Tuesday This and That

 Follow up on my check-up with the nurse practitioner and my metformin for weight loss journey. The
scale does not lie, there was no change in my weight.  I have been monitoring my caloric intake and going to the gym three days a week for weight training. Maybe I am building muscle?  

 She wants to continue the metformin for 6 weeks with an increase in dosage to 1000mg per day. We are trying to build a case for the Ozempic injection for insulin resistance/weight loss and appeal the decision by insurance.  Insurance declined it initially.  It being Ozempic. 

We did pick up the stuff from the online auction. The drive is about two hours round trip. We are able to take back roads and enjoy the scenery which is still very rural.  The small town where the auction house is located is struggling, with many buildings listed for sale.  It seems their primary employer is the large county jail that is adjacent to the small town. 

 At first look, most of it will be saleable. There are a few items that will go straight back to the thrift store. Most of which are home decor items, that are mass-produced for stores like Hobby Lobby, etc. I am going to start listing the remainder of the items today.  It will take me several days to get through all the stuff. 

The dove that was hanging out in the pole barn was actually sitting on two eggs, the baby doves are now sharing the nest with their momma. This is the second set of hatchlings this year for this same spot.  

Hubs is going to see the pain management doctor at the end of the week.  Hopefully, it will be a noninvasive fix for him and he can get back to his old self and back to work.  I have given him my TENS unit that I used before my rotator cuff surgery and we bought him a back brace belt that was recommended.  He has used neither. I ask him if he is going to and his response is yes, tomorrow. 

The grandkids are going back to school in a couple of weeks, summer for them has flown by.  I am taking my granddaughter to the movies today for a fun day out. Last Saturday, I took my grandson out thrifting.  He really enjoys going and looking for video games and stuff.  Lucky kid, he always finds something!

Hope you have a great Tuesday!

Wednesday, Online Auction, Gym Time

 Time just gets away from me! I am still staying busy with tackling daily lists and running around the grandkids.  They are getting older so any time I get with them ( even if it is chauffeuring them from point A to point B) is good enough for me. 

Early morning walk with Cricket 

Yesterday, I met up with to former coworkers for a brunch at a biscuit joint. This is the second year we met for brunch since I left my position pre-covid 2019.  We bonded as teacher assistants in an elementary school that (we felt) treated teacher assistants as second-class employees.  The grunts.  That being said,
budgets have been cut so severely that there are so few teacher assistants, and now only for ESE students, mainstream teachers are getting the short end of the stick. Brunch was really good as was the company.  I really enjoy these ladies. 

My gym time has been consistent for the last 4 weeks.  This has a lot to do with my husband being home with his back injury.  I miss having the house to myself lol, and getting up at 4:30 to go to the gym, walking the dog, and spending time on the porch drinking coffee  (by myself) and enjoying the crows keeps me grounded. His being home and not really able to do all the things he wants to do is frustrating for him and for me. I know, this shall pass too. 

I am still not able to remember where I put the new spray nozzle for the hose.  It has got to be here somewhere.  I have been cleaning out my eBay room and putting together a bag of stuff that will be going back to the thrift store. I was also able to throw out some things which I know won't sell or are not fit for the thrift store.  

On the other hand, I will be going to an auction house to pick up several lots I won via an online auction. Did I get carried away? Yes.  Do I need to NOT do an online auction for a few weeks?  Also yes.  Each lot starts out at $5.00 and for the most part, you can typically win with just a $5.00 bid.  The quantity of items in each lot varies. I won a tea set that was made in Japan for $5, and another lot was 20 Horror DVD's for $5.  

Today I am headed to see the NP to follow up on the Metformin for weight loss. I have not got on the scale as I can get carried away with daily weigh-ins.  I also need to decide today if I want to sign up for online counseling, I am still feeling "stuck" and lack the ability to move on with a couple of issues.  The weight gain and LACK of counseling most likely go hand in hand.  

Off to get the day started!

Wednesday, Heat Index, No List, Crows

I have an appointment in Orlando this AM, so my list for today will be brief.  Also, it is going to be too hot to do much of anything outside. 

There were a couple of things that did not get accomplished yesterday, I just ran out of steam.  I will add those to tomorrow's list and see how it goes. 

I decided against making strawberry syrup from the tops of the strawberries.  I have plenty of strawberry freezer jam for a very long time.  Hubs tried it last night and thought it was SUPER SWEET ( it is) and made a face and added in a Yuck for effect.  

Whatever. I still like it and it looks like I will be the only one enjoying it. A little bit at a time because it is so sweet lol. 

It's the second day of Amazon Prime days, I really have not found anything I cannot live without. I do need to order more sneakers for myself and I will do that later today.  There was something else but I can't remember it right now.  

