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Prompt

As I sit here staring at my phone with writer’s block in between phone calls, I decided to give the daily prompt a shot. I had a glorious weekend, but I’m not sure that there’s much to write about there. Unsurprisingly, we spent most of the weekend watching hockey. The state tournament for the Mayor’s division was this weekend and while he wasn’t playing, we all enjoyed watching the games from the convenience of our couch. So on to today’s prompt featured below.

What are three objects you couldn’t live without?

The three objects I couldn’t live without are my iPhone, my Apple Watch, and my book. I wish I had a better answer than my phone, but the truth is that I manage my life and family’s schedule from my phone. In fact, without my phone, I’d have to brave the supermarket during the season. That’s not something you want to experience when snow birds surround you.

Like my phone, I use the Apple Watch to manage my life. Specifically, I use it to manage my thyroid function and fitness. Crucially, the watch has alerted me to a high heart rate while I’m sleeping, which is a sign my thyroid is running hot. Moreover, it signifies that I need to stop working out until my thyroid levels are back to normal. It also tracks my sleep, which is another way I monitor my thyroid. Lastly, I use the watch to keep tabs on my fitness level. If deviations from my norm show up, I know I need to check my thyroid levels.

The last object is my book. I read daily as a means to escape and engage my mind. It doesn’t matter what I’m reading because a book like Calgon will “take me away.” I started reading daily again about four years ago after meeting with one of my associate directors on development. One of my recommendations to him was to read daily as this is a habit most prominent business leaders share. Naturally, I realized that I should probably follow my own advice because if I wasn’t doing it, why should he? Sadly, we lost Paul just a couple of months after that conversation. Yet every day when I read and think about this habit, I think of him.

So tell me in the comments, what are the three objects you couldn’t live without?

Today’s accountability tracker:

  • Workout: 35 spin class, plus 15-minute cooldown courtesy of Apple Fitness+
  • Book: Book: Marcel Proust’s  Finding Lost Time. 
  • Blog: done
  • Word of the day: rebuke. I expect a bit of a rebuke for heavily featuring tech items in my three objects.
  • Today’s song is Pocket Full of Sunshine by Natasha Bedingfield

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Calm

It was a calm morning in our house today. In contrast with yesterday’s actual shit show. Fortunately, the illness that caused the overnight loss of bowels and bladders is gone. It was a bloodbath yesterday. This morning all three puppies are happy, and healthy and didn’t leave a mess in their crates this morning. I even got to watch Bake Off before starting work. Of course, yesterday morning was also hectic because I had a lab appointment at Quest. It’s never fun going to Quest during the snowbird season.

One of the things that has always bothered me since moving to South Florida is having to go to Quest or Lab Corp for blood work. Thankfully, my primary doctor does it in the office. My Endo also has a lab in the office, but it’s not in my insurance carrier’s network. It’s so mind-numbingly infuriating that health insurance makes it so cumbersome to get care. I hate waking up at the ass crack of dawn to get blood work done. Nor do I enjoy scheduling bloodwork out four weeks because it’s season and every Quest around me is booked for weeks.

I was hoping to have the blood work back today, but no such luck. They’ll likely send the results Monday. This time they ran a test to measure inflammation, so it will be interesting to see what that shows. This particular test, high sensitivity C-reactive protein, is helpful in diagnosing inflammatory diseases like lupus and RA as well as helping determine a patient’s risk of heart disease. My family has a well-documented history of heart disease, so I’m curious to see what it shows. This test can also shed light on whether another autoimmune disease is in play for me. So here I am calm as a cucumber waiting on my test results and working.

Meanwhile, my back is still bothering me on my right side where the shingle patches were. I thought I pulled a muscle in bed, but maybe it’s related to the shingles. The location is certainly suspicious. I’ve been treating it with a mixture of camphor, lidocaine, and balsam. Thankfully, Tiger Balm and Salonpas put all that goodness into wearable patches. Otherwise, it can be a literal pain to use either.

