Staying the Course, 2019!

[epstns]

Bueller? Bueller? Anybody there? ? ?

Well, it seems that I'm the first to think of opening the new year. . . and it is Friday morning here in the Upper Rust Belt. My excuse is that we've been out of town. First we went down to Florida for a bit. We stayed in Naples, FL, which is pretty far south on the western coast of the state. Weather was sunny and mostly in the upper 70's - a far piece from the usual 20's and wind/snow of Chicago at that time of year. We visited many of our favorite restaurants and added a couple of new ones to our list. We got to the beach, a couple of wildlife preserves, some parks. Did some walking and some lounging by the pool. For a trip with no pre-planned agenda, it was great.

We came home from Florida in time for Christmas. We had a quiet holiday with our sister-in-law, brother-in-law, their children and spouses. Our daughter was with us for Thanksgiving this year, so she spent Christmas and New Year's with her in-laws.

Between Christmas and New Year's, we drove down to Indianapolis. This was purely a goof-off trip. We needed two additional nights at a particular hotel chain to maintain "Gold" status in their frequent traveler program, so we went. We did some shopping and I got to visit an old friend from my antique fountain pen hobby. The friend recently closed a large shop in a suburb of Indy and re-opened a much smaller, more specialized shop a few blocks away. I wanted to visit, see the new shop, and let her know that as long as she maintained the business, she could consider me to be a customer. (I've been going there for 15-18 years.)

Other than all that, not much new. I'm at work this week and part of next, then it is back to semi-retirement. Life is good.

I hope there are a few folks left out there to read this, but at the moment, lonely as it may be, I'll be Stayin' the Course!

 

[Paul1972]

Hope you have a Happy and healthy 2019 . All the best Paul

 

[Paleowoman]

I'm here. Still busy with son and very tired.

Thinking of SB and his wife's serious fall.

 

[jwinter]

Quick check in for me. Nothing new. Glad the holidays came and also that they are over. Nothing more festive than spending the holidays with a bunch of old people (did I say that?) in Arizona. Yes, being a little sassy here. I can do that as I am of the age some would think I am OLD! Sorry

My thoughts are also on SB and sending prayers.

Steve, Paul, and Anne, good to see you post and Happy New Year. We are going to make it a good one and stay that course!

 

[Superbob]

13 December my wife suffered a horrific fall on a marbled floor, broke her elbow, suffered facial fractures. Taken by ER to hospital. We thought we were going to lose her. Been in two different ICUs, now for past 10 days in a nice new Rehab center atop the hospital. After surgery, elbow is healing nicely. Bruises and bumps are receding somewhat -- but I have to schedule another CT for her after her release, and then see neurologists for evaluation about what they can do or if all can be expected to heal without further surgery. So it is a long road to go. Not a pleasant course. On top of everything else, my son took me to ER yesterday morning because of awful outbreak of stomach/intestinal problems. I had an EKG and CT-scan and was determined I basically have stomach flu, though they didn't use that term. I managed to escape to home with prescriptions and instructions for bland diet. Now I have three days to get well enough to bring my wife home after she is discharged next Tuesday, and be her caretaker, They are going to send nurses and therapists regularly too for a while.

On a positive note, my mended heart seems to be getting through all this stress okay, but when I have a little time I do need to reschedule my cardio appointment which had to cancel during December crises.

 

[MartinF]

SB, thanks for the update. Hope your DW makes a full recovery and that you are able to take care of her during recovery. And take care of yourself too.
No news here. Survived the holidays without weight gain. Walking normal miles. Should get 15 miles in this week (count week Monday thru Sunday).
Happy New Year to everyone. I hope we all have a great 2019. Martin

 

[FredW]

Nice to hear from everyone. Like many others, I’ve been busy with family, holidays and life stuff. Wishing better days for SB and his DW. Sorry I haven’t stopped by more often. I’ve got tired thinking of myself as a heart condition and wanted to try on thinking of myself as a normal healthy 75 year old. Silly me. There is no such thing as “normal”. And at 75, there is always something you are having to deal with.

Now for a short, or not so short story. Many months age SB challenged some of us to loose about 10 lbs. I took up the challenge and over the weeks, and months proceeded to loose a few pounds, then gain them back. Well SB and others forgot about the challenge, or stopped writing about it. But, I continued. I loss about 5 of those 10 pounds. Then Fall turned to Winter. I became less active. Thanksgiving happened. Christmas cookies were found on my kitchen counter. Family visited and feasts happened. For a few weeks, I ignored the challenge. Then 2019 set in and I got on the scales. “Holly ****!” I weighed 2 pounds heavier than I did when I started the challenge!

