I stopped making entries here in May and have been posting in the Covid 19 Diary. It was too confusing to me to try to enter stuff in both places and honestly, Covid has become so entwined in my life in 2020 it made sense to just post there.
The second reason is that this page is a BLOG format and is much harder to design and move around and I prefer the free form that the Covid Page brings and ultimately will stay with that format. I am using a web softward from Weebly. com which I believe is now owned by Square. Anyway hope you will pop over to the Covid 19 Diary and see the recent posts there. Stay well and be happy.
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I have added coffee with half and half back into my diet. That was probably the thing I missed the most. Next week we will run some blood tests to see if any of this has made a difference.
I seem to have more energy lately and have been sleeping much better. My weight is down a little without really trying. Other than coffee, the only thing I am craving is Fritos which is so strange because I haven't had a Fritos in a long time. My doc is hoping I will continue eliminating geuten, soy, dairy and corn for a few more weeks but at least until the blood tests are done. Still trying to walk as much as possible but what I think is bursitis in my hip has been hampering my efforts. Trying to do some stretches each day. I will probably go see an hip doctor to just rule out anything going on with my hip other than bursitis which I have had before. Otherwise, life goes on. Staying at home mostly except for a trip now and then to a grocery store or the pharmacy. One of the local food distributors to restaurants is offering $10 boxes of vegetables. It is about a 30 minute drive but kind of fun to be out in the world in my car now and then. You pull up, hand them $10 in cash and they put the box in your trunk and off you go! So far the veggies have been great. Acorn squash this week was a treat. Today is 12 years since Richard and I said "I do". How could it be that long and how could it not be longer? It has been a 12 year adventure. So very much has happened in a blink of an eye and yet 12 years. Losing my job at Merrill, getting married at town hall to insure benefits, moving to CT, renovation of out antique CT house, my dad's death, buying a Florida dream home, selling the CT house, renovation of the FL house, renting while the reno went on, moving and getting settled in our new home and now a pandemic, So much has happened and yet it seems just so right and like we have been together forever.
My dear sweet husband is my soul mate. It was that way when we dated in high school but we both had a lot of growing pains and growing up to do. I am grateful that we were able to reconnect and that he has been my husband for the last 12 years. I had given up on dating when I was single and told God that if he wanted me to have someone in my life that they should show up at my door. And once I turned my life over, he did show up but in an email instead of my door. I feel like it was just always meant to be. Happy Anniversary to my wonderful husband Richard. Thank you for being in my life. Well my original intent was to post here every day, but clearly that didn't happen. I got a UTI and did not feel very well so that zapped a lot of days as we tried for a couple of antibiotics before we found the one that worked. So how is the diet going?
I have been pretty successful sticking to the restrictions and it has not been terrible except for the coffee in the morning. I sure do miss that and maybe yogurt is my second thing. After two more weeks I guess habits will have changed and I am not sure if I will go back to all the old foods. On the plus side I am down a few pounds without being hungry. I have made chicken vegetable soup and eat that pretty often. I am about ready to start my third batch. I use Bone Broth I get at Costco as the base and add whatever veggies that are in the fridge, onion, celery, cabbage, beans or whatever. I am supposed to be eating free range chicken or something like that but it is pretty expensive and lately chicken has been hard to come by so my cheat is to get Costco Rotisserie chicken and use that meat in my soup. Not perfect but it is the best I can do. I love lamb so I made a lamb stew in the oven with onions and potatoes. so excellent. I could eat it for every meal. We finished that so time to make another batch. We also have been eating salmon. Supposed to be Pacific salmon, but mostly what I can find is Atlantic. So at least we are eating Salmon. And lots of veggies, cooked and raw. And rice! I make brown rice and eat it hot with a little Ghee on it and a dash of salt. I actually love rice but somehow never ate it before. I also got some rice crackers and eat it with hummus or sardines for lunch. Gotta get those Omega 3's. I am also trying to incorporate intermittent fasting into my life. So I try to delay breakfast to 10 or 11:00 and then have a big lunch and then I am not hungry the rest of the day till dinnertime. Tonight we are having leftover Marinara sauce that I made by adding onions, a can of tomatoes, and ground turkey to a couple jars of sauce and will serve it over chickpea pasta or steamed Zucchini. Drinking a lot of water! Miss having Kumbacha and hot tea and coffee. Tomorrow is our 12th Anniversary. We are going to celebrate by having dinner from PF Chang's. Shrimp is not exactly on my food list, but am going to have it anyway in lobster sauce. I like PF Change because I can customize and make sure it does not have egg or gluten in any of the dishes. Will update again in a few days. Stay safe out ther. Today is Wednesday April 22, 2020
