What positive can you list today?

[KayC]

15 hours ago, Marq said:

If only XP were still supported

I loved XP and Windows 7, my two favorites!!

My positive today so far is I got the driver to my printer installed and my printer is working!  YAY!  (It's been months since the fiasco with DriverSupport that took my $ and driver with them.)  I was able to print out my insurance card!

[KayC]

10 hours ago, foreverhis said:

Well, my positive is that Cosi and I (and all our friends) lived through our first tornado warning from the NWS.  A line of fast, heavy storms with hail, 50-70 mph winds, and tornadoes forming passed through this afternoon.

10 hours ago, foreverhis said:

We're fine, though Cosi thinks humans are weird.

 

For Cosi! 😁

Annie, so glad you safely made it through, have only been in one, at the coast, it was small, tried to get some people on the beach to leave, you could SEE it !  Gave up, each man for himself!

[Gail 8588]

10 hours ago, foreverhis said:

Well, my positive is that Cosi and I (and all our friends) lived through our first tornado warning from the NWS.  

So glad you, Cosi, and everyone you know came through the storm okay.  You were right to move Cosi to the safest room, no matter how weird she thinks you are. 

[RichS]

1 hour ago, KayC said:

My positive today so far is I got the driver to my printer installed and my printer is working! 

PLUS....You installed Windows 11. There is a second career waiting for you as a Hardware Specialist! 

My positive for the the end of this week:  My uncle had a fall at home last Sunday, couldn't get up a was taken to the hospital. There he found out he had COVID. I haven't been able to visit him all week. Reason why: I tested positive for COVID as well. He's doing fine and he should be returning home by the weekend. I'll be out of the contagious stage by then.

[KayC]

I am so sorry, Rich, for both of you!  How are you feeling?  

1 hour ago, RichS said:

There is a second career waiting for you as a Hardware Specialist! 

Haha, not hardly!

[RichS]

7 minutes ago, KayC said:

I am so sorry, Rich, for both of you!  How are you feeling?  

I'm slowly recovering by staying home and resting when I can. I need to wear a mask around the house (which I hate) to protect Ross from getting infected. I should be out of the contagious stage by the weekend. I just got a call from the hospital and they will be releasing him today.

[KayC]

Is he over it? Does he have a ride home?

[Marq]

Woke, showered, dressed.  Went over to my parents for coffee but they were out.  My positive: accepting that my morning is going to be coffee alone until my meeting at 12

[RichS]

1 hour ago, KayC said:

Is he over it? Does he have a ride home?

I guess they feel he is. He may have caught it days before me. I'll be picking him up in front of the hospital (but won't go in the building). I'm waiting for their call this afternoon.

[rlh]

Today things felt a little less awful than they've felt these past 6 weeks. I wouldn't say "good", but I managed to reach out to my son's teachers, flip through one of my husband's books a bit, and play some video games. I felt a bit more human and a little less zombie today.

[Griefsucks810]

My positive for today was taking the dog out for 2 walks.  When it’s bitter cold outside I don’t take the dog out cuz my body can’t handle the cold anymore. My daughter takes the dog out for walks no matter what the weather is outside cuz she says that the dog has to go out.  The only time she doesn’t take the dog out is when it’s pouring rain.  

[foreverhis]

12 hours ago, Gail 8588 said:

So glad you, Cosi, and everyone you know came through the storm okay.  You were right to move Cosi to the safest room, no matter how weird she thinks you are. 

The alert startled the life out of all of us.  My friends group chat lit up immediately.  A few of us have lived in "normal" tornado areas, but the rest of us have not.  I have some experience with the warnings from when we would visit friends and family while I was growing up.  I have visited storm cellars a time or two, but decades ago.

Honestly, if it had just been me, I would have put necessities in the bathroom and then gone back to watching the storms, only sheltering if necessary.  But I have my girl to protect now, so I grabbed her vet box, plopped her in it, and got her safe first.  Then I gathered what we'd need, covered the small window, and hunkered down. 

I'm sorry to say that our positive from yesterday is two other communities negatives.  The storm lines were moving very fast and shifted slightly south as they hit land.  This meant that two small cities about 15 miles south of us were hit by two funnel clouds and two small tornadoes.  The damage is impressively awful.

I've long ago stopped worrying (too much) if anyone, including Cosi, thinks I'm weird. 😄

[JonathanFive]

It's interesting that you can just totally, "go ahead and delete your posts," on this forum.  I guess we all know, "grief can make you crazy as all get out, and you might say something, and change mind about saying it."

