We survived!

*I have no clue*

I want one of those shirts that says I survived Hurricane Irene!

I do not have any pictures. I have a video that I uploaded to Facebook from my phone but it would not let me up load to my gmail. So I cannot show you the wind. I have been bringing all the plants back outside. The grill is still in my diningroom. We still have power (never lost it), cable, internet, and our lives. Our area got most of the wind and not much rain. It did not rain but it was NO where near Noah`s Ark territory. The basement did not even have a wet spot. We have some limbs in the back yard we need to take care of and lots and lots of twigs and leaves.
I stayed up all night during the storm. I could have never slept and I was listening for the sump pump. It never turned on and I watched alot of storm news. I could not take it anymore and went to bed around 830am. Woke up at 430pm. Had some food and we jumped into the Jeep. We surveyed the city and Fred was hopeful that we would find an open Dunkin Donuts. We did not. I picked up two x-larges this morning in my semi Jammy state. Everyone came to New London from surrounding towns because our Fast Food places were open. Fred cooked a good dinner and I passed out shortly thereafter. I still feel like I was dragged behind a truck but that is okay. Tomorrow will be better!

Hurricane Irene is a-coming

*270*

I have been busy because of the impending Hurricane but I thought I would leave a quick note. We are going to get a direct hit from Hurricane Irene Sunday morning. By then it will hopefully be a category 1 storm with 75 mph winds. The MOST rain will be on the other side of the state, which we heard this afternoon. There is a possibility our basement will flood but we will take that as it comes. Fred has the weekend off (THANK GOD) so the girls and I will not be without him to weather this storm.
I have been picking up supplies all week even before they were certain how bad.

I was made fun of by some because they thought I was being overly cautious..certainly we cannot be getting a big storm like a Hurricane! Oh yes we are asshat. I have water, no perishable junk food, charcoal to cook outside if electric goes out, ice in the deep freezer, candles, batteries, flash lights, soda, TP, AND Booze. We are going to do some drinking. Yes sir ree Bob!  Hurricane, Mango Margaritas and Chelsea wanted some Yellow Tail.
So that is about it. I will let you know how it goes. I am going to rest up. I have strawberry jam to make now.

Blackberry Jam was successful!

*269*

They jelled all nice for Mama. I was worried with the new pectin that it might stay running and all the picking would have been for nothing. They are beautiful! Next up is the strawberry jam.
No gym today. I had a cyst that popped and I do not think exercising is going to be good for my healing process. I will clean house instead and take long soaks in the bathtub.
My appointment with my GP is on Thursday and I have a appointment with gyno next Wednesday (cyst). We shall see if any of these things that are plaguing me are related, not related, and maybe just some fluke shit and I am fine and dandy. Still have cough, still tired as hell, but the lymph node is acting weird. Yesterday I could not feel it at all, today it is front and center. My luck..it will disappear on the day I go for my physical and he will say that it good! And I will be like, Umm, why was it there? Will he care about the other symptoms then?
I need to stop cause I can get myself worked up over shit. I have had so many health issues in my later years that have come up to actually be something and me not being a hypo. I just do not like when I get all wrapped up in it.
Ugh. Okay. I need to eat something for breakfast/lunch. Maybe a big old omelet with bacon!

Veggies up the ying yang

Baby Eggplants/Farmer`s Market

*269*<----the scale actually said 267.5 this morning!


I can fit into my purple pants!!!!!!!!!!!! I have been waiting since June to fit into them. They are from Salvation army $3. Deep purple cotton pants with the ties at the bottom to make them shorter. Nice Spring/Summer pair. They fit! And not like a fucking sausage!!! Woot! There it is! Woot! There it is! Okay I am done now..
What do I do though? I had Popeyes chicken and a apple fritter for lunch/breakfast. I was running late this morning so I never got any breakie in. See how I am justifying the apple fritter?
  I went to the Farmer`s market this morning and picked up quite a few goodies. I have a full bag of tomatillos and some jalapenos (dammit! I forgot the cilantro!) to make the green salsa to can. I got a few of the eggplants in the picture. Some purple, some of those red ones, the small long lavender/white ones. I bought a nice stuffing squash, tomatoes, garlic, onions, some ginger gold apples, and a big berry pie. oh and some stuffing mushrooms.
 So I had a good errand day and I have to take Natalie in a bit to get her eyebrows done. Mine will have to wait till next week. Do not always have it all the time.