I had to go to Walgreens today. I am taking estrogen patch and it is expensive on my insurance, but Good RX had a coupon I could use at Walgreens for $34. CVS was $39 and Publix where I usually go was $44. Insurance cost is $47. Crazy system in my opinion, but happy for the savings. I also had to stop at the grocery store for Thyme. I didn't bring most of my spices with me as I knew they would be in storage and if they were old already or there was not much left, I pitched the bottle. So it is taking some time to rebuild my spice and herb supply. I needed the thyme for the lamb stew. I was able to get lamb at Costco last week so one boneless leg in the freezer and one for the Lamb Stew I made for dinner. Sliced potato on the bottom, onion layer, cut up boneless leg of lamb layer, onion layer, salt and thyme. I used bone broth instead of regular broth. It was delicious. We had Carrots and grapefruit and honey dew for desert. Chicken soup for lunch with a banana. and brown rice for a mid afternoon snack. I went for a 3.4 mile walk this morning and felt pretty good. Headache is finally gone today but didn't sleep that well last night. Up at 4:00 and couldn't get back to sleep. Today I had my chicken soup for breakfast along with a banana. Some brown rice as a mid afternoon snack and salmon and beets for dinner. Lots of water.
I went to the farmers market today. They sell a box of veggies or fruit for $10. You drive up and they put it in your car. Cash only. They used to supply all the restaurants and this is how they are staying in business while there is no restaurant business. So now I have so much produce to eat! LOL. Need to find a neighbor to share it with, especially the corn which I cannot eat. I still had a dull headache all day. Coffee withdrawal perhaps. I finally had some Kumbacha at dinnertime. It has a tiny bit of sugar in it but I thought it might help my headache and I didn't want it to go bad. Hoping tomorrow is better. Today is the first day for my experiment with eliminating foods that may be contributing to my ongoing inflammation despite being on methotrexate and now a low dose of prednisone. I really would like to get off both meds and get back to some baseline normal whatever that is.
It was really hard to get up and not have my morning coffee. But I had water and took my pills. My doc has added a probiotic, vitamin B complex and grape seed extract to boost my system. I made a pot of chicken vegetable soup with bone broth, cabbage, onions, celery, carrots and of course chicken. The list says to use free range organic chicken, but I had rotisserie chicken leftovers in the fridge and used that. I am also allowed to have lamb so I will make lamb stew today. We had salad for dinner with tuna. I discovered some of the cans of tuna I have added soy. Who knew? Luckily the Costco brand does not have soy. I had to make my own dressing which was ok, but not as good as the bottled dressing I usually use, so I need to work on that. I also made some brown rice in the instant pot for the first time. It came out really well. I had a headache for much of the day. Coffee withdrawal, low sugar level? I am not really sure. I cut my coffee back to one cup a day all last week. But no coffee at all could have been part of it. Really miss sipping on my morning coffee. I have also been trying to add intermittent fasting into my life. I try to delay breakfast till 10 or 11 and then finish eating by 6:00 at night. Helps rest your digestive organs from having to produce all the enzymes by eating all day. I have a new PCP and she has encouraged me to do an elimination diet in the hope of finding out if there is something triggering the inflammation in my system despite being on immune suppressant drugs. We also talked about the value of intermittent fasting or time restricted eating. I just turned 73 so I am going to give it a try. I ordered the prebiotic and probiotic she suggested as well as the book The Complete Guide to Fasting: Heal Your Body Through Intermittent, Alternate-Day, and Extended Fasting
So this week I am going to wean off of coffee and only have one cup a day. Also cutting out alcohol, flour and sugar. By next Sunday I will be ready to eliminate eggs, beef, dairy, gluten and many other things. I guess fruits and veggies, chicken, fish, and rice will become the staples for the month. Will post my progress as the days pass. A little apprehensive about making such a drastic change but hoping it will jolt my own immune system and all the mitochondria to work better. I think I have good longevity genes but would like to improve the quality of life and mostly my energy level! I have a new page on this website called COVID 19 Diary. It is a standard web page and easier to post numbers and daily info. I will post on the blog now and then and return when the crisis is over. meanwhile, take a look at the COVID 19 Diary page.