[widower2]

3 hours ago, foreverhis said:

I've long ago stopped worrying (too much) if anyone, including Cosi, thinks I'm weird. 😄

Good because we've always thought that about you.

 Kidding of course...from what I can tell of your posts, you're one of the most sane people I know!

[Gail 8588]

1 hour ago, JonathanFive said:

It's interesting that you can just totally, "go ahead and delete your posts," on this forum.  I guess we all know, "grief can make you crazy as all get out, and you might say something, and change mind about saying it."

I will admit that in late 2020, I removed a lot of content from many of my posts from 2019 and 2020 because I didn't  want my children to ever read some of what I posted. During those years, I was extremely depressed, lost, not wanting to live.  At some point I became concerned that if I did die, my boys might find this site and read my posts causing them more pain.  So I edited my posts to take out a lot of my darkest language.  I don't think I  deleted any posts entirely, but I did change the tone of many of them.

[KayC]

My other positive for yesterday is...I could not find my car registration, I looked everywhere.  I wrote a check for it and snail mailed it in last June, due early July, their website was down and you couldn't get any help.  I remembered the one here in town is open Thursdays but couldn't find their hours, no one answers any questions on line or phone so I drove down there, they were out to lunch, so I was first in line when they came back, paid $5, got a print out and was gone!  Couldn't do that in the city!  Took Kodie to the park, and then we went to Bible Study.  It was more of a going away for Cindy, two hours and not enough time!  It was beautiful.

[Roxeanne]

I had a beautiful evening with my friends...first a good lunch together and then in a party with a great local band that sing in "milanese" the dialect of Milan...

During the evening my friends proved to me their friendship, they took care of me ....i am grateful for that! It's a long friendship, we met in our 20s and during the years we were involved in a radio, theather and many other steps...we love music and i remember a lot of live concerts with international artist with them!

When i met Giorgio i disappeared for almost 18 years....after his death they welcomed me back!

I really appreciate our long friendship💕

[rlh]

Spoke on the phone with my mom for an hour today. While I hate that we have this in common, she's the only person in my life right now who gets both the loss and the socially isolated thing.

[widower2]

Having someone who "gets it" is huge. 

[KayC]

Kodie and I went to the park today, twice, before and after a coed baby shower.  I was stunned with how much sugar there was and glad to have prepared ahead with my "dinner", egg in a mug, was perfect.  Kids running around crazy hyped up on sugar!  And I thought, Lord, what are we doing to our kids! 

Tried to feed the horse her apple but she was laying down and didn't want to get up for anything!  Tried her later too, same thing.  She's done that before, likely tomorrow we can.

[foreverhis]

On 2/8/2024 at 9:32 PM, widower2 said:

you're one of the most sane people I know!

The two aren't mutually exclusive.😉😄

[Marq]

Spent time with my parents.  Drove for 90 minutes with my kid taking about Dorothy, anger, sadness, the future.  A positive day.

[steinbok]

11 hours ago, foreverhis said:

Some recent research shows that the "hyped up" part is largely psychological.  But the damage of excess sugar, especially refined sugars, cannot be overstated.  There's some evidence that consuming sugar, again especially refined sugar on its own, causes a craving for more, an addiction, if you will. It can cause all kinds of problems.  Too many refined carbohydrates in general does the same thing as they convert to sugars in the body.  Plus, excess carbohydrates are stored as fat, if I am remembering correctly.  The "worst" kind of fat.  And then there's the whole problem of triglycerides.

My doctor has told me that keto is not the appropriate diet for me, especially long term, and explained why.  However, we went through my eating patterns while John was ill and the first 18-24 months after I lost him.  I had gained nearly 50 lb.  My cortisol levels were through the roof, understandably so according to my doctor.  About 6 months or so after when I was at about my heaviest, he told me not to expect to lose weight until my cortisol and other levels came down or stabilized.

After 2 years, with only about 3 lb of loss, he walked me through what I needed to do.  In short, my carbohydrate intake was "standard" for the US at 300 gm or so per day.  He said the healthiest thing for me would be to cut that in half, give or take a few, and keep between 125 and 150.  At first I thought that would feel like deprivation, but all it really meant was making choices,  adding more lean protein, and getting back to my usual level of vegetables.  No more pasta and bread with dinner. No more rice and a dinner roll.  No more, "Yes please" to fruit pie and ice cream (not even one scoop).  Etc.  That's what has helped me, along with yoga, physical therapy, and time on our recumbent exercise bike.  I still have half or so to go and have been plateaued for 6 months due to my own food choices and some new stresses.  So it's back to more mindful eating, particularly in the area of simple carbohydrates.

