Tuesday's Talking

Oh happy day!

I just returned from the doctor’s office and I couldn’t be happier. On a scale of, I believe 0-18; my depression level went from a 12 to a 2 in 3 weeks. She was impressed. Also, my blood pressure, which normally runs 133-136/85-90, was 118/60! Yay! She does think that this is a situational depression given all the changes that have happened over the past year and feels that in a few months, once everything else has sorted out, we can look at tapering the dose and eventually weaning off the citalopram (generic Celexa.) I go back in 2 weeks for another recheck.

I have an interview for a 911-dispatch position at the local police department on the 19th. This would be part-time, in addition to my ALA job. Keep your fingers crossed for me! Being able to pay all the bills would be a huge weight off my shoulders, for sure and for certain! I think it would be a fun job along with a challenging one. It’s also within walking distance of the house, another bonus.

The weather here has been beautiful the last few days. I’m enjoying sitting on the front porch with the breeze wafting through the window. One of my bedroom windows opens to the porch and has no screen so I’ve started leaving it open so the cats can go in and out and enjoy it as well. We do have plenty of wind today, though! My brother must be talking up a storm, haha.

On the crafty front, lots going on. I finished up 4 reverse mitered squares (knit) and got those mailed off. I have 3 bobble squares (crocheted) done for another group project and 3 daisy squares (crocheted) also done for yet another group project. And now I’m done with group projects and don’t know what to do! lol (And those that know me can attest to the fact that I never have nothing to do..always a half-dozen projects going!) I’m actually almost done with my Ithacowl (knit) with all it’s little unique traits (read: mistakes!) and my socks are really coming along well. They also will have little unique traits, hehe. I am amazed at how quickly they’re working up and, really, how easy they are so far. Of course, I’m only at the cuff at the moment. I’ve not yet gotten to the heel, gusset and toe! If you hear screams of frustration you’ll know where I’m at! I’ve brought out my Cabled Heather Wrap (crocheted) to work on again as well. For a bit here I’m going to focus on projects for “me.” Which may or may not include knitting a Grumpysaurus for each of my nephews just because. (So Jodi, if you’re reading this, any thoughts on colors for a stuffed Grumpysaur?)

My weight loss is progressing slowly, steadily and surely and I am good with that. The doctor and nurse both commented on it today. The nurse asked what I was doing and so I told her it’s all about eating less and moving more. It really is, too. I have the same things for breakfast, morning snack and lunch during the week. Afternoon snack and supper depend on what I’m doing and how I’m feeling. Some nights it’s just a big batch of popcorn. Sometimes it’s a full-course meal. Walking to work and the post office 4 days a week helps a lot. That’s 25 minutes a day. And a lot of days I take the dog to the lake and we walk around it twice which adds up to 2 miles, roughly. Just little changes I’ve made over the last few months that have really added up (49 pounds’ worth as of yesterday!). It’s funny how some people just don’t understand that that is all I am doing. They can’t believe it’s that “easy.” They’re, of course, hoping for a magic button to push and so far I haven’t found that. Nor do I want to. I have more energy than I have had in a long time. That whole law of motion thing – a body at rest tends to stay at rest. A body in motion tends to stay in motion. It’s all about movement!!

Short blog today but just had to put in that I sorted through 2 boxes of clothes marked 20# and 20-30# (for pounds lost) and only 1/2 of one box goes back! I literally "gave" myself a new wardrobe today! Of course, I have to sort through my closet again as I've not quite got enough room for all these clothes...lol But I am really proud of myself. I'm starting to take pride in how I look again which is just great for me. Such a huge step forward.

I did have another "attack" of sorts this past weekend. I went to Mitchell with a friend, "Elle," and we bought stuff for her kitchen and her jonboat and then went to Culvers. Where I had their walleye. Deep fat fried. After having pizza the night before. Did I mention deep fat fried? Like grease sitting in the plate deep fat fried? And so I should have figured I'd end up in the ER again. I didn't eat all of it, but enough to set me off. Hopefully when I go see my doctor next week she sees the need (finally!) to get my gall bladder ultrasounded and possibly a HIDA scan as this time my lipase (I think) levels were up which means my pancreas was becoming involved. Kind of scary but an easy fix is to just take the gall bladder out.

I'm still walking to the post office and work and back again 4 times a week. That's a good 30 minutes each day. I've also taken to driving to the lake (can't walk by the river anymore until the flooding is down) and taking walks on a "U" path as you can't walk around it due to the flooding. So it ends up being almost 2 miles walked instead of just 1. And this is a problem how? ;-) The dog enjoys the walks although she's still having issues with other dogs. We had been approached by aggressive ones so many times walking through town I just don't think this will pass. Maybe I need to call Cesar Millan! lol

I'm still searching for that elusive 2nd job. I no longer have internet at home but can use wifi at the library and can access email at work. Hopefully something comes up soon. I did break down and turn the heat back on today as I was really cold sitting in the house. Can't wait until it gets nicer out again!!

Otherwise things are well. I started my first pair of knit socks on the 1st and that's all I've done with them. I may tinker with them a bit again today. They're on double-pointed needles and that will take some getting used to. I also have 2 more daisy squares to make and 3 bobble squares, both for group projects. No shortage of things to do in my spare time!

Thanks for reading!