Under the weather, but happy

I've been home sick for the past two days. There seems to be some kind of stomach bug/cold/virus thing going around and lucky me, I caught it. I'm actually feeling much better today but given how upset my stomach was all day yesterday, I dared not go back to work yet. I barely made it to the bathroom in time a couple of times, and had I been at work it might have led to some terrible embarrassment.

I've been doing some of my work from home, though. Yesterday one of the assistant principals emailed me and said, "I hope you feel better..........STOP WORKING FROM HOME!" Haha. Had we been talking in person I would have told her that now that our evil principal has been fired, I don't mind keeping my work caught up from home. The guy they sent from the district office to get us through the rest of the month (as the interim principal) is beloved by the staff and students, and I don't mind the way I would have with the wicked witch! I wouldn't have lifted a finger from home for her. What a relief that she's gone; even though I won't be there next year I'm happy that the staff will no longer have to suffer under her. 

Next week I'll be spending a morning at my new school, training with the outgoing secretary. She's retiring after many years in the position, and she's told me through email how much I'm going to love it there! Everyone has been so very kind and encouraging and welcoming already, and I don't even officially start for two months! This may end up being the school I stay at until I retire, with any luck. I'm happy.

Speaking of happy and good news, I decided to weigh myself yesterday and check in on how my diet is going. I've lost 23 pounds since January! Slowly but surely, I'm getting there. By the time I start the new job in July I'll have to have some new clothes. Everything is starting to get loose on me, especially pants. I certainly won't complain about needing new clothes!

Now, as promised, here are some garden pictures. Have a great weekend, everyone!

The marigolds, tomatoes, cucumbers, and peppers in the main bed are starting to grow!

My "Marvel of the Four Seasons" lettuce is looking good right now. 

This is the bed in front of the porch, where I've planted two cherry tomatoes and three pepper plants. Zinnias from last year are resprouting in there, too!

You can't tell in this picture, but our young fig tree is almost shoulder high. Still no sign of a fig yet, though.

The bananas on the side of the porch are growing like mad.

For the first time in all the years I've had it, it looks as if the pomegranate tree is going to produce fruit this year! It's taller than the roof and absolutely loaded with flowers and developing poms. Fingers crossed!

Frustrations abounding

What a week it's been! I guess you could say it's not been the most auspicious start to a new year.

My car, which wouldn't crank on New Year's Eve, had to be towed half a mile to the Toyota dealership for repair. This couldn't happen until Monday because of the holiday, so I took a personal day off work (the first day after the break) to deal with it. We thought it seemed like a dead battery, but we own an electric charger, and it showed the battery as being fully functional. That wasn't the case, though. Apparently, a battery can be so dead that it won't show as being bad on a meter and it can't be jumped off. Or so says one of the mechanics, anyway. After the towing fee and a new battery, I was out $350--but at least I'm back on the road again. 

I decided last month that I was going to attempt to eat better, walk a whole lot more, and give up alcohol entirely from now until my birthday in late March. I know I need to take better care of my health, and I definitely need to lose weight, so (as is my wont when I make up my mind about something) I jumped in whole heartedly last Sunday. Well, I haven't missed the alcohol, but the sudden change in my eating habits has been difficult. I'm afraid of developing diabetes; my mom did about 10 years ago, and it's been hard on her. With that in mind, I decided to cut way back on empty carbs devoid of fiber, vitamins, and minerals. No chips, sweets, wine, sodas, or meals heavy on pasta, bread, or white rice. I'm not doing the super low carb/keto thing; I think those diets are dangerous and not for me, but I'm still eating way fewer carbs than ever before. The first few days have been rough. Mild depression/flat mood, difficulty falling and staying asleep, vivid (and unsettling) dreams, and worst of all...bouts of painful diarrhea the past three mornings. (Sorry if that's tmi). I've been eating well but the changes to my diet have been so drastic that I guess it's been a shock to my digestive system....and all my other systems, too. Today seems a little better, fingers crossed that my body is starting to adjust. I want to feel better, not worse!

I've been looking forward to telling you about this next thing. Everybody seems to love my bird Marco, and I'll admit he's a real character. Everyone loves a good Marco story! Well, here's one for you.

