Tuesday, January 27, 2026

122.6 - up 3 pounds after this trip. Yikes! Sometimes in the past I wouldn't weigh immediately upon return but I didn't want to ostrich. Hopefully going back to a normal eating routine (after today) will get it settling back down.

We got back at 1:20 yesterday, so a little early. All travels were smooth and Justice has been a little love bug. DS cooked dinner last night: scallops and risotto, so it wasn't a meal to lose travel weight with.

It is 41 this morning with a high of 59 expected. Looking at the longer term forecast, right now they are predicting Sunday to have a low of 29 and a high of 50. Yikes again! We are driving to the Keys for a 2 week stay that day. I don't think we will hurry.

As mentioned, today won't be a low eating day as this is DS's last day - we are going to lunch with him at the Beach Club, then driving him to Orlando this afternoon. We will have dinner with him there, then he will stay at a hotel overnight since he is flying back to Portland ME on a 6 am flight tomorrow morning. Good thing he has the extra day after the snowstorm there for the airport to get cleaned up.

That's what's going on here in sunny, cool Florida. Time for a Justice walk soon.

Have a tantalizing Tuesday!

197.4 The suit works great! It's actually two pieces, pants and a shirt that feel like very lightweight long underwear. It would probably tear easily and they warn you to take off jewelry for that reason. The verbal instructions the app gives are very easy to understand. It helps you make sure you have everything on right, then helps you stand at the right distance from your phone, then has you turn like a clock, taking pictures at every hour position. Then you get a report showing you in 3D with all your measurements. You can spin yourself in the app and see from all angles. It also rates your posture, gives you your shape, I'm a rectangle, and estimates your body fat. (Peps and I wondered how accurate that would be, but regardless mine is high). You're supposed to scan yourself every two weeks and it will compare your measurements against each other so you can see your progress. I am bad at measuring myself, so this seems like a fun way to do it.

The architect meeting was terrific. She actually just went over my folks' house, but it was so much better than anything we would have come up with! She added a large entryway which is something the house lacks (everyone comes in through the kitchen and we actually removed what was a weird front door in a bad place which confused everyone). The new entry would be covered and would have both stairs and an elevator hidden behind a door to get you up to the house level (about 6 stairs). The new master bath would accommodate someone with limited mobility to get to the shower and toilet easily, she also added a bigger den than they have for their enormous football/golf watching tv that would seat more than 2 people like it does now. Very inspired with not that much change in square footage. We would have just stuck an elevator on the side of the house and called it a day, proving why we are not architects. Next time we'll do my bathrooms, but she needs some more measurements first. And the contractor is lined up for late spring to start on my bathrooms. He needs warmer weather to start on my folks' house for pouring foundation footings.

Today is the dog trainer. We're going to borrow his "girlfriend" for part of the session.

Yesterday Kirby and I took a nice walk and he got pets and cookies from a neighbor.

Another sunny day with no precipitation. The Colorado snowpack is now the worst on record (affecting this year's Colorado river run off) and we are no better, so prepare for more Southwest drought stories this summer. So odd to wish for not-beautiful weather!

I should probably go clean myself up. Hope you all have a great day!

It sounds like the architect came up with a wonderful plan for your Dad and Stepmom! Hopefully she can do the same for you.

DH told me that he consulted with an architect many years ago about expanding his home on the cape and the relating recommendation almost doubled the house and would have cost an exorbitant amount so DH dropped it. Perhaps he didn't give proper parameters because what he really wanted was just one more bathroom and a larger master bedroom. I am pretty sure that could have been accomplished via a relatively small addition and not cost a ton of money. At this point we are planning on spending less and less time there so he doesn't really want to make changes now.

I imagine that this will also be an exorbitant amount because of how expensive building materials have become, but if it means my dad and his wife can stay in the house longer, why not? They don't have to provide for lots of kids when they are gone and I don't need it. As it stands, if either of them lost their mobility right now, they would be in big trouble in that regard. Accessibility was not a priority in 1915! Nor was it for the young family *****novated it in 2000. They updated a lot in terms of electrical, plumbing, windows, insulation, heating, etc. But left as much as possible intact from the original, which means getting into the house didn't change nor did the size of the bathrooms and closets.