The crows came in to eat this morning.  They typically come in a group of four. The mockingbirds are still mad at them and try to attack them.  

The bird in the middle is the mockingbird buzzing by the crows. 

Not much else.  Time to hit the road and head south. 

Hawk, Freezer Jam, and Another List

 Had lunch with my middle son for my birthday.  We live in the same county but are still an hour away from each other.  This is an elongated county with a HUGE LAKE  that you always have to go around in order for us to see the middle son and his family.   It is so nice to spend time with grown children one on one.  No spouses, no grandkids.  Precious time for me. 

We have a hawk that hangs around our street.  He is usually on the powerlines and just hangs around hunting for his next meal.  

The other day, the hawk stopped by and perched on our broken-down fire pit and then spent time in the bird bath. I suspect he was waiting for the smaller squirrels that run up and down the trees in the yard. He hung out for about 5 minutes, and of course, the crows were long gone. 

 Yesterday was a busy day, I did get a lot of things accomplished. I started a new list for today both here and on my phone. Maybe I need to make a shorter list, as I don't quit until I finish every last thing on the list. 

List for Tuesday: 

• Gym 45 minutes
• Walk Cricket
• Plant more garlic ( instead of throwing it away)
• list three things on eBay
• Start cleaning fence panels ( may take all summer)
• move rain lilies before moving rocks
• Need to move more rocks 
• run to Target for watermelon ( we eat watermelon every night)
• Dust living room 
• vitamins  

Yesterday, I did make strawberry freezer jam.  I overestimated the number of strawberries I would need, so I ended up making two batches of freezer jam  12 pints and I still have two containers of fresh strawberries left.  

I may just freeze them whole and vacuum seal them for later or maybe make a cake or pick up some shortcake for strawberry shortcake.  We don't need the calories, but it still sounds pretty good. 

I did save the tops of the strawberries so I can make strawberry syrup for later. I saw several recipes for this on TikTok. Part of making the syrup includes water bath canning it for long-term storage. I have to pick up more jars while I am at Target.   This is new for me, so I will keep you posted.  TikTok creators say it is very easy... Ok.

We have been spending quite a bit on medical appt copays, most are specialists and the appt is $40.  So far this month, hubs has spent 180 on copays alone.  In a way, this is good for us as we need to learn to budget better for these costs.  In the past, it was not such a concern, but as we get older it seems to be something we will need to plan better for. 

We are still waiting on the result of hubs colonoscopy, he has a history of polyps. They should show up in his patient portal any day now.  He is still struggling with his back/leg pain (pinched nerves) but is able to get around better than last week.  He is still out on leave from work, it is so strange to have him home all day.  That is why I get up at 5 AM to start my day.  I have about 4 hours to myself until he gets up.  And it is nice to putter around the yard and garden in the AM before it gets too darn hot. 

Today I am picking up my granddaughter from gymnastics again. I have to set an alarm on my phone as a reminder to leave on time and not be late. My grandson is feeling cruddy, according to his mom, he has been running a temp for a couple of days and now is experiencing cold sores on his mouth. Hopefully, he is on the mend. 

Have you ever made strawberry syrup from strawberry tops?  

  

Weekly Menu and a Daily List

Here is a list of possible meals for us this week.  The meals can switch days but this will help me stay accountable and hopefully out of the grocery stores for random shopping which is so easy to do. 

Except I still want to make freezer jam as Publix has strawberries on sale for $.99 cents per 16oz and I will need
sugar and SurGel. I do have the jars, so there is that.  That is all I did pick up.  Spent $13.05 on 5 packs of strawberries, Certo and sugar. 

 Monday: eggs, air fried potatoes sausage patties

Tuesday: Grilled chicken breast, salad with fixins

Wednesday: Crock Pot Ravoli

Thursday: Soup and sandwich Hot dogs and tater tots instead

Friday: Pulled Pork and tater tots Chick Fil A 

Saturday: Turkey ( I have a whole frozen turkey to defrost and do something with) 

Sunday: Frozen Pizza ( on sale at Publix which I still need to pick up before the ad changes. )

I do better when I write things down and then have something to refer to later on and I can change this menu up If I find something hiding in the freezer. 

Today my to-do list includes going to the 

• gym
• planting garlic ( cloves that have started to sprout)
• paying bills
• cleaning a rolling shelf rack in the garage
• listing at least three things on eBay
• make strawberry freezer jam (will let you know how it goes lol)
• wash and put up clothes
• vitamins
• give dog a bath 

I will also be picking up my granddaughter from her gymnastics camp. That is always a pleasure, she is the apple of our eye.

Hope your Monday is fabulous!

Doves, Rocks, Another MRI

baby dove 2022

The momma dove has left the metal barn, but one of her babies is still hanging out in the nest.  The baby comes and goes, but for the most part, is still staying close to home.  The ladder is a favorite place for the momma dove to hatch her babies.  In fact, this is the third year for baby doves. 