Today’s accountability tracker:

  • Workout: 45-minute spin class, plus 15-minute cooldown courtesy of Apple Fitness
  • Book: Book: Marcel Proust’s  Finding Lost Time. 
  • Blog: done
  • Today’s song is fun and a bit risque! Enjoy Lady Marmalade from the Moulin Rouge soundtrack
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Spin City

It’s spin city for me now. After two weeks off from working out, due to shingles, I’m finally back at it. This time, however, I started off on my spin bike instead of the treadmill. I figured at this junction the lighter impact would probably be more forgiving on my overtaxed system. The spinning may be a lighter impact, but it’s not a light workout.

I started my spin city journey off yesterday with a fitness assessment that kicked my ass. Afterward, I did a forty-minute class that also kicked my butt. We got a free year of classes with the JRNY app when we purchased the bike. The app is pretty cool. It has a wide variety of workouts for the bike ranging from ten minutes to seventy-five. Today I did a thirty-five minute class during lunch and that was perfect.

The one major drawback to spinning is the damn seat. The bike seat is a menace to asses everywhere. Unfortunately, the seat of the Ic4 is no exception. Consequently, after finishing my ride this afternoon, I ordered a padded seat cover for the bike. Sadly, Amazon won’t be delivering the cushion until Thursday. So until that point, my poor ass will have to suffer with the bike seat.

Of course, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the Super Bowl yesterday. It was one hell of a game and thankfully the right team won. Sorry Philly, but the majority of your fans are insufferable. Honestly, I would have liked for KC to have scored a touchdown on the last drive, but I get why they did it. Hats off to the receiver that had the selflessness and discipline to stop short of the goal line. If I were KC, I wouldn’t have wanted to give Philly’s offense another chance.

I enjoyed the halftime show. I thought Rihanna and the dancers were phenomenal. The floating platforms were pretty cool too. Rihanna has so many great songs. Obviously, there’s been some criticism today, but you can’t please everyone. And everyone doesn’t have to like everything. we’re actually allowed to have different tastes, which you wouldn’t know by reading social media today. Lastly, I have to give her mad props for the world’s best pregnancy announcement and for kicking ass while pregnant. Pregnancy kicks your butt, but it didn’t slow Rihanna down yesterday.

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Pernicious

Pernicious is the word of the day and as I write this I’m fighting through pernicious boredom at work. I’ve been plenty busy with folks that hang up on me today, yet I find myself mighty bored. In fact, I’m pretty sure I’ve rediscovered the end of the internet. There’s nothing new or interesting to see as everything has been recycled.

Jen Barber is always good for IT advice and a good laugh

Speaking of pernicious, my hubby’s volunteer status has definitely had a negative impact on my mental health. I thought we were making some headway yesterday, but I may have postulated incorrectly. I started writing in a separate journal to help cope with the stress. The strategy has worked wonderfully. After all, not all my thoughts are suitable for public consumption. If you’re looking for a journal app, I’d highly recommend One Journal. It is a free app with a premium subscription available.

It’s been nice having him home this past week. I’ve had several things on my to-do list that have been waiting for. Unfortunately due to shingles and an autoimmune flare, I haven’t been able to tackle any of them. Fortunately, he’s picked up the slack and has been knocking out several items on the to-do list. We have so much stuff upstairs that we simply don’t need anymore. Hopefully, I’ll be feeling better over the weekend, so I can help clean out the upstairs.

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Sandler Sunday

In continuing my r&r reason, it’s Sandler Sunday in our house. We started the morning with The Waterboy and are now continuing with Happy Gilmore. In between, I’ve walked Arrow like 100 times trying to get him to go to the bathroom outside. He gets a bit distracted by all the stuff he sees on the walk. In fact, he really loves birds. I think he’d like nothing more than to catch one. He’s also a fan of squirrels and lizards like his older brother Anakin.

In between movies and walks through the rain, I made some chocolate chocolate chip cookies. The best part of these cookies is undoubtedly the dough. While the cookies are yummy, they’re not as amazing as the dough. My family has a discriminating palate, so I like to use high-quality butter and cocoa powder. It makes for a much richer cookie. Afterward, I started some bread to go with tonight’s dinner. Hopefully, I’ll manage the time so the bread comes out of the oven right as dinner is ready.