When we finished our kitchen in December for some reason the chandelier did not hang straight. So they ordered a new one......Of course it was back ordered and finally came in this week. I drove down to get it. They put it in my car and the electricians came today and installed it. Perfect. It hangs the way it is supposed to. So we are very happy. I then hopped in the car and brought the defective one back. I was afraid they would close all the stores and I didn't want to have it hanging around my house. They took it out of the car and I was out of there. I also had the electrician add an outlet in the garage. There is an outlet on one side of the door into the house but I wanted to be able to mount and plug in the charger for my Dyson hand Vac on the other side of the garage so we were not bumping into it walking around the car which just fits in the garage with a little room to walk around it.
Happy to be back home in my own bed! I have become a terrible traveler. Not sleeping well and eating differently than normal seems to take a bigger toll on me than when I was younger and traveled all the time.
The flight home was delayed due to a minor mechanical issue and then we waited on the plane while the storm front passed. The pilot actually had them bring the jet bridge back and opened the doors and told anyone who wanted to get off this was their chance. Apparently there is a two hour limit of how long you can sit on a plane with the doors closed before they have to deplane everyone, so he essentially reset the two hour clock. Pretty smart pilot. No one got off! LOL Finally we were underway and arrived almost two hours late. Spent the last two days resting a lot, doing laundry and a little cleaning and getting some basics at the store after being gone for a week. Where do all those dust bunnies come from!!!! All the activities and sporting events are cancelled here. Many restaurants are offering free delivery so they can stay in business. I feel for all of the people who have been impacted by all the snow birds not being able to spend their money. Many restaurants and services make the bulk of their profit at this time of year. I went to Costco yesterday to pick up my new glasses and figured I would get a few things while I was there. I am not out of TP so I did not stand in the long line to get some. I did score some paper towels which I didn't really need but figured I would take a package. I can't understand the run on water. The tap still works, of course we have a filter for our cold tap water in the kitchen so I can just fill bottles and have nice tasting drinking water! The store was so packed by 11:00 the lines to check out went all the way to the back of the store on both sides. You could barely even shop! They finally closed the doors for 15 minutes to allow the people to check out and clear out the store a bit. I am sure it had to have been a huge fire hazard to have that many people in the store. I just wanted to get some staples and now I am done going out to the store for a week or so so. Deb and Joe are coming tomorrow to visit. I am so excited to see them. We are going to go to the outdoor tour at the Turtle Museum. That't it for today. We spent the day at a fun place with ropes, rock climbing, trampoline, zip line and Sky Flying. They had an incredible spring break price of $60 for the kids and one adult and included a full size pizza. SCORE! Kids had a ball! It was not very crowded so it worked out well for us. Everyone (but me) did the sky flying. the kids went twice! So awesome to see Cass and Jim and the grand kids, Zoe, Violet and Macie. It has been too long since our last visit and they have grown by leaps and bounds. Not little girls anymore. Pedicure We all went for a pedicure on Monday. They had a nice private room and served soft and hard drinks! Bowling After the pedicure we headed to the bowling alley. After the first game, we had to have them put up the bumpers since non of us got even close to 100! The second round was better. LOL High Tea We found a cute little place nearby that served High Tea. Richard has taken Charlotte and Ginger for tea in the past so we wanted to start that tradition with the Wagner girls too! Dinner at Chuy's We all gathered at Chuy's for dinner. After our group picture, on the way to the cars, we discovered a cute goat in the fenced lot next to the parking lot! Very friendly and loved the tortially Zoe had saved to bring home. Hanging out at the Hotel BJ's Brewhouse for dinner
I stayed in Texas an extra two days after Richard went home. I have some friends that I never have time to see so I took an extra day to visit with them.
