Mini update

So thankfully my Covid experience was pretty mild. I have no complaints whatsoever on that score. My taste buds are still relearning themselves, which is what it is.

I was in small stall with my weight, but my period just started so I have no doubt it's hormone and food related, because I have had cravings and have been eating more (by like 200 or so calories). I've been good, in general, with keeping my carbs and sugars low and my protein and fluids high.

In other news, I miss my kid. I miss hugging him. I love that we talk so often. But having a presence is very different than not. I can see why people want to leave closer to their kids. And with Jessie pregnant and me trying to help as much as possible, it's all heart and emotions and figuring things out. 

Finally - Death Certificate

 I just got in my brother's death certificate, and there are several name spellings that are wrong, which is kinda sad and ironic. I will submit to get it updated though, just because names are important and vital records should be accurate.

What this idiot died from though, oy.

Acute Decompensated Heart Failure

Coronary Atherosclerosis

and other contributing factors:

Femoral Hemorrhage, End Stage Renal Disease, Sepsis, Hypertension, Diabetes Type II, Liver Cirrhosis not alcohol related. 

His heart, his kidneys, massive infection, and the Cirrhosis - my mother had that from NASH. I mean, is this more of a genetic situation to add to my damn list of things that could go wrong??

Dave did not take care of himself, barely at all. He sent his money to Levera and Kesha and let himself and his son suffer. Why do this? Why not go to dialysis, get the help needed to have a place to live (they were living out a car) and make sure you can survive and THEN send what is left to them? I don't know if I will ever not think that Levera as a contributing factor because she doesn't work and just kept asking for more. It was stupid.

What a clusterfuck. 

One booked, one to go

 I have a hysterectomy booked for December of 2022. I am very relieved and excited and just a wee bit nervous. This will be the 2nd surgery for the year and I've never had one before so the next several months are going soooo very exhausting and interesting.

I am hoping for the gastric sleeve surgery to be in May...there is just a lot of hoops and requirements and appointments before I can the actual surgery date. But, that will be such a major and positive change to life! I know it's seriously hard work and the amount of reading I've done on it has helped me prepare - or as prepared as one can be, for something like this.

But health and happiness are important factors to life and no one else can do this for me, it's one of those things you have to do for yourself.

Breast MRI

 I just called to try to schedule an appointment for June - which I can't because their scheduling does not go that far ahead - but what the incredibly nice lady told me was 1. I need to call in May and 2. I need - NEED - to be on my period when I start. She said it has to do with how their machine works and that the picture won't come out right.

This is a for a MRI Breast Bilateral with and without contrast.

So I had said I had one before and they did not mention this and she thought I meant another location and I said, I am pretty sure I had done it there but it was because of my Chek2 mutation and then she said that they do make exceptions and that could have been one.

Very interesting....

I can't think of a good title...

I totally hate that up tick in weight when my period comes around. It's like this bloating battle of caring vs not caring...about my weight and what I eat during that time. Today I ate out for lunch so I checked out the website to see the carbs/calories before hand. Annnnnd, I was totally reminded that I have been pretty damn bad lately about what I eat. So. I'm all, fuck sugar. Because really, it's not good for me, at all (I'm insulin resistant and sugar sucks for those of us with PCOS too). I got coffee with just cream. I made hot tea this afternoon, no sugar. I am going to really slim down on that again - poor sugar is going to be out of the picture for a bit. And I will be better (again) with what I am eating. Now, this does NOT mean not eating certain foods, I will just be smart and not eat more than 1 portion type of thing. Yes, this means even cheesecake. Damn it was good. Anyway, I am pretty good on drinking a lot of water for the most part, but I will do better on that end too. Since it's actually starting to get chilly (SCORE!!) I want to start doing yoga/ballet in the mornings before work and cut back on my walks. Which means I need to get bed earlier and get my fat ass up earlier (I like my fat ass, it's not a derogatory thing, it's a nice ass!!)

After this weekend I am going to start decorating for the holidays :) I will need to stock up on candy for Halloween because last year, I was out in about 30 minutes, it was freaking awesome!!

I think I need to take Tiamet in to see the vet and get her blood work done, see where she's at. I think she's doing ok, but I've noticed one of the cats have been going quite a bit of pee lately. Speaking of kitties, I've cut back on their dry food consumption and it looks like Diego and Daisy are losing weight, which is good. I can see a shape (other than round) when I look at Diego!! I do need to give him another bath.

