@MusicCandy @SadMe70 A place to communicate

Hello! This was a good week for exercise. I did a video every day except the day I worked with my trainer, and I went for a nice walk on Friday after work. Since I will lose 40 minutes off my mornings starting tomorrow, my new workout plan is 10 min cardio, 10 min weights, 10 min stretch. This does not allow for my PT things that get me going in the mornings, so if I'm in a lot of pain one day and do the PT, I will just shorten the workout. I have not really been doing a lot of weights, so my thought was to maximize the short time by a burst of cardio to get my metabolism going, and weights to try to rebuild some muscle. On days that I just don't sleep well enough to jump right into cardio right after I wake up, I'll do yoga instead.

My meals were good this week but I have continued to snack too much. I got on the scale and it was very bad news. Most of my snacks are good food, except the chocolate and alcohol, but I'm still eating too much. That is one good thing about going back to school - less opportunity for snacking!

I am sorry you are still having problems with your boss! He may be falling apart between grief and trying to raise his kids alone, but it is sad that he is taking it out on others. I am very glad you have your co-worker to talk to, and of course you can always vent here! I hope that he will get it together and stop acting this way. I am glad that you can mostly avoid him.

The scotch is interesting. If I had not known what it was, I would have been put off by the scent. The peat taste is very heavy up front with more of a usual scotch taste kind of following behind. I seldom can tell things like that about wines, etc., but this very clearly has two flavors. I am very glad I tried it. My husband likes it and maybe we will get more, but I do like other types of scotch better.

I am a little nervous about getting enough sleep to get through the days going back to work. My mornings are always very rushed and I often don't sleep that well. I've had only mixed luck with melatonin. I am glad it works for you! I tend to fall asleep pretty well initially, it's the waking up later that is more of a problem for me. I can't take a sleep aid at 3 when I get up at 5:30, so sometimes I just lie awake those last couple of hours.

I'm glad you have your 2 piano students! My mom actually took piano lessons for about 5 years in her 70s. Her neighbors gave her an old piano. She was in her church choir but had never learned to read music, so it was all new for her. She enjoyed it for a while, but then decided she was not going to get any farther so she stopped. I don't know if she still plays at all or not. Is it hard to teach piano online? Our school band teacher has been doing instrumental lessons since August. I can hear her when I walk past her door, and I think that would be really hard!

No baby goats here yet. I am not even sure if either one is pregnant. I had that buck here from late Nov to late Dec. Typically with my smaller goat I can feel babies around the end of the third month, and so far I don't feel anything. She is more likely to be pregnant than the big goat though, since I'm not sure the buck was big enough. With her I usually can't tell until later into the pregnancy. I am hoping they are both pregnant though. Fingers crossed!!

I hope you have had a great week! I am going to try to do some cooking today so I'll have dinners ready for the week.

Hi! I was late with last weekend's message, so I am being better this weekend! This was my first week back at work and I actually enjoyed it. It was time for me to be out of the house, and 4 days a week I am in my safe closet doing my thing. It is harder to sit in there all day when I know it's warm and sunny outside, but for now, I am still hoping to continue this for the rest of this year. My only bad day was Wednesday, which is no classes. I had to help screen and escort kids inside for testing, which I don't mind at all, but I had to be near the para who still refuses to wear her mask properly. Her nose is never covered, and sometimes it is down at her chin. I was not so much afraid of catching anything, as I was not close to her, but I was SO ANGRY and I don't like feeling that way! This was offset by seeing two of the teachers that I have been supporting online who both said very nice things to me about how they appreciate the work I am doing for them. One of them was so very kind and complimentary, it made me feel really good!

I have been good with exercise this week, and meals, and even my chocolate consumption was not too bad. I had more alcohol than I should, but not excessive. I know this weekend I will have a big dessert treat though. I am going tomorrow to spend 3 days at my mom's house. It's my first trip anywhere since I spent 3 days there in June so I'm excited! And actually, my last two trips before June were to her house last March and Christmas 2019. It's my regular vacation destination! My sisters will be there for lunch, our annual get-together to commemorate Dad's death in March 2017. Usually we go out to eat and my sons join too, but of course we are not going out this year. Mom is making corned beef and cabbage! She is also making a cake, and my sister is making a recipe from our aunt called chocolate loaf. It has some Italian name that I forget, but it is about a million calories and soooo delicious. After my sisters leave, mom and I will eat better Mon/Tues because she eats very healthy, but if there is dessert left, I will continue eating that!