Milo makes it impossible to type at computer

Right now at this very moment, Milo is standing on the backrest of the computer chair and he is pulling my braid. Little fucker!

   My physical is on the 26th. I still have the lymph node poking out in all it`s glory. I still have the cough too. Everything is still the same. At least it has not gotten worse for me. I would not even know what to consider worse..sleeping a couple hours longer? Cause my ass can sleep. I have to be dragged out of the bed kicking and screaming cause I am so exhausted. And this exhausted is different then my usual tired. When you have Chronic Fatigue..you can really tell if it the same old shit or a whole new set of problems.  So I wait another weekend. That makes it 3 weeks that I have noticed the Node.
 I have a whole 7 days to wait and it might be nothing. Doesn't that suck? I mean it IS good that it nothing but to fret over it all week long ...well... three weeks long and just have him say..oh that is nothing.
Speaking of..My mustache tat on my finger is going to have to be touched up. It is peeling and flaking away and there are empty spots were black should be. NOT GOOD! It will have to be free and it will have to hurt like a motherfucker. But this is the best piece so far. People love it. I whipped it out at the bank. One teller saw and she started laughing. Then I just stood there like nothing. They all thought she was nuts.
Jam this weekend!

Fish soup and ouchy abdominals

Ocean Beach NL, CT

*269*

I just got back from the gym and grocery store. My abs are going to be screaming tonight. That is for sure. We went to the beach yesterday to go swimming. Me being Natalie, Raymond and I. If you did not know all ready, Raymond is Natalie`s bestie..not her boyfriend. We had a good couple hours until the saw a jellyfish. I came in with the tide. None of the three of  us were stung. Then we went home and changed, picked up Chelsea, and had a nice late lunch at Ocean Pizza. We do a family style thing. Big Caesar salad, steak fries, and Pizza. We all share like it is home dinner. We have done it that way forever. I got a tiny bit of sunburn on my arms but I can now say that my farmer`s tan is history!
    Today, I am going to make fish soup for dinner. It needs a catchier name cause Fish Soup just sounds so wrong. Like something that was served to the orphans in Oliver Twist. Natalie loves it and requested it for dinner. I picked up some Italian bread to go with.
It is a really easy soup to make. You get either some veggie/seafood stock or use bouillon and water to make it. I do a half and half combo. I put diced potatoes, minced onions and garlic, frozen baby spinach, spices like garlic powder, a pinch of cayenne and maybe some basil. Then I throw in 4-6 intact Tilapia fillets. I let them cook in the soup like that. After about an hour, I break up the fish. I add in some macaroni and it is done. Simple and hearty throw together soup when I only had 3 fish left in the freezer. I was going to do the Jam today but it is too fucking humid. I turned on the air conditioner down here and it has not been on for like 2 weeks. So you know my ass is hot. I will clean the kitchen, make the soup, and prepare the jars for tomorrow. I will also take out the blackberries to defrost. I think I can get two batches of jam out of that bag. Plenty of Jam to go around.
We give Jam to my Mil and Fil. We give it to Fred`s godmother. My friend Ana. The groomer. The mailman gets one. Ummm. I have enough to pass out and still have plenty to last me the winter.
 So tomorrow will be Jam day. Today is fish soup, coloring the blonde mistake in the back of my head to chocolate brown, and resting my tired ass.

Jam IS the plan Man!

Pretty!

*269*

I think it is time to start making some jam. See that jar in the picture? They sell those at Walmart. I have two of them in my possession but I need to go back and pick up like 4 packages of 4. I want to put my blackberry jam in those. Blackberry jam is special. Blackberries cost a lot of money in the store and they are a pain in the ass to harvest. Special! So they deserve to be in half pint jars so people can get a taste. I put strawberry jam in pint jars because I consider it more utilitarian in breakfast life.
 Just because I think it though, does not make it so. Since my energy is in the crapper, I need to plan out what I am going to do. So I think I will go to Walmart today to get the jars and tomorrow I might have psyched myself up enough to make the jam.
 After I do the blackberry, then I will make the strawberry. I have tons of strawberries, 4 bags of sugar, and oodles of pectin waiting in the wings. I love this time of year. I love making jam.