I also need to spray for spiders around the house, I should have done that this past weekend but I didn't get around to it. Ugh.

I think I am just going to rip out my tomato plant. I will try again next year, but doing it from pots and not in the ground. Don't get me wrong, this thing is MASSIVE but once the tomatoes start to ripen, they split and whatnot. I've heard and read about it's a calcium or some other deficiency, I just didn't plan well enough for 1 small tomato plant to monster out on me and then freak out while maturing. So. Planters for that next year. I need to flip my grass I think soon too, with it getting colder. I will need to figure out what I am planting and where next year for that. Something to work on soon :)

My Kid is awesome. Just thought I'd share that :) Some days more awesome than others, though. Yeah...and some days I just don't want to think about ;)

 I think I've got all the residency stuff worked out now for my class :) I will log in tomorrow and see if it is so I can pay for the course. So excited :) I will have to figure out how that will effect my time too I guess.

Think Happy Thoughts !!

It's Thursday, this week is almost over and everything is back to normal at work.

New Years Eve? Sucked.
New Years Day? Sucked.
New Years Night? Awesome!

That's it in a nutshell. I've come to realize my Kid hates holidays and makes them unhappy things to happen. Suffice it to say, that is something we will be working on this year. I've asked him to think of ONE good thing that happens, each day, for us to talk about. It's a good thing to learn how to focus on the positives instead of the negatives. Not to mention it can help avoid hurt feelings...

I have finished off my finances for 2013 and started getting my 2014 working. Fun times.

Tonight, I am going to clear off the dining room table, use it for an actual DINNER and then put the puzzle I'm working on the half that won't be used for meals.

Back to drinking more water again. Yeah! I've felt so dehydrated lately and it's not a nice feeling. This means I am back to pee'ing a gazillion times a day too though...I've also started jumping rope - when it's not raining or snowing outside. It's kicked my ass now several times, but hey, since I can't do my walks at work without freezing my tits off, it's a nice substitute! I will be starting the Tai Chi DVD next week :) Also taking Inositol again. Will see what other supplements I'm going to bring into the mix (well, besides an overall vitamin) in the coming weeks.

Wearing my old size 12's today. I need a belt with these (not the new ones, those are still tight). I've ordered some new bras and hope they come in soon.  It's weird buying bras more regularly - that might sound strange, but in the past I just didn't wear them out so much - but maybe it's because these are actually cute and lacy and whatnot. I don't know, not really sure I care other than I might need to adjust my budget for more regular purchases! I'm not arguing that's all :D

Also: it's snowing right now. Big Fat White Snowflakes.

And I have to go to the store tonight, which will be fun :) I should probably invest in a pair of boots for cold weather. Hmmmm. I think I need to make sure to get hot chocolate, hot cider and stuff to make s'mores :)

In other news...hmmm...we has plans for this weekend :) LOL Cats are in my head it seems!

I am getting my legs waxed in anticipation :)

Anyways, I am gonna go stare at the pretty pretty snow falling outside!

Stainless Steel vs. Non Stick - Part 1

We currently have Non Stick pots and pans.

The (now Ex-)husband knows that when we need to buy new ones (which will be sooner rather than later) and I am pretty sure I want the Stainless Steel set. I have been looking into this for a quite a while now, before the holidays even.

It's a good investment since it will last a lifetime. Health wise, studies are showing the Non Stick/Teflon has fumes that aren't the healthiest, plus I hate how the non stick coating is flaking off on our pans right now.


I know some people who have mostly Stainless Steel but will keep 1 - 10" skillet that is Non Stick for things like eggs or whatever requires a more delicate cooking touch. All I wonder with that is, people 30 years ago didn't really have this Non stick option, and they were able to cook eggs and whatnot (chefs, I'm sure, did all kinds of delicate cooking miracles) so do I really need to even keep that 1 skillet?

I do have 1 cast iron skillet. Maybe I should start using that for now instead of my non stick...hmmm...

I also think I will do a little bit more research before I try to convince the (now Ex-)husband about this investment.
Here are some interesting links so far:

http://missvickie.com/howto/cooking101/secret.htm

http://www.amazon.com/forum/cooking?_encoding=UTF8&cdForum=Fx211KPGGBLHNC6&cdThread=TxYA21ALTW36NR

http://environment.about.com/od/healthenvironment/a/safecookware.htm