This week is my spring break, and I hope to finally get to a new state park to continue my Trail Quest, which I completely suspended last year. I hope to kick off the break by going to one of the local parks today, if I have time between errands, laundry, and packing. I haven't been outside yet to feed the animals, but it looks beautiful! I am still not sure if either goat is pregnant. I should be able to tell soon on the little one.

I hope your week has been good, and that you were able to enjoy some of that nice warm weather! Have another great week, my friend!

Hello! I had a great visit with my family. I got to Mom's early Sunday afternoon. We had lunch there with my two sisters and my brother-in-law, and then went to the graveyard for our traditional Drambuie toast to Dad. We played a bunch of games for a few hours, and that was so much fun. We all needed that. On Monday, Mom and I went to a town about 45 minutes away where she likes to get us all treats from a family owned candy store, so I now have a chocolate bunny that I put in the basement so that I will at least save it until Easter! That town is on a river, and we walked on their little boardwalk, which is only a half mile but so pretty. Then we drove to a trail a little further down the river and walked another 1.5 miles. On Tuesday we walked about 2 miles at a park near her. It was all wonderful and relaxing, and as always, I was so sad to leave.

I didn't do much else this week (my spring break), but yesterday I did walk on the local rail trail. I have walked many times on the first 8 miles of it, because there are 4 different parking lots, so you can do lots of different hikes. There are no parking areas for the last 7 miles, so I had never been on that part before. I realized that there is a road in a development that does intersect that part of the trail, so my husband dropped me off there and I walked 4 miles back to a parking lot. It was really nice to see a new part of the trail! It was beautfiul and I only saw 2 people the whole time, so you know that was right up my alley! Sometime soon I hope to get him to drop me off there again and I will walk the other direction to the very end of the trail which comes out behind a gas station. Then I will have seen the whole thing!

On Thursday night, we had dinner at my son's house to celebrate my daughter-in-law's birthday. I made a cake, and we also played games with them. This was our first in-person birthday celebration since my son's birthday in Feb 2020. So this week I had TWO family events, and my heart is full!! My other son's birthday is this month also, so hopefully we will have a third family day coming up. I am so grateful that my husband and I are immunized, and I pray that my children can get theirs too.

Other than the walking, I have done no exercise at all this week (other than unloading ten 50 pound bags of feed from my truck, so that's sort of a weight workout!). My eating has been bad, cake etc. from the family gatherings, and of course I am still drinking lots of wine. I will get back to business on Monday. I have been reading a book called A Year with No Sugar, which I could never manage, but it is interesting reading. I hope it will at least inspire me to keep the chocolate under control and not go crazy. I do buy a minimum of processed foods, and when I do buy canned tomatoes, etc. I only get ones with no sugar and low salt.

I really hope you get together with your sisters in VT! You deserve a vacation from work in any case, and it would be great for you to spend some time with them. I have never been to VT either, but it looks so beautiful. I really do hope you will get to go! Maybe this summer?

I hope you got to visit the river this week. I know that is beautiful even when it's cold. Being outside around beautiful nature does me so much good, and I know it does for you as well.

It looks sunny out my bedroom window. I know you will be busy with work, but I hope you get a chance to enjoy some sun too! Have a great week!

So nice to hear some good news about your visits and celebrations. The places you went and walked with your mom sound like heaven after all we have all been through this past year. I remember visiting my Dad in his last few years living in the same small N. C. town we spent almost every summer at the log cabin on the Pamlico sound. I have always loved being on the waterfront and they built a nice walkway and promenade , way after my years there, but it is a sign of the young folks renovating the area. But still, there is a hot dog stand that is semi famous in N. C. and we would get a hot dog and sit by the river .. I didn't know how much I would miss those small things. Just like you hate to leave your mom- I miss him.

We had a little get together for Rachael's birthday this afternoon, just immediate family with cake and balloons. Weekends, she is with her Dad and fortunately her sister and BF and me and my fiance were all there at his house.. My ex has acepted my fiance as a decent person, but I don't think he totally understands that we are a couple - it's OK as long as everyone gets along for an hour or 2. Rachael was happy and excited, and she got some fastfoof gift cards which she knows will get her favorite Fries! She loves skeeball at Chuck e cheese where we usually go, but even though they are open, it is limited and masks and not possible this year. Last year we were in lockdown so at least we had something.