It is probably nothing.

*269*<----goodbye 270s

I am tired.
 I have always been tired but this is different. On Saturday night, I went to bed at 11pm. I woke up at 2pm on Sunday. I then laid around all day and went to bed at midnight. It has been progressively getting worse. I have no energy either. I went to the gym with Natalie today and I had to force myself to finish the 10 minutes on the stairclimber.
There is other stuff. About two weeks ago, I noticed a bump on my neck near my ear but it was small and Fred said it was a tiny bit red. Did not hurt or itch but figured it was a bug bite. Two days ago, my hand brushed up in that area and felt a lump. Same area. Just bigger. It is not red. It does not hurt, I cannot tell it is there unless I touch it, it is hard, and it doesn't move. I know what it is. That is a lymph node. I have never had one become palpable before so i was freaking intrigued.
I went and stupidly looked on the Internet. I am not dumb. I do not go to like forums or WebMD. Reputable sites only. Mayo Clinic..stuff with .org.
I found out that if it hurts, it is usually from an infection. If it doesnt, well..that is a problem. I do not have any infections that I know of. I hope I do. I just had my teeth and gums looked at and he did not see infection. If there was any, I would be in a world of hurt anyway.
So I have to back track for a moment. I have been having chest pains on the left side of my upper chest near my shoulder. More of a boob pain. Does not make me think heart at all. It does not happen when I am doing anything. Part of me was thinking it was like stress or nerves. Then the cough started about a month ago. I know that when you are an ex smoker and you develop a cough, that is not good. I do not have a cold, allergies are not kicking me either, so I am bothered by the intermittent cough cough cough that I get.
 Part of the questions about lymph nodes is are you losing weight without even trying. Now, I have been doing the same as I have always done but now it is working. So does that mean I am working it or am I just losing weight as a side effect of something else. I have been cutting down my meals because I get stomach pains.
It is probably nothing.
I called my GP/Endo. I have an appointment on the 26th of this month. He says we will shoot for that appointment. If my symptoms get worse, call the office and they will bring me right in.
It is probably nothing at all. Maybe just an infection.
Just the fact one reputable site said that a swollen node for over 2 weeks needs to be looked at, worries me.

Sorry I missed you.

She is so posh!

*270*

I have had such a busy week and I have been sleeping in that I just plum forgot about posting. I had to even catch up on my Facebook reading. I need a couple extra hours in the day. Lu got her last summer cut yesterday and we decided to do something fun. She has a pink Mohawk and pink running on the tips of her tail (she has a pom pom type tail).

Lu knows she looks good.

The damn mohawk stands up without any product. She was meant to have it. Now..I am NOT turning into one of THOSE dog people. I love my dogs and I spoil them. I know they are dogs. They are not my kids. But she was getting a much needed cut anyhoo..might as well make it fun.

 I have just been busy and tired. We did an hour at the gym on Monday. I have been cleaning and running doing errands. Fred and I went to the casino late one night..got home at 3am and I have been fucked ever since. My friend`s son is in the hospital. It looked bad but he is getting better with antibiotics.
So tomorrow I am going to relax, color my hair, and finish watching Torchwood. Yeah, that sounds like a plan...

Oh my aching ass!

*272*

Natalie and I went to the gym this morning. We saw lots of people we knew that had never been to the gym at the same time. It is good when the place is not so empty. I do not want to fight for a machine but I like to people watch to pass the time so it was good.
My body is in pain. We did an entire hour of working out. I sat on the couch about 2 hours ago with the laptop (it works!!!!!) and I have not moved since. I really really need to take a shower but I do not think I can move. Do not worry, I did not overdo it in the sense that you think. I was able to up the weights on some of the machines that I do. It was getting too easy so I raised the weight. So I am back to walking around like Frankenstein. But this will be good in the long run. I will have a flatter stomach and less jello like upper arms! Yeah me!
 Okay..I am off to work on my Tumblr. I did not really know what it was all about until Natalie showed me what I could do. So I am off to fiddle with my Tumblr.
Jesus..Tumblr, Blogger, Facebook...I have a Twatter but I do not use that.