I’ve also managed to get the floors vacuumed and some laundry is done. Yesterday afternoon, I was able to finish our taxes. All in all, I have had a very productive restful weekend. The remainder of my Sandler Sunday will be spent finishing laundry, cuddling with the puppies, watching movies, and baking bread.

Today’s song featuring a saxophone is Old Time Rock & Roll by Bob Seger.

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All Star Game

We’re spending our Saturday afternoon watching the NHL All Star game. It’s the perfect way to spend a day I had earmarked for pure rest and relaxation. While the Hubby and I enjoy the game from the comforts of our couch, the Mayor is watching the game live with his teammate. Truly, it will be interesting to hear his impressions of the game. Of course, if we ask, he’ll mumble something and get annoyed.

On Thursday, the Hubby drove the Mayor down to Fla Live arena for the NHL’s All Star game dress rehearsal. He and his teammate got dressed and skated the introductions, so the camera crew could practice their shots. They paid him for his time with a nice all star game hat, which is a pretty big discount for his services. I kid, of course, he was just happy to be a part of the all star experience.

I thought I’d do a weekly recap in memes and photos.

First and foremost, the “Chinese” weather balloon, aka the Death Star, was finally show down today off the coast of the Carolinas. Please note the satire and sarcasm in the sentences before, I’ll brook no complaints about content.

The kitchen sink. Perhaps the grossest story of the week involves our son washing the shit off his shoes in our kitchen sink.

My parents headed home after a beautiful trip to paradise. I certainly wish they could have stayed here longer!

In effort to control the autoimmune flare, I’m on a restricted diet. If it’s fun, I can’t eat it. I kid, sort of…. Hopefully, I can get the flare under control by eating clean. Naturally, there will be no change to my coffee. There are somethings that can’t be compromised.

Ground Hog’s Day has come and went with the little ground rodent seeing his shadow. For many folks, this means six more weeks of winter. For those of us in Florida, it means nothing. Meanwhile, I also saw my shadow and will continue to be a hot mess. If my shadow had vanished, I’m not sure what that would have forebode.

In honor of their performance at the NHL All Star Game today, here’s Fall Out Boy’s Immortals.

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Is it 6:00 yet?

Is it 6:00 yet?!?! I don’t know about you, but I’m ready to start my weekend. To be clear, I have no plans whatsoever, but that is what makes this weekend grand. After a week of shingles, I will make this weekend all about rest and recovery. My big weekend plans are exclusively Netflix and chill. I definitely don’t want to experience shingles again anytime soon. The rashes are mostly gone, but I still feel them. This whole “ghost” rash shit is for the birds.

I’m usually an optimist, so I was hopeful that my hubby’s volunteer status would move back to a paid employee. It appears, however, that my optimism was misplaced. Now I find myself feeling needing unusually pessimistic about the situation. My hubby’s cavalier approach to the situation is not helping either. Rest assured if I didn’t get paid, there would be hell to pay until the situation was rectified. I tend to be just a little bit more aggressive than the hubby.

The added stress of the volunteer status is the likely trigger of the shingles, which is excellent. The longer this situation goes on, the longer my autoimmune flare will continue. So I’m winning on all fronts here. My hubby volunteers and my son washes shit off his shoes in the kitchen. Life is good. Here’s hoping his volunteer status ends post haste and we can return to our regularly scheduled programming. Anyways, is it 6:00 yet? Because I’m ready for this day to be over.

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Happy Hump Day

Happy hump day to one and all. I’m quite excited because my hoodie has become a castaway. That’s right I’m attempting to wear a sports bra and tank. I’m not going to lie, I feel good dressed normally. However, it isn’t super comfortable. Thankfully, I still have some steroid cream to alleviate the itching. Hopefully, the rash will be gone entirely soon.

