05/12/2020, Tuesday

Three more nights of temperatures below freezing, then upper 40's during the day. I hope to bundle up and mow today, as it isn't raining. I received an email that when renovations are done and my salon opens in June, my stylist will start in order of the appointments that were missed from Mid-March. She can only have one client at a time (no sitting with coloring while someone else is cut) and there must be fifteen minutes for disinfection between clients. While I totally agree with the fairness and reason, I had my hair cut and colored last on March 12^th. There are two months of missed appointments ahead of me. It will now take almost double the time to make them up. If I was ever going to do a buzz cut, now is the time. Totally tanked my replacement of grazing with water AND step rehabituations yesterday. Today is a new day...a new opportunity.

Liz, please post pictures of your final beach visit. We're also eager to hear how you made out with BP and stomach. Ann, so sorry to hear about your BIL. Is your sister well enough to be aware of what is going on? Shirl...you are ahead of us... will be interested in the progress of your slow reopening. Diane, I'm assuming DH, the gadget guy, saved the day with your hack?

Love you all !

Good morning! That's a long time to wait for an appointment! I have 4 doctor/dentist routine visits coming up that I am probably going to have to reschedule. God knows when! And obviously a cancelled hair appointment as well.

My stomach is fine this morning, but I do have this lingering fear that it might be the start of a chronic appendicitis, but hopefully it won't recur! My online visit with my PCP went fine - he added a small dose of a beta blocker to my current ARB. I used to be on it prior to WLS and it worked well at low dose then and hopefully will do the same now. But a side-effect can be weight gain! If that happens, I will ask him to put me on a newer version with lower risk of it. They say the average gain is 2.5 pounds and that if that happens people should drop down about 250 calories a day. Really? That would be 25% of my calories a day! Hopefully this low dose won't do that...

We are going to the beach today (did not go yesterday). After my PCP appointment I mailed my box of excess clothes purchased online, gassed and washed the car, and picked up my prescription. After the beach we are having a distanced driveway visit with friends who have stopped walking in the morning so they can say goodbye.

Speaking of goodbye, if Florida doesn't have a surge back up in cases while I am home, I may come back on June 7 with my daughter for a few weeks since I can't go to Aruba. But we will see...

Have a safe and healthy day!

I have to say, your description of how things are going in Florida, or at least your part of Florida, are making me rebellious. DH and I have discussed, what if... a hotel we like, smaller, family owned in St. Petersburg is open. We could fly direct from Minneapolis to Tampa. Airports don't really worry me, they sound pretty deserted. The airplane: they say they're not booking middle seats, but we've all seen the pictures... I guess you would need to purchase the middle seat to be sure. And clearly the 2 aisle seats are one foot apart. And then the rental car... And then believing the hotel room has been sufficiently cleaned. If we did go, we'd rent a room with a patio or balcony, so if the beaches were crowded, we'd have our own space. Right now, I'm coming down on the side of no, there are too many elements out of my control. But the dream keeps nudging my brain. Once the weather is reliably nice here, it should stop tempting me.

Though I have to worry about the flight (I shall report back o that after Thursday), at least I have my own place to stay and own car to drive. And I have friends who are very careful to give us rides to/from small airports. So I feel like the risk is lower than going somewhere not so familiar.

Yes, you are returning to your "home". That's quite a bit different. If I had a cabin, I would most likely visit it, while trying to have as minimal an impact on the permanent residents as possible.

We do have family land up north, but my Dad gets so annoying about trying to control everything, that it's probably not worth it. Maybe, we'll see. I'm just really restless.

I hear you! That's why I may come back here with DD and maybe DS for a bit because they are very antsy.

Weight: 138.0
Veggies/Fruits: 11
Macronutrients: Cals - 1,344, Carbs - 118, Fats - 38, Proteins - 105, Fiber - 27
Fitbit Recorded Sleep: 8 hours!
Exercise: 6,162 steps and 1.5 hours of weeding

I would like to brag on my sleep lately. I think it's due to being outdoors and in sunshine so much lately. I also think my recent scale uptick could be due to some muscle reappearing after my two-week sloth. Bottom line is it doesn't matter, since I'm doing what I need to be doing. It'll all work out.

