Tuesday, December 16, 2025

118.4

Didn't do much yesterday other than get ready to leave today as it was windy, cloudy and cool out all day. Though we did have a ****tail with our older neighbors downstairs in the late afternoon. They are the couple with the dog we ended up watching for a few days until we could arrange his transport this past spring.

Leaving for the north in 1.5 hours. I am drinking my coffee on the lanai where there is now 1 slider out of 3 where the plastic has been removed. They covered up the living room window instead yesterday. I am glad we won't be here while they seal up the rest of the windows as they move along the building.

We should be at the house on Cape Cod by early afternoon and will go food shopping at that point. Hopefully there won't be too much snow in the driveway.

I just opened up the news and the first 3 stories were the Brown University shooting, the shooting at Bondi Beach, and the murder of Rob Reiner and his wife. What a sad and angry world we are in right now.

Somehow we need to manage to have a twinkling Tuesday.

Safe travels, Liz. I saw it's quite chilly in Boston today. Bundle up!

204. Not the direction it is supposed to be going and, frankly, undeserved for one off day. Not much I can do except keep on track.

I have a few things I need to still get for Christmas. Ron is set, except for a few little stocking stuffer type of items. Ron insisted that I consider the trip to Disney in November his Christmas present, so I'm off the hook there. He is taking me (and BFF) to Cirque du Soleil on the 28th. I like getting experiences as gifts.

Busy day for the retiree today... Blitz has a tech appointment at 11 am, I want to visit my pops, get to the gym and I have a 5:30 appointment at Costco to have my hearing aids tweaked. I can't handle how bright and tinny the sound is so I have not been wearing them at all. Probably not a good thing.

Another day of chilly weather here. Won't get out of the 40s, which for here is unusual. (I know, nothing compared to the bitter cold of Minnesota and the north east, but it's cold for me!)

Later, peeps!

I think experiences are the best gifts too!

Agreed! That is what we usually try and get the kids. Tickets to a favorite place, restaurant gift certificate, weekend getaway etc.

I didn?t realize you had hearing aids! DH is pretty much deaf in one ear but a hearing aid unfortunately won?t help. He would need a cochlear implant and is not really wanting to do that either.

Hope your busy day is all that you want it to be!

I have only slightly impaired hearing, but enough that in classrooms, restaurants and other places with a lot of background noise (e.g. dog shows!) I have trouble hearing softer voices in a specific frequency range (female and child speaking vocal ranges). I'm beginning to notice i****ching British TV shows, too.

Loss of hearing accelerates cognitive decline, so I figured it's in my best interest to keep my hearing from deteriorating any faster than it is. Good hearing aids can slow down the progression of hearing loss and keep the mind engaged in outside stimuli.

Great proactive move!

My hearing is great and I struggle with British tv shows! My tv always has captions on.

Oh yes, the news has been quite devastating lately. How do we absorb all of this? At DD's commencement, one of the speakers said, Joy is an act of resistance. That really stuck with me. We can see and fight against hate and sadness and injustice and still find joy in this terribly imperfect world.

Has there been a lot of snow on the Cape? We are somewhat ahead of the average snowfall for this time of year (and the month not over yet) but it doesn't feel like soooo much more than I would expect.Today might reach 40 degrees! Crazy swing, as it was -13 Sunday morning.

Our quick trip up North was delightful! The high was 26, with no wind. With the right clothes, it was tolerable to be outside for more than a few minutes. Sunday started with a fantastic concert. Instead of the whole Orchestra, it was mostly brass and percussion to make a big band sound. The concert was called Merry and Bright and it was all that. I think we need to add this to our list of annual Christmas events. We got to Duluth around 7pm, checked in, and then went to a ****tail bar (which also had a big screen) and watched the Vikings game. Monday we toured the historic mansion. With no crowds, we did the expanded audio tour that even included the attic, and we took about 2 hours poking into every nook and cranny we were allowed to access. After a very nice late lunch, we headed over to the light display. It was really so fun! On the way home, I noticed my much younger cousin (by about 24 years) who lives near Duluth, was posting pictures of herself and 5 kids there! We were there at the same time, but didn't see each other.

It was nice to have a break from some of the real world stuff. Now I'm back home, catching up on administrative tasks etc. I had an online visit with my weight loss clinic. They are prescribing my Wegovy, and require a visit every 6 months. The PA I meet with said they are expecting Medicare to begin covering GLP-1s for weight loss mid 2026, and the anticipated copay is $50. Here's hoping!! She asked me if I wanted to try Zepbound to see if I could lose another 10-15 pounds. I'm thinking about it, but if I do, I don't want to start until after I get back from Brazil.

The house got a little cluttered over the weekend while I was busy doing other things, so that's next. It's surprising how one item out of place becomes 6 items so quickly. It's also so surprising how much it matters to me, now that i've had the time and energy to keep things relatively tidy. It's only now that I can see I was in more of survival mode the last year or so of work and conserved most of my energy to get up and go there and get it done. Did I mention I like retirement?

Retirement suits you well! Your time in Duluth sounds grand, even if it was cold and your glasses fogged up (from your pics on FB).