Sisters party weekend is booked for 2022, Long Labor Day weekend. I paid for a VRBO , a house, 4 bedrooms, hot tub, amenities ect. in Stowe, for 295 a night. It seems like the best way to go these days price wise. The hosts are anxious to please and you generally don't have to worry about cleanliness or bed bugs (yikes) that you may find in even high class hotels. We are excited already. It is nice to have something to look forward to, even that far off. Things should be much better with opening up by then.

I chuckled about your book - a year!! I read a lot of health related books too, and I know my chocolate is more than it should be,, wine too, but I am trying to at least add some good fiber like an apple, greens and oatmeal every day. I tend to read articles from the Mayo Clinic and research blogs. The latest thing I read about and added is V K2 to build bones, I've had osteopenia for a long time, but not osteoporosis , yet. I'm pretty sure I couldn't go a week without sugar.

You are right, it is cheerful to see the sunny and warm days coming back. i read the hummingbirds and coming through starting nextweek - gotta get a feeder hung up. My yard is full of blooming bulbs, and i expect the wild azaleas to pop out very soon - so grateful for the beautiful natural flowers and the birds. Grateful to have a friend to talk to without fear or judgement like you.

Hello! I had a good week for eating and exercise, and not too bad for alcohol. We are going to my older son's house today to celebrate his birthday and his girlfriend's. He invited my younger son and his wife, so I'll see both of my sons today! I got in a nice walk yesterday despite the cold wind.

I had one sad occurrence this week. On Thursday morning I went out to feed the animals and found one of my two geese dead inside the shed where the goats and geese sleep. She was only 3 and was not sick. I think a goat may have stepped on her in the dark because she appeared to have been bedded down right at the doorway. My son buried her for me on Friday. I am sad for the other goose because they were inseperable, and now she will live the rest of her life, probably 7 years or more, without her companion.

I have no particular plans for Easter Sunday. This is the first year in a while that I did not give up alcohol for Lent. Instead I tried reading from a daily prayer website each day. I already pray each morning, but I thought that would be a good way for me to add some additional reflection during another part of the day.

Your summer trips to NC sound so nice! I'm glad you have those memories of your dad. Those kinds of memories are so important to me too.

It sounds like you had a nice birthday celebration for Rachael! I'm glad your ex gets along with your fiance well enough that you can have family get-togethers like that without drama. I played skeeball every summer at the beach and loved it!! That was one of the highlights of the trip for me and my next youngest sister. Hopefully next year she can have a normal party. Hopefully we all can!!

I'm so excited for you that you've got your VT trip booked! Even though it's a long time away, I think the anticipation is part of the fun! I always stay at airbnb or vrbo places too. I've never had a problem so far, and have seen some neat places.

Our saucer magnolia and forsythia are blooming, and some of the daffodils. I love seeing all the color! I'm sure your yard is gorgeous with all the flowers! Spring makes me feel happy.

I am glad to have you as well. I think we are really well matched, and as you said, it's so nice to have someone safe to talk with who understands.

Happy Easter!!

Hello,

I had a wonderful visit with my sons last Saturday. We played games and had a nice meal. My younger son and DIL brought me an Easter basket full of candy, sigh. I ate several pieces while we were there. They left before us, so I dumped most of the candy on my other son. I took the best pieces home and ate them all that night. This is in addition to the solid dark chocolate bunny my mom gave me, which I also ate within two days. No control! I ate well the rest of the week at least. Other than that visit, my week has been pretty uneventful. I did my usual exercising, and got in a couple of short walks after work.

It was so kind of you to make a basket for the neighbor's granddaugher! I can just imagine how excited she will be to get it! Your egg hunt memories are wonderful! I do miss those kinds of things both from my own childhood and from when my kids were little. You are probably right about someone finding a random egg years from now - hidden eggs are like glitter from Christmas decorations - there's always more!

I'm sure you were surprised when one of the cats you took in had kittens! How lucky for her that you brought her in so she could be safe while giving birth. Were you able to find homes for any of them yet? Are you keeping the other adult? I will pass on kittens, thank you just the same!! I think my dog would disagree, as she loves nothing more than chasing cats, but I do have 2 cats already. My remaining goose is getting on with things, eating, laying eggs, etc. She must be so confused as to why her constant companion of 3 years is suddenly gone. I don't know if they are developed enough to feel loneliness or not, but I feel it for her even she doesn't feel it herself!

One of the state parks near me has a small patch of bluebells. I remembered them after I read your message, and then I saw them on Wednesday during my walk. I am glad yours is surviving! They are very beautiful.