BTW, I have NO IDEA how I came to imagine that the scales would EVER show what I think a perfect number should be, and then could possibly remain there for the rest of my life. BIG SUBJECT FOR DISCUSSION LATER ... ABOUT WHAT AN IDIOT I AM ABOUT WHAT CONSTITUTES "MANAGING MY WEIGHT, FITNESS, HEALTH." LIFE CHANGES. STUFF CHANGES. WHY DOES THAT SURPRISE ME SO MUCH?

Today I'm going to go visit my youngest sister (not the one who's so sick) for the first time in nearly two months! A few days ago we had a serious conversation about how to act when we're together, and we agreed we are going to hug each other. It's a risk for me because, although she's very responsible when out and about (mask, gloves, lots of sanitation at home), she works in a pharmacy and she regularly visits her daughter (who works in a veterinarian's office) and her two two small children. In fact, now that I'm typing this I'm rethinking the whole hugging thing. Hmmm. This re-entry dealio is a big damn deal, isn't it?

More on pandemic sanitation ... Yesterday I went to my favorite local clothing boutique (owned by a good friend) to support the local small business effort here. BTW, I bought a lovely purse. Anyway, there were only three people in the store (me, the owner and a sales clerk), and during my entire visit none of us wore masks and stood at least six feet away from each other. My current position on wearing PPE is that I'll forgo masks in small-group situations that last only a short time, but mask up when I go to larger, high-traffic venues like Walmart.

Obviously, every time I exit and re-enter my car I rub my hands with Purell, which at the very least gives me a sense of re-sanitation. It also makes me very mindful NOT to touch my face, which I'm doing so much better about than I was two months ago. And of course, when I get home I wash my hands multiple times like a surgeon during the unpacking/re-entry phases.

BTW, I can't find Purell on sale anywhere locally or online, so I'm about to make my own sanitizing hand lotion using aloe vera gel and alcohol (instructions are everywhere online).

To answer DianeO's question, my sister who's on home hospice and on oxygen 24/7 is terribly confused but sometimes does ask about her husband's whereabouts. Her daughter's doing everything she can to keep her mother calm, which is a big job. My BIL's biopsy procedure will be done this morning. I have no doubt that their kids will choose the very best care plan option available to them, but right now, they're just trying to learn what ALL their options are. Again, I really feel for them.

Here we have rain and very cool weather (upper 40s), which will continue for the next 48-72 hours, so my work outdoors will be limited. I suppose it's time to clean out more closets and drawers and learn to play a new musical instrument. ;) I'm also doing "gentle yoga" for 20 minutes daily so my body doesn't completely freak out next Monday when it finds itself back in yoga class for the first time in 2+ months.

That's all I got, kids. Do your best today, whatever that may be.

Had my hair done yesterday. When I got there she said, let's just do the whole damn thing. So color and cut it was. There were masks and I didn't bother to let her blowdry it, just left with it wet. But to have decent color not badly applied by me and 2.5 months of length gone is awesome. I didn't go in her house. Just in the garage. I'm officially a scofflaw. We've been friends for nearly 30 years, so I trust her and she trusts me. Neither of us has been anywhere other than the occasional grocery store.

Today I really need to do some picking up and cleaning around here. I'm not a tidy person unfortunately. Maybe that should be my 60 day thing.

Weight is still unfaceable. As is carb consumption.

Ceci, I'm glad you got that done!

I was wondering this morning how your friend's family has fared with the virus -- the business-flight-hopping dad came home infected. Are they all doing OK?

I have two families of friends who have had it now. The family of 4 you mentioned (husband had a business trip to N.J. in late March) are all better. The ones of them who had fevers (my friend did not) had them for a month! Sounds exhausting.

Another friend of mine's mother is in the hospital with it in Boston. She texted me a FaceTime screenshot last night of the nurse who was pulling her mom's oxygen line, so that's good news! She said they might release her this week. She was in a remdesivir trial. I haven't heard if her dad has tested positive yet. He was still at home.