Weighing In

164.8

New badge says “I pity the fool who quits now.” I haven’t walked for distance in a week now.

Juggling priorities...DH on quarantine, water service repairs, extra meetings at work. I bailed on tonight’s event, as well as the sister walk. 😭

Need to sleep but wanted to say hi to y’all. Maybe show you how cute Benji is with his new grooming 🥰

He was not happy that I disturbed him to show him off.  😂

Going Slowly, Weighing In

166.2

Well, better than yesterday, but a long way to go.

I have work to do.

I've been pondering - why do I seem to be slowing down?  Is it aging? Is it the weight gain? Is it the natural going into the dormant season, winter, with less daylight and more sleep?

Is it the tender hip? Am I giving it too much say in what I do? Am I using it as an excuse to not do what I need to do?

More questions than answers. Such is life.

I've got allergy meds on board to have a comfortable morning. This is my worst time of year for seasonal allergies; in my 20s, I landed at my first ENT, wishing for them to "make it go away". With a diagnosis of allergic rhinitis and a bottle of nasal spray steroids, I got through that season. My taste for carrots permanently changed.

Nowadays I head for the old standbys - Sudafed and chlortrimeton. I don't like being medicated 24/7 for something that makes me uncomfortable with a 20-minute attack here and there. I really miss another remedy from my 20s - dimetapp liquid gel antihistamine-only. I could take one of those and be good for 3 days. But alas, there is less profit in something that works (because I don't need to buy it again and again / so frequently), and I live in the US, which since the Reagan era has allowed health care to earn profits ... so the dimetapp liqui-gel anithistamine-only remedy disappeared from the OTC market.

"You don't want that," pundits say. "Antihistamines make you tired." 1. Yes, I did want that. 2. No, it did not make me tired.

Sigh.

And the 24-hour medicines proclaim I want 24-hour allergy relief. Actually, I only want 20 minute relief 2 or 3 times a day when my allergies are at their worst. But again, who listens to me?

And on the subject of listening to me - if I am completely honest about a problem, others come up with THEIR solution. On one civic survey I took, I let the powers that be know how important after school child care/supervision was to me. I thought I was saying, "please prioritize funding for this." What they heard was, "She values this enough, she'll pay for it herself and we can fund other things." The price of after school care shot up the next year, double or triple, and it was too much for my budget so I let the tween go unsupervised between school and when I got home from work. Emotionally it was tough. And, burned by that survey, I hesitate before participating in the public sphere again.

Sigh.

I didn't mean for this to turn into a rant, but there it is.

On to happier notes:

Today I am playing with magnetic false eyelashes since I'll be alone in the office. I could see myself wearing these every day if it's successful. 

I am less than a mile from my next 10-mile badge. So ... I may prioritize walking after work. The day looks to be pleasant enough.

Sending positive energy your way. Do your best to have a good day.

Love & Hugs

Sunday Fall Chatter

 Well, I hobbled my way to the next badge:

Travel wiped out my usual Wednesday blog, and kept me offline on more of my personal time - and I liked it. Continuing the trend. I accidentally walked two miles while I was away from home; I miscalculated the distance, and fortunately suffered no ill effects. I haven’t gone more than 1.6 since before physical therapy this summer. Tried 2 miles again on the Wednesday walk. No ill effects on Thursday. Friday, my hip was tender, and it was on Saturday as well, but I still managed two slow miles attending to proper walking form. Today I’ll rest it again. I’m not sure I can squeeze a walk in Monday, but a Monday-Wednesday-Saturday morning walking schedule makes sense in my mind. We shall see.

In other news, I completed my oversized seasonal puzzle:

I began assembling it on our larger table before our sudden need to travel. I offered to disassemble it to clear the table for DH while we were gone. He was sweet and said, “And have you start over? No.” Now there’s no guarantee I would have started over and completed it. Life goes on. But it was also his way to say he cares about things that are important to me. I was willing to let it go in favor of taking care of the young adults, but he supported me so I could support them. ❤️

Well, I feel the need to get back to offline living. Hugs and love!