Sandy Riley was my support system after the divorce. We both went to the Beginning Experience Support group and she and I lived in the same apartment complex. We shared so much and helped each other heal along the way. I was supposed to go to Waxahachie to see my longtime friend Shirley Davis. Shirley worked for me at Merrill many years ago and has been my biggest fan for many years. Unfortunately due to a medical issue with her husband Jim, we were not able to get together but did spend some time catching up on the phone. Finally an early dinner with my Texas sister and BFF Dianne Landen. Dianne and I were in a divorce recovery group at St. Elizabeth. We instantly bonded and shared a journey of recovery from our divorce and supported each out in the healing out hearts and souls and creating a new reality for ourselves. Although we have been far apart since I left Texas each time I see her it is like we never have been apart. Then back to the hotel for an early bedtime. The Wagners had gone to FC Dallas event for the day so it worked out perfectly for everyone to have separate things to do. I am thankful for all the people who supported me when I was in Texas and reinventing myself after the divorce. I wish I could have seen more of them. We headed to Texas yesterday despite fears about all the Corona virus and recommendations for seniors to stay away from public places! It has been a year since we have see our precious Texas grandkids and daughter. Flew out of West Palm Beach which is about 20 minutes from our house. I was surprised that the parking lot was so full, we had to park on the upperdeck under the bright blue sky! This was our first time flying out of PBI so I think we have to explore other parking options.
We haven't flown on American in some time, but they had the direct flight that left at a reasonable time. The older I get the more I find traveling to be exhausting for me so getting to an early flight just adds to being even more tired! Since we were coming home on two different days we had separate tickets. Of course I had TSA Pre but Richard didn't. They stopped him to examine his carry on bag. the bag of almonds he brought caught their attention and the agent had to examine his nuts before he could continue on. How random! I booked an aisle and a window seat hoping no one would book the middle and we were in luck. No third person came. Flight was only about 70% full. Then they announced there was a mechanical problem and they were checking it out. Took about 30 minutes before that got resolved. Then just after the pilot said we were ready to go, he comes back on to say Airforce 2 just landed so there was a temporary shut down till they got situated. Finally we got off. I think we ended up about 50 minutes late into DFW. Richard is heading back home on Wednesday and I am going to stay a couple of day so I can visit with some longtime Texas friends and of course my Texas BFF Dianne. Also have plans to see Shirley who was my admin assistant at Merrill Lynch many years ago. She lives an hour plus from where Cass lives and it is too far to go in a normal visit here. We keep up on FB but it will be nice to see her in person. After getting checked into our room, we headed to Cass's house and then to Paleo Pizza for dinner. The girls are getting so tall! and beautiful and heading toward being young women at an amazing pace. Still so sweet and it was awesome to get some hugs. Today we will head back and not sure of our plan but just want to spend some time with them, reconnecting. Cass has Monday and Thursday off. So I will get some one on one mommy daughter time on Thursday. Its cool in Texas today. 50 degrees now and getting up to the 60s this afternoon. Should have brought warmer clothes but the weather report said 70's this week. That's all for today. Stay tuned. |
Author: Penny
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