I won't say I never eat things with refined sugar or that I never have two carbohydrates at a meal.  That would be a lie.  I bake; Raleigh's dad and I bake together.  I had already reduced sugar and/or subbed in other sweeteners (natural) in many things and have continued to do that.  For me, it's portions and frequency--and "won't" power, which I have been sorely lacking these last several months.

I guess my positive for today is that I'm back to more mindful eating so that I don't wake up in the morning wishing I hadn't had that whatever-it-was the day before.

 

I used to weigh 220# nearly 30 years ago.  I have kept it off, and all I did was count calories (<1200)  and fat grams (<1.5g), per day..     I ate whatever I wanted, but made sure the caloric parameters were <1200 a day   I stuck to those #s religiously.   Was it hard?  Yes, at times, but I didn't want the current version of me either, with it's little aches and pains at the age of 31.   I lost 65# in the span of 5 months.   Have never looked back.    

As a result, the meat eating went away, along with stops at 7/11 (big gulps), bagged and boxed items (for the most part).  It introduced me to vegetarianism, which I've been at for nearly 25 years.      The guy who instilled change in me, used these 6 words:   "you're fat, do something about it"        I said, "you're right, I do need to do something about it" (probably was not the response or reaction he was expecting)  
I am thankful, that person entered my life at that time.   I was ready to hear the riot act.

Maintenance is the hardest part.  We have WAY too many temptations, that I 90% avoid when it is presented.   

The shaving of #'s is the easy part.   

Anything is possible when you're ready..... 

[steinbok]

When you set yourself a deadline to get things done, wow.   Things get done.    Knocked out the rest of the administrative stuff (all payment arrangements are with the new account and the recurrents are with the new credit card).      Check list is turning a good shade of completed blue.
Been sleeping better.      Looking forward to seeing my relatives and friends north of me for a long spell.  It had  been almost 2 years of non-stop caregiving
Just tell the rain to go away in the Sacramento area... I have some bike riding to do!

[Griefsucks810]

18 hours ago, foreverhis said:

Some recent research shows that the "hyped up" part is largely psychological.  But the damage of excess sugar, especially refined sugars, cannot be overstated.  There's some evidence that consuming sugar, again especially refined sugar on its own, causes a craving for more, an addiction, if you will. It can cause all kinds of problems.  Too many refined carbohydrates in general does the same thing as they convert to sugars in the body.  Plus, excess carbohydrates are stored as fat, if I am remembering correctly.  The "worst" kind of fat.  And then there's the whole problem of triglycerides.

My doctor has told me that keto is not the appropriate diet for me, especially long term, and explained why.  However, we went through my eating patterns while John was ill and the first 18-24 months after I lost him.  I had gained nearly 50 lb.  My cortisol levels were through the roof, understandably so according to my doctor.  About 6 months or so after when I was at about my heaviest, he told me not to expect to lose weight until my cortisol and other levels came down or stabilized.

After 2 years, with only about 3 lb of loss, he walked me through what I needed to do.  In short, my carbohydrate intake was "standard" for the US at 300 gm or so per day.  He said the healthiest thing for me would be to cut that in half, give or take a few, and keep between 125 and 150.  At first I thought that would feel like deprivation, but all it really meant was making choices,  adding more lean protein, and getting back to my usual level of vegetables.  No more pasta and bread with dinner. No more rice and a dinner roll.  No more, "Yes please" to fruit pie and ice cream (not even one scoop).  Etc.  That's what has helped me, along with yoga, physical therapy, and time on our recumbent exercise bike.  I still have half or so to go and have been plateaued for 6 months due to my own food choices and some new stresses.  So it's back to more mindful eating, particularly in the area of simple carbohydrates.

I won't say I never eat things with refined sugar or that I never have two carbohydrates at a meal.  That would be a lie.  I bake; Raleigh's dad and I bake together.  I had already reduced sugar and/or subbed in other sweeteners (natural) in many things and have continued to do that.  For me, it's portions and frequency--and "won't" power, which I have been sorely lacking these last several months.

I guess my positive for today is that I'm back to more mindful eating so that I don't wake up in the morning wishing I hadn't had that whatever-it-was the day before.

 

Glad you’re being proactive about your eating habits.  
 

