Tag: Family

Let’s Get This Sunday Ball Rollin’

It’s Sunday, 8:48am. My exercise for the day is done. My breakfast of protein bars has been eaten without issue. My morning vitamin pills gave me a little stress and I only managed eight ounces of water. I’ll fix that later once my breakfast is good and digested.

We have a lot to do today. We want to clean the kitchen floor, dust and clean the living room, there is a new Playstation to be setup and taken for a test drive (thanks, Jen!). First on my priority list though is to put together this huge tent/shed thing in the back yard. I need it to store a lawn mower, assuming we get a lawn mower. Larry has one he’s looking to get rid of, so I will likely buy that off of him. I need someplace to put it first though, and that’s where the tent/shed thing comes into play. I have no idea if I am going to be able to put this together on my own or not. I may need to call in some Calvary, but I am optimistic it won’t come to that. I just have to get off my blogging ass and do it.

Tomorrow is my birthday. How fucking depressing is that? Today is my last day as a 51 year old. I am listening to some Nirvana right now. Think of it as mood music. Remember the CD Single for Smells Like Teen Spirit? There were two b-sides. Even in His Youth and Aneurysm. To this day I still see that single as the best single ever released by anyone. The b-sides were better than every other band’s a-sides. I always forget how colossally brutal that band was. Just friggin’ amazing. Even after all these years, it all still holds up.

I am planning on borrowing Jen’s little Bose bluetooth speaker when I go outside but I’ll probably listen to something less sledge-hammer-to-the-skull while I’m outside. You know, something more family friendly like The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway by Genesis. You know, weird and genius rather than freight train and genius.

Okay. Stop stalling. Go change your clothes and get your ass in gear. Let’s go, Robert! Let’s get that shed/tent thing up before you turn 52!

Week 52 Weigh In

It is Wednesday today so it’s time for a weekly weigh in. After being way down last week I figured I would probably creep back up a smidge this week and sure enough I did.

Last week I was 205.6 and today I am 206.6, up one full pound. Oh well. I was hoping I would get below 205 by tomorrow’s one year anniversary but now that seems incredibly unlikely. I’m sure I will dip below 205 at some point, meaning my BMI will dip below 25 and I will go from being overweight to being normal weight. It’s a goal, but who said I had to get there in the first year. I mean, sure it would be nice but I’m not stressing over it.

Weight loss since surgery (approximate) is 224.8. Weight loss since the first weigh in is 245.4. Current BMI is 25.1. It was about 52.5 on the surgery date and 55 on the first weigh in date.

Tomorrow is the actual one year anniversary so I will step on the scale again and I will likely be up again. No worries. No complaints. I am so thankful that I’ve had this experience, even when it’s been painful and difficult. I’ll probably reiterate this tomorrow, but I could not have done this without the support and love of my amazing wife Jen. She’s my rock. She’s my heart and soul. I love her so much and I am so thankful for all she’s done for me through all of this insanity and upheaval. She’s incredible.

Who knows, maybe I’ll magically lose 1.7 pounds over night tonight. Stranger things have happened, right?

Happy Thoughts: Follow Up

This is a follow up to the previous post. I don’t have any details but I am hoping I will get to learn more when I get home tonight.

Here’s what I do know…

Bellana defended her senior thesis paper this morning and it went well. How well did it go? The one specific piece of information I have is that she got an A.

Kick ass! Damn, my step daughter is brilliant! There was never a doubt that she would excel in this regard. I had full confidence that she would slay the review board.

If you were kind enough to send her your happy thoughts this morning, I thank you. Though really… she didn’t need it. She’s a freakin’ genius after all.

Graduation is a little more than two weeks away. I am so proud. I can’t even put it into words, I am so proud.

Excellent job, Bellana.

Positive Vibes Needed

Hey internet, can you spare some positivity? My step daughter is defending her senior thesis this morning. Send her some happy thoughts.

She doesn’t actually need them, of course. She’s freakin’ brilliant, just like her mother and her brother. She’s got this thing locked down. She’s going to dazzle everyone hearing her defense with her academic brilliance. Still, a little lucky thinking never hurt anyone, right?

Go Bellana! Show those reviewers who’s boss! You’ve got this!

May Music

I’m super tired tonight but I hit all of my food and exercise goals without any stomach issues and I managed to find a little time to start working on a song idea. The May music goal is 10 songs. Think of it as a music project to honor my birthday, my surgery anniversary, my and Jen’s wedding anniversary, our first Mother’s Day without my mother, and Bellana’s graduation.

There’s a lot to celebrate this month. There is a ton to be thankful for. There’s one thing to be sad about, but I can also be thankful for that day too if I look at it as celebrating my step kids’ mother instead of focusing the loss of my mother.

