Thursday, October 9, 2025

117.6

Well, my dermatology visit is going to cost me some money ultimately. My DH is probably going to grumble about me being vain too. I am having a laser treatment to reduce the brown age spots on my face (especially on the sides). I am also going to have a little filler on each side of my mouth and a small amount in my lips to reduce the lines around my mouth (but not to increase the size of my lips - no duck lips for me!). My step-daughters all do Botox so I thought why not?

We won one game of bocce yesterday (we play 2 against a team each week). What a painfully slow game as 2 sisters are the coaches and they insist on everything being measured even though sometimes it really isn't necessary. Each team is different.

Then we watched a fun movie on Netflix: About my Father, with Robert De Niro in it.

Today I finally get caught up on my mammogram and bone density. Much easier to get tests scheduled around here vs. on Cape Cod! Tonight we are out with friends to dinner then a show featuring one of our club's waitresses (she is also a singer). Could be a late night for us (we are generally in bed by 10).

Have a thriving Thursday!

Liz your dermatology plans sound like they are in the Goldilocks Zone: Just right. And it does seem like getting appointments for medical care in Florida is easier (well at least from my one experience last winter). Maybe all the doctors want to live where it's warm too.

Two nights in a row I took a Trazadone because I was having trouble falling and staying asleep. Although I wasn't groggy once I did get up, after taking them, I was also having trouble waking up at 8am, go figure. I was waking up more like 9:30am, which is also closer to my natural circadian rhythm. The deep, deep sleep was revitalizing, so I skipped it last night, and woke up easily. It's nice to know though, if I need some sleep help, they are effective.

I just got back from Planet Fitness. My limbs are just the tiniest bit shaky and it feels good!

Yesterday, I got several tasks completed, which also feels good. More of the same today. Tomorrow is the long drive to get my haircut, but the weather should be good and it's all freeway. Filled the car with gas today, so I'm ready to go.

I've been thinking about how we define success in our weight loss journey. We all have our own metrics. While keeping weight off is certainly one of them, how much weight loss is satisfactory to each of us? My biggest metric is emotional though: not feeling like a captive to food cravings. I've chosen to live in a plumper body so I can indulge in things I enjoy, but I feel like I'm in control of the choices I make, that food is no longer controlling me. The surgery is the biggest factor in my definition of success, but the Wegovy surely does help!

I used to give deceased DH trazadone to help him sleep at night when he started to get a little messed up with his sleep patterns. It worked pretty well for quite a while.

Interesting comments about what weight loss success looks like to an individual. I would absolutely say the biggest thing for me is being able to eat as I like without having to measure and without gaining weight. Both the VSG and the tirzepatide keep my portions down so that I just eat until I feel full which is way before it used to be. But I do credit the tirzepatide for keeping away the cravings which were always my biggest downfall. If I periodically want to indulge I can but I can stop when I've had enough. So instead of trying to eat an entire box of donuts to the point where I felt sick I can now be quite happy with 1/2 a donut. Talk about a win!

Greetings all

It is overcast and kind of chilly here today. Need a hoodie. I did some tax stuff for the studio and did some glazing. Then I went in for my annual doctor visit. He says I am doing great. He does not even think I need to lose weight all that much !!!! WTF, no doctor says that except the first few years after vsg. He says yeah get the weight loss drugs if I want. So whatever. I think I will do it since I do wish I could move around a little better. He is kind of a laissez-faire doctor.

While waiting I got a call from SIL - wife of my deceased brother. She is in the hospital with heart issues. Sending her home today but I am not sure what to expect. She had a heart attack some years ago and does not take care of her health. Not sure what to expect but sounds like nothing good. Her daughter is my only young kin on my side so I need to check in for her sake. Her Dad, my brother died about 5 years ago and her brother died by suicide 20 years ago so she is sort of alone though she has a good husband and his family.

Well Liz I say go for the term stuff. Why not. Interested in the brown spot therapy. We all have them. And yeah I am in for the mamo and bone density stuff. Enjoy the show.

DD glad the trazodone worked. It is a godsend sometimes. I do use ambien and think it's great. No worries about it. Enjoy what is left of fall there.

Made rock cod fish last night and it was pretty good. Reasonably priced at the discount grocery. Steak tonight.

10-4 everybody. Diane S

I never heard of rock cod fish. I just looked them up. It looks like they don't exist on the east coast which is probably why I never heard of them and they aren't related to a regular cod fish (which we have lots of especially in Massachusetts).

I used ambien quite a bit years ago but my body got too used to it so the small dose didn't work well anymore. And I couldn't fall asleep without it so I had to retrain myself to sleep without it.

I'm in Coalville, UT (again!). I will make it home tomorrow, but it will be a LOOOONNNGGG day! I'm anticipating 15-16 hours on the road.

There was drama yesterday, which added an extra hundred miles to my day. I had to back track 50 miles to pick up dogs for my stranded friends. My friends were traveling together with a huge Dutch Star RV (over 40 feet long) and a Ford Transit van like mine. The RV broke down. I saw them pulled over on i-80 east of York, NE. I slammed on the brakes, pulled to the shoulder, turned on my flashers and got out to see what was the matter. Overheated, he said. No worries. Drive on. About 50 miles later, I got a call asking me to turn around and come back to take their dogs back to California. I now have 5 extra dogs traveling with me and I am caravanning with 2 of my friends in their van while the "parents" stay behind with the RV. Between the two vehicles we have 12 dogs! 3 Airedales, 1 Lakeland, and 8 Cairn Terriers! It's a lot, but you gotta do what you gotta do!

My Debit card was compromised. Major fraudulent activity! Not a big deal, except... I chose to travel without my credit card so that this trip would be "cash only". It did not occur to me that I might need my credit card as a back up, just in case of an emergency - just like this. The bank shut off my card due to the fraudulent activity. I went to use it at the gas station yesterday morning and it was declined. I called the bank. An agent turned the card back on remotely while I pumped gas in Davenport, Iowa then closed the card completely. I drove to Lincoln, NE went to a bank branch there and got a temporary debit card. However, If I hadn't had to stop in Lincoln, I would not have seen my friends pulled over on I-80 and wouldn't have been able to help them. So there was a plus to the inconvenience.

No Runza or Culver's yesterday.... BOOOOOOO!

I will have to call the bank again tomorrow because when I went to fill up the van the new debit card was declined this evening. Though it worked all day today. Hmmmm..... UGH....

I will be glad to be back home.

Wow! What a day for you! Must have been destined for you to be around to help your friends though. I hope all those dogs sleep while traveling. You must be exhausted. I stopped doing the twice yearly Massachusetts-Florida drive years ago. That was 1500 miles and too much for me to deal with after a couple of years of it. I think I did it 3 times in 2017-2018, then started flying until I met DH. We did it twice fully I think, in 2020-2021, then a third time went partially down on a car-train to get the car back south.