I’m looking forward to a weekend off from the rink and work, so I can just rest and relax. One thing I definitely want to add to the house as soon as possible is a sauna. The last time I saw my endocrinologist, she recommended adding a sauna to help manage Graves’ disease. In addition, to the sauna, I started my clean eating plan on this happy hump day. Basically, it means nothing processed, no bread, pasta, etc.

Meanwhile, I’m sure Goalielocks has completed his orientation and settled into life in Orlando. I gently suggested that he work the President’s Day Tournament at Genesis Ice (previously RSV,) but he said he may have a volleyball tournament. God forbid he makes some money instead of spending money. Anyway, he’s doing great and loving his place, which makes me happy.

Today also makes the first day of PanCAN’s 28-day walk-a-mile with your dog challenge. I’ll be doing the mile walk in increments throughout my day. Of course, the dogs are always happy to go for a walk outside. They are happiest when they’re exploring the great outdoors. All funds raised go back to fund PanCan, which is funding important research, clinical trials, and supporting patients and families. The list of work isn’t exhaustive, but to write it all out would take another blog post. The 5-year survival rate is now at 12%. When we started this journey in 2015, the five-year survival rate was 5%. We’ve made progress, but there’s still a lot of work to do!

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One Last Visit

My parents made one last visit to our house for dinner yesterday. They’ll head back to Minny after an incredible journey to the Maldives with my younger brother. I’m so proud of my parents for getting out of their comfort zone and trying new things like scuba diving. They’re just rock stars. At any rate, I love seeing my folks live their best life after they gave my brothers and me an amazing childhood.

Before that last visit, they came up to go to lunch with the Mayor and have coffee with me. It was great to hear about their trip and see some pictures. The Mayor is always happy when someone wants to take him to lunch, especially if it’s Chipotle. I worked yesterday but scheduled my lunch so I could hang out with my folks while they were here.

For dinner last night I ordered some pizzas from Cucina Moderne. The Mayor had suggested Sal’s but I demurred his choice given that it sucked the last time we had it. As always, Cucina Moderne’s pizza did not disappoint, nor did their Caesar salad. It was a tasty meal. I particularly enjoyed it as I’m now on a clean eating regimen for the next couple of weeks. I’m hoping it helps get rid of the rash and any underlying inflammation.

Today at work I spoke to a guy that was completely inscrutable. It was like talking to Boomhaier from King of the Hill. He was absolutely impossible to understand. I’m sure he needed dental insurance, but beyond that, your guess is as good as mine. Fortunately, the rest of my calls have been fantastic today. Hopefully, the trend continues into the new month.

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Working Saturday

It’s a working Saturday in our house today. Well, at least I’m working. I don’t think you’d count the Mayor watching the junior game or the hubby scrolling endlessly through Twitter working. A skin is keeping me company, while Athena and Arrow hold down the fort in the family room. Fortunately, it’s been a productive working Saturday so far. It’s not bursting with leads, but it’s not slow either. The puppies, with Athena now joining Anakin, are doing a great job of keeping me company while I work.

I decided to work to add to my production, but there are plenty of things I could be doing around the house. Our loft upstairs looks like a bomb went off in it. To be fair, a bomb named Goalielocks did go off in it. We just added a spin bike, so it would be nice to have it organized and look good. Additionally, the upstairs hallway looks like a donation room for Goodwill. I definitely need to go through everything upstairs. There’s a lot of stuff that we can donate, throw away or put away. I’d also like to get all my shopping and errands done this weekend, but the hubby’s prodigious volunteer status is really cramping my style. Hopefully, his boss will pay him before the month is out.

And now for your shingles update because I’m apparently eighty-five. Fortunately, the rash hasn’t spread any further. It is, however, mighty uncomfortable. In fact, it is both itchy and painful despite looking like it’s healing. The shoulder patch feels like it’s still there in its full glory, but looks like it’s almost gone. Truly, it is an odd and uncomfortable feeling. Moreover, my stomach is not loving all the medicines I’m having to take to eradicate the rash. I can’t wait until I can stop taking the anti-virals and antibiotics. The steroid cream, however, is doing its job nicely without killing my tummy.