I find myself reading all food labels as to the carbs, trans fat n mono saturated fats.  Idk what my triglycerides are cuz I haven’t had blood work done since September 2023; I only received a letter in the mail from my drs office saying that my levels are stable and no follow up was required.  I rescheduled my Jan 2024 dr appt till March 12 2024 cuz I’m trying to lose a few more pounds before next month. I walk my dog 2x’s per day for 15 minutes at a time which is my 30 minutes of exercise per day. I have read that walking 30 minutes a day is supposed to help with weight loss and keep your heart healthy.  We’ll see how true this is when I get on the scale. I’m gonna try jump n jacks and aerobic exercise in 15 minute intervals 2x’s a day to see if this will also help me lose weight and get fit. 

[Rey Dominguez Jr]

Griefsucks810, suggest looking at sodium on the food labels, also.  Suggest looking for sodium levels lower than about 200.  Veronica and I were always looking for lower sodium and potassium levels, potassium because of her failing kidneys.  

[KayC]

A rule of thumb I always used is 100 calories shouldn't have more than 100 gms salt.  Until I learned it's not the villain as I was told.  That is unless you have a condition.  I was told to cut out all salt when pregnant with my daughter (I had toxemia) but no issues now, of course she's 41 1/2 now.

[Tina3ka]

Let me write a positive...I woke up today, looked at his photos and felt good that I was able to express at least a little bit here on this forum about how much I miss him.

[Griefsucks810]

My positive for today is that ate breakfast and lunch and don’t feel hungry cuz my belly is full.  On my way to my psychiatrist office to pick up my lab slip cuz she wants me to have blood work done in order to continue prescribing my meds to me.

7 hours ago, KayC said:

A rule of thumb I always used is 100 calories shouldn't have more than 100 gms salt.  Until I learned it's not the villain as I was told.  That is unless you have a condition.  I was told to cut out all salt when pregnant with my daughter (I had toxemia) but no issues now, of course she's 41 1/2 now.

I was also told to kick the salt habit when I was pregnant with my daughter 30 years ago cuz my legs were retaining water.  Haven’t used salt since. 

[KayC]

My positive is I went to town to get my watch repaired and get groceries and made it home in one piece!
Took us all day.  Just got back from feeding the horse her apple.

[rlh]

Today was a comparatively good day. I managed to get a few emails off to start a home repair, arranged for my counseling tomorrow to be virtual, and reached out to a local org to see if they had need of men's dress shirts/pants/suits for their clients.

The org does, and it's a local charity that my husband and I have given monetary donations to for years, so I feel good about parting with his work attire by giving them to this org. (The work clothes are the easiest thing to part with because he wasn't fond of work attire and only got most of this stuff because he had to go back to working in and office this fall).

I also got out for a walk with a parent friend. That was my hardest task today because I had to fight my social anxiety just to ask of she wanted to walk today (she previously offered to walk with me if I wanted).

[Marq]

Positive days yesterday and today.

Yesterday I stayed with my sister in the emergency department,  because she needed the support.  I did not want to be in a hospital but I feel good about helping her.

Today I went to a meeting.  Spent time with my parents.  Sat with my daughter when she was crying.  I finished paperwork for estate planning. I filed my taxes.

And I called the funeral home and the medical examiner.

 

[KayC]

You got a lot done 👍

[KayC]

Had a good day, walked down and fed the horse, came home and ate, loaned someone an arm sling. Headed to the post office and then the park to walk Kodie, we walked over an hour, then headed to the Methodist Church to pick up a food box but they were going to have a mtg and didn't announce it and I didn't want to wait nearly an hour so we headed home.

Box over well warped and the nails are pulling out so I'd texted them and asked if they could put screws in (couldn't find my screwdriver) and it was done when I got home!  Gave it another touch of paint.

[Roxeanne]

Tomorrow night i will go to a party for Carnival dress like a bee....it will be funny 'cos i no longer dressed up for Carnival since i was very young!

Never did with him too!

I remember in my childhood my parents dressed me up like a flower....with paper and colours! 

I have evolved over time...😂

[KayC]

We named our daughter Melissa, which means Honeybee.  Glad it's a good bee.  Enjoy your time!

[KayC]

A huge positive for yesterday: Robinhood finally deactivated my account.  I held for their chats an average of three hours each time, seven times, and the last one took pity on me and closed it as they'd accumulated one penny AFTER selling stock and deactivating it!  How they did that I'd like to know but I know what I saw.  I didn't want to file a 1099 on mere cents the rest of my life or leave the mess for my kids to take care of!
Websites like that should come with a warning!  If you're old and befuddled, DO NOT INVEST!  I had to file lthe 1099 last year even though I LOST $ on it!  They claim what you earned but not the loss against it.  Anyway, glad it's done.

And they said I'd have to file their 1099, which they're late sending out, only to find out I don't.  So I am shouting hallelujah and can now get my tax person onto doing my taxes, which I sent over 1 1/2 weeks ago.