Baby dove is content to hang out even when hubs is welding, drilling, and making a general racket out there.  Maybe it is both baby doves sharing the nest, but how could we tell?  They all look like doves. 

The landscape rock for the front bed has been moved from the back bed by the pool. When we first picked out the big river rocks, I loved it.  Now, I regret buying it and putting it around the pool deck. I cannot tell you how much we bought, but it was a lot! 

It probably took me a couple of weeks loading up 4 wheelbarrows full of rock to complete the one bed.  I would get out and start shoveling right when the sun came up to make the best use of the cooler mornings.

Rain lillies 

 

There is still another bed in the front of the house to fill up with rocks, but first I will need to transplant all the rain lilies from that bed to another bed that does not yet exist. That is another job in itself, first to figure out where to dig another bed and then to actually get to digging. It does not sound appealing in this current hot month of July.

Hubs is scheduled to see a pain management doctor at the end of the month. That is the soonest he can get in, and once he sees him he can apply for short-term disability depending on what the treatment will be and for how long. 

He is also scheduled for a prostate MRI as his PSA is high and the urologist is wanting to see what is going on.  That will take place in early August.  I am not sure why this MRI has a longer scheduling window as opposed to the Lumbar MRI he had to have.  That only was scheduled out less than a week.  Another MRI, another $500 for that scan. 

Front bed #2

He has top-tier insurance with the same hospital that is doing all the scans and we still have a high out-of-pocket for scans. I suppose if I pulled out the paperwork that he gets every year when renewing his insurance selection, it would state the costs associated with diagnostic exams. 

Today is Sunday, so nothing much will be accomplished.  Maybe a nap, and a little bit of Netflix.  

Tomorrow, Monday, I will be back to the gym early in the AM and then more tasks to complete around the house. I make a list in the notes section of my phone of the things I want to get accomplished for the day.  That has been super helpful to keep me on track and at the end of the day, I feel like I did not waste the day. 

Do you have a daily list of things to accomplish?  Is it written down or do you use your phone?   
 

Crows, Bad Back, and Back to the Gym

 The crows are still visiting and let me know when they are here in the morning.  It can be a bit noisy 
depending on the number.  I dutifully throw out peanuts every morning and watch them search out the nuts and take turns jumping onto and sometimes into the birdbath.

Our mower died, so June was officially "No Mow June".  In the past, this would have driven me crazy.  A messy ill-kept yard was just me.  This probably goes back to growing up in a military family where everything had to be just so.  High and tight. No room for exceptions. 

As it turns out, having grass that was a little scruffy for over a month did not bother me at all this time. It was out of my control and overall it really did not look that bad. Eventually, the mower was fixed and I was able to mow the yard on July 4th.  I sure hope that the repair holds out.  I am just not prepared to buy a new riding lawn mower at this time.  They are darn pricey. 

The hubs has been suffering with an injured back.  It came on suddenly, and the pain was debilitating. He saw his primary doc and was given muscle relaxers, pain meds, and anti-inflammatories. He was using my walker from previous knee replacement surgeries to get around the house and had to sleep in his recliner for at least a week.  An MRI revealed that he is suffering from a pinched nerve with disc compression in two of his lumbar discs. The report offers significantly more detail, but in a nutshell that is what he has to deal with for now. 

He has been on leave from work for two weeks, and may not be back to work for several more weeks.  Right now he is waiting to get in to see a pain management doc to see about pain management and whatever else they can do for him. He is able to get around much better right now, but there are still times when he needs to sit down and take a break.  Today he goes in for his colonoscopy (history of polyps) and Thursday he sees another doc about elevated PSA (prostate-specific antigen). Definitely a busy week for him. 

arriving at the gym at 6AM

I have been going back to the gym at least two days a week, with a goal of three times a week. This is
week three, so there has been continuity to this effort.  I will ride the recumbent bike for 15 minutes ( to keep my knees flexible) and then work out the upper body one day and then the lower body the next day.  I use the machines they have in the gym to accomplish the workouts but I would like to look into using more free weights.  I have also added walking a mile or so three times a week.  I definitely can walk more, but it is so dang hot and humid this time of year. 

Three weeks ago, I saw my doctor's Nurse Practioner regarding weight-loss help.  She put me on metformin to help with appetite control and weight loss.  She wanted to put me on Ozempric but insurance will not cover it for weight loss, only if I had diabetes, which is not the case. The metformin is helpful and I have been able to cut back and I am tracking calories. The NP and I have come to the conclusion that I am insulin resistant and that has contributed to my weight gain.  I go back and see her in a couple of weeks. 

June has been exceptionally hot this year where we are. The AC seems to be running nonstop. How is it where you are?