Good for you passing on the donuts! I am impressed! I should have left all the candy at my son's and not brought any home, since I had already eaten some while I was there. I do wish people would stop being nice and giving me stuff I don't need but can't resist! I hope you resisted the discount Easter candy as well as you did with the donuts! Keep up your good work!

O my goodness, it is a cat/kitten menagerie/nursery at my house. Fince's cat doesn't like any of the others and the one we are keeping, Cameo, has had 2 of her vet visits and is due for her fixing Friday and she BETTER not have kittens before then - we are keeping ner inside and away from fiance's cat. I have to say though that Cameo is gentle and plays with Rachael. As for the black one, the momma, Fiance built an enclosure on a shelf in the basement so they can move around and still stay safe and momma can get in and out for business but they cant. Just 2 weeks old so we have a while to try to find homes. I already have the word out so fingers crossed.

I'm glad you had a nice visit, and the Easter candy was too much for me too. I have several stashes and i have to do that because fiance will eat an entire bowl at once. at least i try to space it out - but I still overdid it on the sugar. However, I did finally cut back on the wine, about half as usual. I just got some really nice chamomile and vanilla tea and made it before I could pour the wine in a glass. The weather was so nice, we enjoyed our walks. I wish we could get out more on some trails like you, but Rachael is so unsteady , she has to have my arm and anything uneven makes her nervous. i read a long article about the Rails to Trails along the Potomac that an author biked and campedthe whole way. That trip sounds like fun and i'd love to visit at least parts of it - its not tht far from Richmond.

I guess you are back to school next week. i hav a busy week coming up too, but i'm glad its Spring. Most of the fam is getting vacinated and that is a relief. Keep up your healthy meals and exercise and I'll say a rah rah for that, The candy will run out. Eventually.

Hello! I hope you are enjoying the kittens! I know you didn't expect or want them, but I am sure they are cute and sweet. It is nice of you to give them a home until they are old enough to be adopted. Did you find any potential homes? It was nice of your fiance to build them a safe spot. How is Cameo doing after her surgery?

I found a Cadbury egg hidden in my kitchen cabinet, that I thought my husband must have put there . A couple of days later, my son called and asked if I was enjoying my egg hunt. He had stopped by when I wasn't there to get some mail. So I looked ALL over the place and didn't find any others, until my husband suggested that there was only one and my son was messing with me. My son is a total smart ass and it sounded just like something he would do. I asked him, and he won't confirm but I suspect it is true. I am glad there weren't more because I would have gobbled it all right down!

I got one short walk this week, about 45 minutes. I have been eating some wild plants from around the house - chickweed, violet, and onion - something I tried to learn about last year when I was off. I don't eat that much of it, but it's kind of fun. On my walk at the park, I picked some redbud blossoms and added those to my lunch salads. They made it prettier! My other exercise has been good, and my meals ok. Too much chocolate as usual, and too much alcohol. On Wednesday I was able to leave work early, so I decided I could have a whole glass of wine since it was farther from bedtime. I drank the entire half of the bottle that was left. Sigh.

My spring break was in mid-March. They don't have it at Easter anymore since they have moved our calendar earlier in the year. When Easter is late in the year, having spring break then would interfere with all the precious state testing, so they have set a fixed week in mid-March. We are off Good Friday and Easter Monday, so we are well back into the swing of things by now.

Both of my sons, and my DIL have had one shot now. Only my son's gf has not. My mom had both a while ago, and my one sister and her husband have had one. My veteranarian sister has not even had her first yet. I don't think she is trying very hard to get scheduled. She has always been very weird about any medical stuff or even anybody touching her. She won't even do massages. Partly she is very self-conscious because she has always been very heavy. I don't know if it is more to it or not, but I wish she would get this shot since she is around people all the time.

.I hope you are enjoying the kitties and the nice weather! I hope you are surviving any candy or other temptations as well! Have a great week, my friend!!

Hello! I've had a pretty good week overall with meals and exercise, and not too bad with wine and chocolate. On Wednesday I did have some extra treats, but it was a great day. I had the day off for a teacher workday. I asked my daughter-in-law and my son's gf if they wanted to hike. The gf could not make it, but my DIL and I took about an hour walk with their 2 dogs. Then we went back to their house and made a quiche.

While it was baking, she served me tea on some china she recently got from a friend in Richmond who had to close their bakery/tea shop. Her friend and a group of others have tea at each other's houses, and my DIL has been wanting to do that sort of thing but she has no friends here. She was excited to finally get to use her china. She got cute little cakes and her friend had also given her some really nice tea (oolong rose which I never had before). We also played some card games while we had the quiche. It was a great day.