Have a good Monday all!

Progress!

*271*

I went to the gym with Natalie this morning. Afterward I decided I was going to weigh myself on their scale because supposedly, mine is all shades of wrong. Guess what?? It said 272.3! That means my scale is correct. Yes! Yes! Yes!
So I started thinking. I began this journey because my ass was fatty fatty two by four and could not get her fucking shoes on. I KNOW I weighed 300 lbs at one point but never saw it with my own two eyes. I was always in the 290s. So I am going to just assume that I WAS in the 300 range. That would mean that I have lost about 25-30lbs..give or take because I am really not sure.
30 fucking pounds! That just snuck up on my ass. It took me some trials and tribulations to lose that amount of weight but I have done it. Please believe me when I say this, I am no where near done.
I want to get to at least my goal of 210. So I have another 60 lbs to go. I think this has really motivated me to push harder.
We are not going to have a competition. She wants to lose weight to feel good about how she looks and I want to lose weight to get my diabetes in check. I told her that when we hit 200lbs, we are going to sign up for the local Cross Fit.  <--link there. It is a more highly contained exercise and you have people screaming at you that YOU CAN DO IT!
 And I think I will want a new tattoo with the weight loss too. I do not know what but something fitting for the occasion.
 I am psyched. I do not know why I never realized I had lost that much. I was paying attention to the numbers but not the totality. You know what I mean?
My ass is hurting from the gym so I am going to go and relax.

Dog days of Summer

I wish I could go swimming

*270* <---that is what it says..so that is what I will believe.


 I need to get on the ball lately. I have been so overly lazy. I have to go into Natalie`s room, take out one of her storm windows, and have it fixed. I am not saying we are having a hurricane but we could and that could become an issue. The other thing is all our fascia board around the outside of the house needs to be replaced. It should have been done when we had the roof done but it was not that bad then. Now it is. I have weed whacking to do. Canning to put up. The furnace has not been cleaned yet. Ugh! I swear to God..there are too many things and sometimes I just do not give a shit.
Is that a sign of getting old? I slept till 10am and I hate when I over sleep. Maybe I am just depressed. But my therapist thinks I do not need her anymore. That I am better enough not to see her on a regular basis. I do not think I like that.
Today, even though it is warm-ish..I am going to clean the kitchen (again) and make some real deal rice pudding. Raisins included!
I just have to figure out what to do for dinner. I WANT to make lasagna but Natalie hates it. I really get kinda pissy when I have to make constant accommodations for others. You know what? Fuck it! I am making lasagna dammit! I have meat and sausage and all the cheeses. I am gonna do it!

Saga of the teeth

*271* <---that is what it will be till I get a new scale!

I went to the Periodonist this morning for a check up on my surgery progress. It is looking really good he says. The loose back molar is normal for me now. It is because I had some bone loss. It wont fall out. I just do not have enough bone to hold it completely straight. Some days it is loose, others it is not.
The other side on the bottom is another fucking story. I have to have the surgery on that bottom left side. He said that in 3 months it went that badly. But here is the kicker. I cannot have it done...yet. It costs $1800 per quad. My dental insurance is exhausted from the last one and I am paying off the balance now. I will not get new insurance until October or January..(i have to call). Then I want Chelsea and Fred to go in for their cleanings FIRST.
Then I will go have the bottom..unless it get so badly that he has to finagle something. We shall see. I thought I cracked a molar because it started to hurt off and on when I ate. Nope, it needs to have the flap procedure done.
I guess I will lose another 10 lbs with that one. That is one plus. I cannot eat so I lose weight.

Okay...I am going to relax for now and then I have the kitchen to clean. I did make a small batch of tomatillo sauce yesterday and it came out really nice.