Updating my bathrooms is not really a necessity, but my shower needs to be rebuilt due to floor damage, in which case it seems like a good opportunity to change out the things in the rest of the bathroom that bug me, which are pedestal sinks with no counter space, no storage, and cheap fixtures and tiles that have cracked.

The plans for your parents house sound fantastic!

Looking forward to hearing more about your measuring suit the more you use it! Wedding ready bid here you come!

Greetings all

It is overcast here and rain is on the way. But it should not be a big storm. I am at home on a Tuesday morning which is unusual because it is ordinarily scrabble day. Our hostess is still in the hospital and will likely go to a pt hospital soon. She is chosing that over pt and care at home which I think is wise though I am not sure I would do the same. Her significant other is the Shark so I am sure he is with her. Trying to stay informed. House cleaner is also having pt for broken leg. Too much of that going around.

CC you are getting so much done! House plans. The elevator is a great idea. I wish my brother would get one for his hillside house. Totally worth whatever it costs. We look forward to hearing the tales of the measurement suit. The two week interval is interesting and reminds us that weighing every day may not be as useful as we think. (said she who has not weighed in weeks). GL with Kirby and the trainer. Wish I could teach my dogs not to come unglued whenever someone is at the door or comes inside.

Enjoy your time with DS Liz. And the cooking. Yay Patriots!

Today's mission is hair washing and then to begin cleaning out closets. The inspiration for this is that gold has reached $5000 an ounce. What does that have to do with cleaning out closets? The answer is that years ago my brother sent me a gold bracelet that had belonged to our aunt that he inherited. It is like a charm bracelet only instead of charms it has gold coins. Lots of them. I hid it somewhere when we were traveling and had house sitters so now I am going to hunt for it. I have already looked in more obvious places so need to investigate the more obscure corners of the house. I wonder if a metal detector would help? Of course DH has one. But before all that I am going to start some farro soup in the slow cooker.

Well the wind is kicking up so it is a good day for soup. Preparing for Tesla to wig out.

Diane S.

I hope you find the bracelet! And I'm excited because I own a bullion coin. I didn't realize it's value had increased so much.

How did the soup turn out?

Wow! Gold is worth that much now! Perhaps I should sell a thick necklace I got in the 80's and never wear!

I've found the last week in January in Florida to be surprisingly cold back in the day when we visited during that time period. Not a bad time to head to Key West! And the cold weather won't last long.

Peps you asked about how it feels to be away from home right now. The news is terrible, but I am also so proud of my people. But selfishly, I am happy to be having a break from all the sad things. Today I felt melancholy remembering my Mom bought me a dress from Amazon to wear in Brazil. I thanked her profusely, but inside I was sigh, she chose something I never could wear as it had a deep open back that wouldn't accommodate any bra. But I thought, I'll bring it, and take a picture. The dress did not come along , but today I thought about how this was how my Mom's way to tell me she was sorry she had given me such a hard time all summer about traveling. It will hang in my closet for the foreseeable future.

Today was the first day we were completely on our own. We got up late ish, got ready and walked uphill for several blocks to a cafe we picked from the internet. It was hot, 93, and they thought we were crazy because we wanted to sit outside, but there was a fan and it was shady, so we were quite comfortable. The downhill walk back to our apartment was pleasant as this is a city of trees and shaded sidewalks. We relaxed by the pool for the rest of the afternoon. The pool is not your standard shape, it has a shallow rectangle which is for the purpose of cooling off, and then a long deeper pool, but it is only the width of a lane, a lap pool of sorts. It works fine for me because no one seems to be using it during the day, so I can swim and float in the lap pool.

Right now DH is making a pizza without an oven! LOL we didn't notice there was only a cooktop until we come home with a take and back pizza. He tried two strategies: he cooked the pizza in a fry pan with a cover, and he put another hunk on a panini press propped open with a spoon so the top of the press wouldn't touch the cheese. Both worked really well, in fact the crust might be better than oven baked.

We are enjoying our time here so very much. We could easily see returning other winters for 2 months to this very rental.

Such an industrious husband you have! Glad you were able to salvage the dinner!

Your trip reports both here and FB have been delightful. Thank you for sharing with us!