I really do like her and want to be friends. I just wish she would be a little less high maintenance and controlling of my son. I wish they could afford another car so she could take classes on campus instead of online (once it's safe) and/or get a job so she has more of a life of her own. She's just stuck in the house all the time. I'm not sure high mainenance is the right word - it's that she grew up in a fairly well off family, so she wants everything to be nice and new. She doesn't want to realize that young new couples need to make due with older used stuff sometimes until they can afford more. But she does bust her butt taking care of the house and my son, and they do a lot of nice stuff together like gardening and hiking.

Some of my friends were away this past week and I milked their goats a couple of times. It was SO nice to have the fresh milk. I made yogurt and feta, but mostly I have just been drinking it. I am fairly sure neither of my goats is pregnant. This will be my first year in about 10 years with no babies, and no milk. I'm pretty sad about that. I really want the fresh milk and yogurt particularly. I could live without the cheese since there is lots of good cheese to be had at stores, but the milk/yogurt are so much better to me than store stuff.

That's all my news for the week! I have made myself a big list of little tasks for the weekend. We will see how many get done! I hope you had a good week!

ell, well well, your son is a prankster! That was kinda mean I think. but you're right - I would have eaten every one too. I ae a cadbury egg from my locker stash tonight. I forgot how decadent good they are.I have not been been good about the chocolate or candy in general. When I'm tired - i eat it. And I'm tired at bedtime and at work all night. BUT- i did stick to my half time wine last week. I am not really sure if it equals out to much less since like you i drank a half bottle one evening - but it was our private time and I just didn't stop myself. Still, I feel better about the whole dealif i don't drinl for at least 3 nights and have thre tea instead... and chocolate.

Fiance has been in charge of feline kingdom. i'm just too busy and i tend do fret about the details. He does too and I remind him that cats have been OK with the mothering and eating and pooping and managing with a collar after surgery ect. . for a long time. Its just keeping the family cat away from the others who are in the basement now. Cameo is just fine,and she still wants to get in the cat shelf with the kittens and lick them like crazy. Mother doesn't mind, but that is harder now with the collar on so fiance takes it take it on and off, see what i mean?

I didn't know your sister is a vet. I am surprised that she hasn't had the vaccine as a policy of where she works, but it is still personal choice. They don't make us, but they stoingly recommend it and most everyone got it. If I have any more pet questions i know who to ask now.

I'm envious of you collecting wild plants to eat. I want to do that, but i'm afraid I don't know enough to be safe. Our Parks and Rec had a day foraging/learn hike program pre-oandemic that I wanted to take but it filled up fast even then. Its on my list. I hope you gets some more walks this weelk, the weather is supposed to be nice I hear. My kind of weather. Just keep calm and carry on. I'm finishing up my work weekend tonight.

Sometimes, my friend, one pleasant day is enough to get us through the week. It sounds like that was true for you with your DIL. You know, despite your reservations, it is often a problem for in laws and children to get along at all. It defininelty semd like such a sweet gesture for her to take a day just to be with you and serve you tea an cakes. and you also had a hike - lovely for both of you. I have come to realize that my older daughter just won't have the life I would picked for her - BF dragging his feet on proposing,even though they have been together 6 years and have a house, friends and pets together and do enjoy their free time together too. I wish they would do some community work together instead of just hanging with friends, but I can't do much about it except maybe gently make suggestions. I always think people are happier if they know they are doing some good in the world. ; and lord knows I set a good example.

So no baby goats - so sorry, I know that makes you happy. I guess taking care of friends's goats is something at least.

Good for you with your eating and drinking goals. I have kept my habit of 3 days off this week - but I did drink too much the night I did open the bottle. I want to figure another strategy because I really don't like waking up foggy headed. Meals were pretty good, but still more chocolate and sugar than I need. I found an online Lab company that will process the panel the I want for way cheaper than my doctor's office, even with my copay. Last time I saw the NP and she didn't even order a test I specifically told her I wanted. TThis company makes it way easy , they send you the order and you just take it to LABCORP and they draw it there and send it to the company and they send you the results. I plan to do that first week of May. I hope my cholestrop numbers are better, but they seem to go up and down.

Rachael and i had good walks this week, but nothing else new on my end either. going to in person church tomorow and chating with 2 of my 3 sisters in the evening. Keep on keeping on.