I saw the ophthalmologist this morning. My eye is healing…swelling is down, and it’s less red. That’s a relief. I go back Thursday for another check-up.
Work has been hell. Crazy busy. Super stressful. And no change on the horizon. I can’t believe sone day I will get to walk away forever.
45 days until our 9 day vacation in P-Town. Can’t wait!
Noom is going well. It’s only been 3 days, but I’m liking it. I’m meeting all my goals (water, walking, calories) and I am finding the daily messages very motivational. I’ll give a detailed review in a month or so. The real question is: will it work for me? Only time will tell.
I’m doing well with no shopping for non-essentials. I’m really excited about changing my spending habits. Although there’s this pair of green (my favorite color) shoes I REALLY want….
The snow is almost completely gone. Harvey loves having his yard back. So do we. We may be cooking out this weekend. Woohoo.
Something I thought about: My eyesight. On Tuesday night, my eye felt a little sore. On Wednesday morning, it was still sore and red. I figured it was just a minor infection or inflammation, something I’m prone to, so I called my eye doc and requested to be seen that day. Turns out, it was serious. I have a laceration and two ulcers in my right eye (WTF?!?!?!?!)and my cornea was in danger of permanent damage and causing loss of sight n my right eye. I am using a disinfectant spray twice a day on my eyelids and lashes, I’m taking 3 different drops: 1 drop I take every 2 hours; 1 drop I take 4 times a day; and 1 drop I take once a day. I am also taking an oral antibiotic twice a day. If this med regime doesn’t work, we may have to consider surgical intervention to save my eye sight in that eye. Needless to say, that terrified me. At my first follow-up check-up, the swelling had gone down, indicating the meds are working. However, I’m not out of the woods yet, and will go for another check up Tuesday to assess the condition of my eye. If there are signs of further improvement, it will be safe to assume the meds will do the job. If not….
Something I saw: Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (for the second time.) We loved it just as much as we did the first time. The fight scenes are DOPE! We became fans of Simu Liu while watching Kim’s Convenience and we loved him as Shang-Chi. This is the only thing I’ve ever seen Awkwafina in, and I’m an instant fan.
Something I heard: Alex Newell sing “I Am Changing” from Dream Girls. We discovered Alex from their role as “Mo” on “Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist.” We love the character Mo, and their voice is incredible. A friend advised we listen to their performance of this song (A song I happen to love) and they were amazing. Alex identifies as gender non-conforming and as a gay man. They go by all pronouns. Something I tasted: I made a delicious Shepherd’s Pie for dinner this week. Not the healthiest of meals but – DAMN! – was it delicious.
Something I tasted: A kick-ass gluten free Shepherd’s Pie I made. Not the healthiest of meals, but oh-so-delicious!
Something I learned: March 24th is National Cocktail Day. And I celebrated it properly (as did many others I know.)
Something I accomplished: Joining Noom! Our recent efforts to shed some weight has been less than successful. We have a good friend who has been on it for a few months and he looks terrific. I’m hoping we have the same success, and this program provides the ongoing support and motivation I need to stay on the right path and successfully get down to a healthier weight.
Something I bought: A new standalone cupboard for the kitchen. We need more storage space desperately. This will give us an additional 5 shelves of space. I’m very happy about it. I also managed to avoid any frivolous or unnecessary purchases this week. Woohoo!
I couldn’t let today go by without proper acknowledgement. Tonight’s celebration libation is a Pomegranate Martini (well, mine is. Jeffrey is sticking with his classic gin martini.)
1 oz vodka (I used Absolute)
1 oz pomegranate juice (I used Poms)
½ oz Cointreau
½ oz lemon juice (I used fresh squeezed)
½ oz simple syrup
Shake over ice until the shaker is too cold to hold, then poor into a proper martini glass, and garnish with a slice of lemon if you’re feeling floofy. Then enjoy.