It’s all worth some new music. I just wish I had talent so I could come up with something worthy of it all.

ADDENDUM: I knew I was forgetting an event. May is also my step daughter, Bellana’s birthday month! Add her turning 22 to the list of things to celebrate this month.

Bad Streak

Saturday turned into a bad night for my stomach and for my migraine-brain. Sunday was a bad day for my stomach too, and Sunday night ended up especially bad. Today was a touch better, but still a bad day for my stomach and also for my soul.

That bad string of days is likely to get worse as the next three days are looking like they are going to royally suck.

Oh, goodie.

Friday

I so need a vacation. Not even a vacation, really, just a break. Just a little downtime. It’s not happening this weekend. Tomorrow I have an MRI, a ton of house and yard work to do, a birthday get together for my father, and possibly a house painter/vinyl siding consult? A lot of the house and yard work will spill over to Sunday, though I checked the weather yesterday and it’s supposed to rain. At least that’s what it said yesterday, I don’t know what it’s going to say tomorrow.

I asked Jen if we could do something next weekend to decompress. I don’t care what. A day trip somewhere? Maybe? Just tell everyone we’re going away and then lock ourselves in the house and hide from the real world for a couple of days while watching bad TV? That would work. Literally anything, just so long as there are no deadlines or responsibilities or headaches or health issues. Just give us a break for a couple of days.

Next week at work is going to be super busy and probably pretty difficult. I’m looking forward to putting it in the rear view mirror, if you know what I mean.

I’m feeling okay today health wise. So far so good. My stomach was off all day yesterday. Today is much better. I even had a real breakfast today. Here’s hoping that my stomach stays on that course.

I want to take the camera (cameras) out somewhere one of these days. It’s still pretty cold in the mornings and that’s turning me off. Also, it’s always cloudy and rainy because it’s Spring in New England. Uh… just a couple of days of downtime… that’s all I ask for. Pretty please, universe… give me a break.

Over the Counter Meds

My father has a cold. There is an over the counter cold medicine that works for him, but getting it to him is an event.

The assisted living place he lives in has an in-house med staff that comes complete with a pharmacy. The pharmacy isn’t in-house, but it’s contracted some how so they always go through the same place. Residents are not allowed to keep non-prescribed medication in their rooms. Prescribed medications are kept in a safe so the nursing staff can distribute it when appropriate.

So for over the counter meds, they can’t keep them in their rooms without a prescription, and you aren’t going to get a prescription for that sort of thing so… what?

The what is simple. We bring it to him. He takes two doses of this specific med each day. Morning and night. So one of us brings him each dose. On Friday my sister in law brought him both doses. Saturday was my sister. Yesterday was me. Today I brought him the morning dose and my sister will bring him the evening dose. He asked if we could leave him his evening dose yesterday while we were over there for Easter lunch, but that would break the rules and we don’t want to break the rules. We’re good citizens. They take care of my dad, I don’t want to thumb my nose at them.

The downside for today was that I overslept a little. I was planning to get up at 5:00am, get my exercise in, have some water, have some breakfast, maybe watch a Star Wars: Rebels episode or two, then go to his place (leaving insanely early because the morning rush hour might make my 20 minute drive more like 60 minutes) with enough time to get there and back by 9:00am so I can punch in to work on time.

Today though, dumb ass over here slept until 6:00am and then took forever to get into gear and just skipped the whole exercise and breakfast and water thing. I had a protein bar in the car on the way over there. That passed for breakfast. I was able to get my exercise in during my lunch break, which was not ideal but got the job done.

Tomorrow I need to get up on time so I don’t throw off my routine. Wednesday is an in the office day so I won’t have time to deliver the meds. My brother in law will handle it on Wednesday. After that, will he still have a cold? I don’t know. We’ll find out. The moral of the story though is don’t over sleep, dumb ass.

Easter Dinner

Jen and I just got home from having Easter Dinner (which was actually at lunch time) with my father. My sister’s family was there too. My brother was with his in-laws today so he couldn’t make it.

Dinner was lovely (choice of lamb or ham, I went with the lamb). I was feeling like I had had enough and thought, I’ll have one more bite… It’s been an hour and a half and the foamies are still raging. Stupid one last bite.

Up next for me is an MRI appointment over at the hospital formerly known as Saints Memorial in Lowell. Having a medical appointment on easter just tickles me. Come, giggle with me.

Jen and I are also looking at maybe making a change to the back yard. While we were out there on a fact finding mission I filled the bird feeders because it’s spring time, babie and that’s what you do!

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