moved.  It's way cool!  We'll meet them for an outside dinner; the place my friend found has patio dining which accommodates my chair (and back).  I feel like a dork, but I try and shake it off and not let it ruin my, or anybody else's, good time. 

Today we went to a very nice restaurant and were going to patio dine, but the hostess asked, "Do you REALLY want to eat outside?"  I told her the abridged version and she said there were corner, round tables where I could be both inside and inconspicuous.  So we jumped all over that.  Of course. some guy said, "Are you planning on popping a tent during lunch?" (looking at the chair in its case my friend was carrying).  I did not, in fact, call him an asshole, but just shined him on.  He meant no harm, but stupidity knows no borders.

Well, I may have bored you into a stupor now, so I guess I'll end this.  If you're reading for food news, I have been eating scarb, and except for the very good pizza, my portions have been moderate.  When I get back to The Great Pacific Northwest, we go back to scarb free.  But for right now, I'm here...now!

Leaving in two days

Definitely suffering anxiety now; it's hard to sleep (and my face has that lovely shade of cortisol red all the time now).  My monthly tsunami has started.  This is a mixed blessing.  It's good for my trip (my friend the Sea Monster probably won't want to kill me now), but bad for the next couple of days (pain and anxiety very high).  Sigh.

Too much to do; too much pain to do it.  In the evenings I feel very lonely and fretful when Anna goes to bed.  Mark's at the store (his lovely boss gave him one day off the entire week--and that's the day we're going to the airport).  Wishing for company in the evening, or at least phone calls.

Tonight the neighbor lady is coming over for tea.  That'll be nice; I really like her and it'll be good to have somebody to talk to.  And tea is a short term committment so I can keep at my list.  Tomorrow, we pack!

--X-- Yay!

Well, I finally weighed.  Before VBS, we'd been busy with this and that, and my weight was up a few pounds over X.  I was scarb free a couple of days (can't remember exactly how long now; it's a blur), but forgot to do a weight check before VBS.  Then, VBS, and I was a cookie eating machine, I'm afraid.  So the past three days I did scarb free.

I was quite nervous when I got on the scale, not knowing what to expect.  Could be anything, hey?  But...X!  Woot!  Go metabolism, go!  That makes me feel some better about my pending two week trip.  No doubt scarbs will be ingested, but at least I have hope that after I get home and get back on the mostly scarb free diet, the weight will go away again.  At least I hope it will. 

A bad time for Angel of Death week

I leave in a few days and am feeling overwhelmed by the amount of things on my to do list.  I left it all on the field the last week and have pretty much nothing now.  And, last week, I ate like a stoat.  I'm back on the wagon, but it's hard!  I sure enjoyed eating cookies every day! 

More in a bit.  Just wanted you to know I'm still alive.  Mostly. 

What a week!

It's been a whirlwind, that's for sure.  Ok, not week.  Weeks.  Months.  Years.  But ever since recital season started...oy!  So much to do anyway, but with the added surgical deadline, it's been crazy.  I do think I sometimes push too hard on the projects I want to get done (often at Mark's expense).  I tend to underestimate the time needed to complete something, and exaggerate the importance of said thing.

But that being said, Mark finished the adirondak chairs he's wanted to make since Bush 41 was in office(which are stunning, by the way), and Anna's room has been painted (including the closet) and her furniture moved/shifted (including her baby-now doll) cradle upstairs, which makes me sad.  (Also making me sad...and afraid...is the amount of sorting and cleaning up that still needs to be done; I can't believe Hoffa wasn't located in her closet.)

Her bedroom has been in a steady transition for years now.  It went from baby room, to toddler room, to preschool room, to little kid room, to kid room, now it's tween room.  The pink walls--out.  They're now a stunning blue lavendar.  The doll cradle--out.  The puffy fabric balloons on the wall--out.  I guess it could be worse.  She could be asking to put up Justin Beiber posters or something.  I should count my blessings.

Speaking of blessings, yesterday a great friend of ours came over for a few hours.   We picked Lloyd up at the ferry, walked around a little and got some of PT's finest food (pizza and cupcakes) and enjoyed a picnic at the park.  The weather was pristine, the park was full and happy, and so was I!  Great for three busy people to be able to just take a break and enjoy one of God's greatest blessings, friendship.

Comments, if you please!

Nobody has made a comment on the blog since my friend E--last December.  Come on, people!  Work with me, here!  ;)

Happy Independence Day!

A grateful day

Phew!  Back from dropping Anna off at day camp.  My back is crunchy.  But for the first time in...? (way too long), I have some concentrated quiet time at home.  Yeah, I've got things to do, thankfully some of them are computercentric so I can rest my back while I do them. 

But I had a nice moment when I was walking back to my car from leaving Anna at the barn (She's in a farm camp!  The first half of the day is fiber arts, the second half taking care of the farm animals!).  Anyway, as I strolled back, looking around the campus (It's at a farm school; very cool), I felt grateful for my life.  There's so much good in it.  Yeah, the constant physical pain sucks and no mistake.  But even so, it's beautiful.

I'm blessed with awesome people in my life, and I'm blessed with work.  I love to work!  Yes, it hurts.  And no, I can't do all I want to.  But there's always something I can do, and I'm grateful for that.  For me, a sense of personal pride and accomplishment comes from caring for people and my home.  I leave it all on the field every day.  And that makes me happy (in the long term!).

Don't know about my weight today.  It's been very difficult to find scarb free days with all the summer stuff (like baseball games and the like).  But yesterday and today are.  We'll check in with the scale tomorrow.  My other cortisol type symptoms are at play.  My face is red; I have headaches; my pain level is high.  I'm just hoping and praying there's no associated rapid weight gain cycle.  I worry about the surgery.  At least I have a great week planned with my friend in Kentucky immediately before.  She takes good care of me.  :)

More proof of Sandra's Theorem

Sandra's Theorem: People understand wheelchairs.  Reclining chairs, not so much.

So, for the first time in many years, we went to a Mariners game as a family.  When Anna was maybe 4, we all went. The Guest Services department found us an area that was wheelchair accessible, way up in the rafters.  It's basically how I see movies in a theater (yearly), a big wide spot where chairs go.  Sure, there's 100 level for that, too, but it's about $70 per ticket!  So, we went for the cheap option.

This time, it did not go so smoothly at first.  The ticket takers freaked out on me.  They pulled me aside (apparently, it took 3 of them).  They searched the bag (the chair's portable bag).  They took our tickets and called up to Guest Services.  They said they'd "never heard of this before!!!!!"

After a very long while with people streaming by and me wanting to both cry and go home simultaneously, they came back and said I could go.  Yeah, it was a buzz kill.  But I dug deep and forced myself to put on a happy face.  I did not want to ruin it for my family, especially Anna, who's very sensitive to my feelings when people aren't kind to my, as they said in Rudloph the Red Nosed Reindeer, nonconformity.

So eventually we made it up to our seats.  WOW!  They were BAD!  It was nearly impossible to see what was going on.  They were little ant baseball players.  And it was cccccooollllld.  I'm a lifer of this area, and I can't recall a colder July 1.  But, we had fun.  Left early, though, because Mark asked for the day off, but instead was told to get there as soon as humanly possible.  Sigh.  How long, O Lord....