Thursday afternoon I was on my way home from my weekly allergy shot, and I got a text from Gregg. 

Let me show you that picture close up. 

I was horrified, because I knew that meant that Marco had somehow escaped his cage while we were at work.* That's only happened once before since we've had him, and he'd gone on a rampage. I knew it was going to be bad. 

He'd started in the pantry. He tore into the bag of walnuts (his favorite) and made a mess all over with them. He also chewed holes in the bread bag and an oatmeal cream pie wrapper. At some point he hurled the chewed-on oatmeal pie, a can of salt, and some spices to the floor.

If the damage had ended there, we'd have considered ourselves lucky, but no. He moved on to the dining room. That's where he really did some damage.

Behold my (former) best orchid, the one that had a long stalk of flowers getting ready to open.

That was heartbreaking. That orchid was my pride and joy.

For his final trick, Marco had flown over to a floor lamp and knocked the shade askew. That actually turned out to be a good thing, because when Gregg went over to straighten it, it shot sparks straight up in the air. It was an old lamp and there must have been a short in the wiring, because the shade getting knocked around couldn't have caused that. Thank goodness it didn't start a fire**, or electrocute Marco, or both. At least something good came of Marco's adventures, but despite that Gregg and I were both pretty pissed off in the moment. 

So that's how 2023 has started for me. 

*Just like last time, the latch on the front door of Marco's cage hadn't been firmly closed, and he was able to push the door right open.

**Our second recent brush with faulty wiring that could have started a fire (last month it was the pre-lit Christmas tree). Could this be a sign?

Last week of June

How is your summer going?

It's been ridiculously hot here in South Carolina. Temperatures up to 100F with heat indexes of up to 110F have made it nearly impossible to do anything outdoors. I've been staying at home in the A/C with the blinds drawn against the relentless heat. The dogs have been staying inside every day from around noon until bedtime. Ginger has decided that she loves being inside and has a favorite spot picked out in one of the bedrooms right beside an A/C vent. She and George have both been good as gold while inside; they mostly lie around all day and nap. I think they both appreciate getting to escape the heat. We've been giving Marco time out of his cage in the morning before the dogs come in, and then again at night when they go out (and maybe once or twice during the day when I make the dogs go outside for a few minutes to give them opportunities to pee and poop). Since I dare not leave the dogs (especially George) alone in the house, I've been stuck at home during the worst heat of the day so I can keep an eye on them. 

Tomorrow and Wednesday are supposed to be about 10 degrees cooler, which is a good thing, because I have things I need to do during the day. Hopefully it will be safe to leave the dogs out in the garage with their fans going and plenty of water. They also have access to our fenced back yard, which is full of trees and very shady, so they should be fine. 

I've been assigned as a Guardian to a new child, a little boy that just turned a year old this month. I'm going to meet him and the grandparents he's living with on Wednesday afternoon. His mother has addiction issues and wasn't caring for him properly, and so the grandparents had to step in and take him when he was a week old. Little B. showed some signs of opioid withdrawal at birth, but from all accounts is doing well now in the care of his relatives. The mother has supervised visits, but wants full custody back, so this case will likely be heard in court several times. Hence the need for a GAL for the child. I spoke to his grandmother this morning, to set up a time to visit, and she was pleasant and polite and (most importantly) receptive to my role as her grandson's Guardian. I'm not dreading this first visit as much as I've dreaded others in the past, partly because the grandmother assured me that little B. is a delightful toddler and "you're going to love him!" With that kind of positive attitude, I think this woman (and hopefully, her husband) will be easy to work with.

Speaking of children, I'm planning to go see Marla and the baby tomorrow! It's hard to believe that little Carsen is already five weeks old. She's the sweetest baby; she's always asleep when I go to see her, and she smiles in her sleep. 

A photo Marla texted me just this morning. 

I have a long list of chores I'd like to accomplish this week, before the beginning of July. July will be devoted to continuing the process of paring down our possessions in preparation for moving. I've already worked my way through our bookshelves, but that's the tip of the iceberg. Our garage is cluttered, our closets are stuffed full of old clothes and junk, and we even have a whole "junk room" filled with all kinds of things that need to be either organized, repaired, donated, or tossed. I always keep the door to that room closed because it's so shameful looking inside! Now that I have all this time on my hands, there's no excuse for it. Especially when we plan to buy a house before the year is out and will be packing up to move.