And with my printer now working I was able to return something to eBay, yay!

[KayC]

Industrious today!  I cleaned out my wood stove, put the ash/embers on the burn pile, it's smouldering.  Vacuumed and dusted, still have some more dusting to finish.  Cleaned some windowsills between storm windows...discovered the screen warped in my son's room, fixed it and cleaned the water off the sill.  Walked Kodie and fed the horse.  Cleaned out the vacuum cleaner.  Homeowner's job is never done!  Picked up branches.  Good to get it all done!  And fixed a wonderful breakfast.  Did laundry.  Cleaned out lint trap outside.

 

[KayC]

Jack and I even walked together.  He showed me a couple of trees that had died, he's going to walk Joseph through cutting them down, looks like a piece of cake, he'll do that next week when he gets his wood splitter back from someone he loaned it to.  He's at 50% right now, lost 20 lbs, he figures muscle.  He'll build it back, it'll just take time.  I've never seen anyone like him!  I hope he can make 100% but if not, 80%.

[shawnt]

A beautiful winter day, lots of snow, time to play.

[Marq]

slept thru the night, woke on time, met with friends.

[widower2]

Well something that started out not at all positive turned out to be in a way...I was opening a bottle of rubbing alcohol and the stupid seal on it abruptly popped open and a little got in my eye, which made me gasp, and a little got down my throat. I immediately flushed my eye with water and drank some water (foolishly not recalling that alcohol that pure evaporates almost immediately), and felt "OK" but being paranoid called a poison control center. She said yeah, you're fine, you'd have to consume way more than that to be worried (about 4 oz). 

Wow that tasted bad lol 

[foreverhis]

@widower2  I have to make the joke:  That's not the kind of alcohol we drink!

Ouch and ouch some more about your eye.  At one point, I had a bottle of eye wash too close to the bottle of rubbing alcohol.  Fortunately, I caught myself just in time and didn't actually try to rinse my eye with alcohol, but it was a close call and I did end up with it dripping down my face and onto my shirt.  And of course, I still had to get the darn boulder out of my eye!

I hope you feel better.🤗

[widower2]

Thanks. My eye feels OK but I feel like I have this weird taste in my mouth, even after dinner. 

I guess I need to rinse it out with some beer    

[KayC]

OMG, widower2, so glad you'll be okay!  I'd eat/drink anything to get that taste out!  You could have one of my brownies, LOL.  I wrote about them in another thread, ugh.  Not as bad as rubbing alcohol though!

[widower2]

Thanks Kay, sounds good, though I have to watch the sweets. Any chance you could make them with sucralose?   

[KayC]

No to sucralose but I use monkfruit, erythritol, stevia, allulose.  This is one of my favorite guides on sweeteners: *The Best Keto Sweeteners And Low Carb Sugar Substitutes - Low Carb Yum

I have other brownie recipes, just didn't care for how this one turned out, tough and hard, maybe had I cooked it less but I went with what they said.

[foreverhis]

This isn't a real positive, but I am positive Cosi and I would appreciate all your kind thoughts and prayers.  We're about to get hit with another atmospheric river.  This time we're not on the "side" getting a modest punch as several have been this season, but smack in the middle like so many were last winter.  Starting in about 2 hours, we're forecast to get 3-1/2 to 4 inches over a 24 hour period with 2 inches of that coming over a 5 hour period overnight.  Winds are already starting and expected to be sustained 30-45 mph (gale force).  The ground is already saturated, so it looks like we'll see local flooding yet again.

Cosi and I are ready with emergency lights charged up, flashlights at the ready, and food and supplies, but I have to say that I am getting darn tired of this!  While I do know that other places have worse weather (thinking of you Kay💗) and other areas have more issues with flooding right her in CA, I've decided that it's okay for me to whine a little too.

If you don't hear from me for a couple of days, it will mean we've lost power yet again.  I've mentioned that our community is an unincorporated part of the county, so even though we're 15,000 population spread out compared to 10,000 in the closest small city 7 miles away, PG&E ignores us most of the time.  Our electrical hasn't been upgraded in decades, so we're always the first to lose power and the last to get it back.  Okay...that's definitely enough whining for now.

Stay safe and warm and comfortable everyone.🤗

[KayC]

Annie, I am so sorry you are going through this yet again, so is my friend in Ventura.  We continue to pray, some say they don't believe, that's okay, for those who do, what can it hurt.  🙏 for you and Cosi!

[widower2]

Yikes - batten down the hatches and g/l!