That sucked. My cardiologist was going to yell at me in 3 weeks when I go in for my 6 month checkup. I should have never given in to my sugar habit and eaten those 8 Oreos. I needed to play more pickle ball, eat less, get back on track.

This evening as I drove home from the YMCA, it was snowing. My rural side road had not been plowed or sanded. I slowed down to 25 instead of my normal 45. As I came down a small hill, my little Honda Fit slide left, then right, then left again. It is crappy in snow, even with snow tires, and worst with ice, and I was driving in both. I slid backwards into a ditch taking out small trees and stopped by a bigger one. I just missing a culvert and creekbed that would have swallowed the Fit.

The car is totaled. I’m ok, physically, but am doing a fairly good job of beating myself up. What did I learn? (We 75 year olds can still learn lessons in life)

i learned: don’t give in to that sugar addiction and if you do, don’t dwell on it for it does not matter if you win or loose the weight challenge. What matters is that you are grateful that you missed the culverts of life.

Wishing everyone better will power than mine, better traction, and the luck to miss the culverts.

 

[Superbob]

Yes, let us strive to miss those "culverts of life." What a compelling post, Fred! Sorry your car was totaled but very glad you survived to tell the story and pass along valuable lessons to us. Yes, I have some time ago decided not to obsess about my weight numbers, though as a 24/7 nurse I seem to be losing weight. I've always had great respect for nurses -- but now more so than ever.

Thanks to Steve for getting us going with a Staying the Course, 2019 post. Question of the day is if we should just continue in this thread for a while, instead of starting a brand new thread each week. Or maybe start a new one with the beginning of each month to freshen things up? If you have nothing new, a new weekly start-up sometimes falls flat. Ideas?

Yes, in our own ways we are staying our courses -- I've got 2 years on you Fred but have nothing on you in experience and perspective. My wife has nearly 8 years on me (yes she robbed the cradle a half-century ago, lol) but she is still the toughest yet sweetest lady I know. The fall she took would have killed most people -- it was horrible. But we're back home nearly a month later, and she seems to be making steady progress. Next week will be scary though -- a head CT followed by visit with neurosurgeons. Praying that they will find natural heading will do -- don't know if at 84 she could survive neurosurgery.

So we are staying the course -- sorry I haven't have hardly anything cheery to say. First day back home, DW actually says, this is Wednesday. aren't you going to exercise class? No way am I going to leave her for a few hours and risk a fall. Exercise teacher though is going to bring us a meal the day my wife has the CT ordeal. Eventually, when it's safe to do so, I will return to that class, which has so greatly helped me stay the course. Meanwhile, I get lots of exercise as a caretaker for my courageous spouse.

Safe, happy, productive 2019, all!

 

[honeybunny]

Thanks, Steve, for posting. Sorry for all the troubles, Superbob and Paleowoman and FredW . My holiday was very, very quiet. Basically spent it alone for personal reasons, though I took a number of days off from work and attended the delivery of my 6th grandchild (a firstborn boy for my youngest daughter) on December 21. I have not lined danced in several weeks; either too tired or too down in the dumps. But my weight is holding at 151.4 lbs., and I'm trying to watch my sugar/fat intake to keep it that way. I initally signed up at work for a presention on the Whole30 program but after repeatedly reading the list of restrictions, I acknowledged to myself that I do not have the willpower to adhere to the program for one day, let alone 30 days. Better if I continute to follow my personal weight loss diet and get back into the dancing.

Here's to a happy (or happier) and healthy new year!

 

[FredW]

SB, thanks for the update. Best to you and uocoming tests for DW.

 

[MartinF]

Looks like everyone is busy this year. Hope everyone is doing well.
I'm trying to walk 750 miles this year which works out to about 2 miles per day. That's not a lot but if you miss a day you need to do more another day. Last week we had rain and I only walked on the weekend. So my mileage is already behind the target. This past week I walked every day and I'm up to 46 miles with target at 50. This weekend I'll do 4-5 each day so should catch up.
Weight is maintaining so need to do more to get it to go down.
Nothing else to report. My long term project of de-cluttering my life (mostly work related papers) before retirement is slowly moving along. I have 3-5 years to get it done and it might take that long!
Looking forward to hearing reports from everyone else. Martin