On the diet front, I've doubled down on my healthier eating habits and calorie counting--and it's working! I'm now down 17 pounds despite not walking nearly enough in the past week due to the heat. My clothes are getting looser and I'm feeling really good. I think the fact that I'm limiting sugar and junk food is making my skin better, too. The eczema on my knees is completely gone, and while my right ankle still has itchy patches, my left one has almost cleared up, too. The only two things that have really changed are my diet and the amount of water that I drink. So that's a good bonus, too.

I'm finishing up June in a good way on all fronts, and I'm looking forward to July and making more progress on my goals. Do you have any goals you're working toward this summer? If so, I'd love to hear about it!

Willpower (and the lack thereof)

I hate dieting. Not that I'm exactly "on a diet" so much as trying to make some permanent lifestyle changes to lose weight and to get healthier. And I hate it. Hate it. I'm trying to cut out excess sugar and junk food carbs, and it's harder than I thought. I smelled cookies baking in our café at work yesterday and could have wept. Today an author who did a book signing with us on Saturday brought in a dozen doughnuts as a thank you gift and I wanted one so bad. There were chocolate doughnuts with creamy chocolate icing, and caramel iced doughnuts with tiny sugar heart-shaped sprinkles on top, and custard filled doughnuts....I didn't eat one, but instead of feeling proud of myself for abstaining, I just felt....resentful. Because for all the sacrifices I've made over the last couple of weeks, no sweets or soda or buttery croissants, drinking loads of water, and eating salads and baked sweet potatoes and lean protein, I haven't lost any weight yet. None. Nada.  And then I came home from work today and wanted nothing more after a hard day than to have a glass (or three) of wine, but that's off limits, too. I did finally decide to treat myself to a single beer, and I'm drinking it as I type this, and it's so delicious. I know I'll want a second one, but I need to stick to the one. But a tiny part of me keeps thinking "what's the point?" because I lose weight sooooo slowly and gain it so easily unless I police every bite that goes in my mouth. It's just not fair!

Somebody call the waaaambulance! Jennifer's feeling sorry for herself today!

But in all seriousness....how do you keep your willpower strong in the face of mediocre results and lots of temptations?

In a desperate effort to motivate myself to keep on going, I bought a giant pack of multi-colored star stickers yesterday for adding to my wall calendar each day to track my accomplishments. On a day when I eat healthy, wholesome foods all day I get a gold star. When I drink enough water, a blue star. When I surpass my 10,000 step per day target, a red one. Etc. etc. I thought adding all those stars for this week would make me feel good, but honestly, I just feel kind of silly. What normal adult uses star stickers for a reward? A caramel iced doughnut with heart sprinkles might make me happier. At least for a few minutes, before the guilt sets in. Sigh.

With all that being said, this lunch WAS actually yummy as well as healthy!

Very little white stuff

There's a big winter storm blowing through this part of the country. Almost everyone I know (me included) has had high hopes for a few inches of snow. The forecast was initially for 2 or 3 inches in the Eastern half of South Carolina, but we've only had a few flurries and some freezing rain instead. Aside from rare low temperatures for the next few nights, I think that's about the worst we're going to get from this storm. It's disappointing.

Today is day 5 of my low-sugar diet plan, and let me tell you guys..it hasn't been easy. In fact, it's been much harder than I expected. I usually drink maybe 2 Canada Dry ginger ales in a day (it's our favorite soft drink) as well as having a cookie or scone most days at work, and then there's the sugar that I put in coffee and tea throughout the day. Among other things. I quickly discovered that I've been eating a whole lot more of it than I thought. My cravings haven't been too terrible, but dropping most sugar so abruptly left me with headaches, nausea, and the shakes, even after eating a filling meal of lean protein and vegetables.  Last night it got so bad that I ate 2 tangerines, and immediately felt better. So I've decided to add in some fruit and a few more healthy carbs like oatmeal and brown rice. Hopefully that will solve the problem. I don't mind having to withstand cravings, but feeling sick is something else altogether!

That's life at my house today--very little white stuff, of any kind. Sigh.