I decided to change this category from “worried about” to “thought about” to give me more options and not be so focused on negative thoughts. A lot was on my mind this week: Work. Weight. Weather. Wishes. Wants. (with a nod to “World of Mine Wednesdays.”)
Work: Struggled through some tough weeks and I’m trying to figure out how to mitigate the stress and struggle, because I have to keep doing it another 3 years. No solutions have come to min
Weight: My initial return to exercise and eating well has not paid off as much as I’d hoped by now. I am re-examining how I’m going about things, to try to maximize the benefits of my efforts.
Weather: It snowed a lot here, recently, and I worried about damage to our roof, our trees, and the rest of our property. So far, there are no signs that anything was damaged, other than a few falling branches, and the snow is beginning to melt. WHEW!
Wishes: I’m wishing for time to pass quickly to May 13th sooner, so I can start my vacation. I really need a mental break from work.
Wants: I am trying to change/control my buying habits. As a collector with access to thousands of sites filled with things that titillate me, there is no shortage of things I want. I have succumbed too often to buying things on a whim just because I can. I am trying to stop my impulse buying. I have so much already, and owning these things aren’t going to make me happier or fulfilled. Instead of buying these things, I make a note of how much it would cost me to buy it, then I will take a look at all the money I didn’t spend at the end of the month, money that could be put towards trips or household needs or helping others, and I hope that will be an incentive to keep curbing he urge to splurge.
Something I saw:
An Irish comedy called “Dating Amber.” Two classmates, a young man struggling with his sexuality and a young lesbian who is ostracized for her suspected sexuality, decide to date to appear heterosexual to their peers and stave of accusations and harassment at school. While it deals with the serious struggles of feeling different, it is, over-all, a light hearted take on coming out, with a happier ending than most movies dealing with similar themes. We enjoyed it very much.
I also watched this amazing video on Youtube, when a friend posted the link on Facebook. The dancing is amazing and it was incredibly fun to watch. According to the interwebs:
This is the hook step dance scene involving N. T. Rama Rao Jr. and Ram Charan – the lead actors of “RRR.” “Naatu Naatu” became the first song from an Indian film to win Best Original Song honors at the Academy Awards, and at the Golden Globe Awards, as well as the first song from an Asian film to win the former.
I also came across this cool Merman pic on the web. I need to see if I can find the artist and purchase a print of it to hang in our dining room with the Merman stuff.
Something I heard:
Random songs I “used to love” from my past will pop into my head from time to time, out of the blue. This week, one was “Is There a Place (Where I Can Go)” by Bobby Vinton. I do not think I’ve heard this song in decades, and yet when I played it, I remembered every word of it and loved hearing it again.
Something I tasted:
Kielbasa with Mustard Sauce. This is an appetizer the BFJs hubby often makes at their holiday and dinner parties, so we decided to make it as the main course for it for dinner one night this week. The sauce is simple: a blend of mayonnaise, Dijon mustard, and Horseradish.
I also had a Gin Martini this week that was slightly different from my usual – Indigo Gin and Dry Vermouth – but I instantly fell in love with it: Tanqueray 10 with Dry Vermouth, with lemon peel rubbed around the rim of the glass. It really elevated the experience for me and it’s my new preferred way to make a martini. In the interest of full disclosure, I learned about this version when watching an episode of “Be My Guest with Ina Garten” featuring Stanley Tucci (*swoon*) as her guest. This is how he made it (allegedly the first time Ina ever had a Martini) and I had to try it to see if it was any better than my usual – and it WAS!
Something I learned:
I listened to an episode of the Smartless podcast featuring Author Sam Harris and I am an instant fan. His writing and public lectures cover a wide range of topics—neuroscience, moral philosophy, religion, meditation practice, human violence, rationality—but generally focus on how a growing understanding of ourselves and the world is changing our sense of how we should live. I’ve subscribed to his Podcast Making Sense purchased a couple of his audio books to listen to during my commute to and from work.
Something I accomplished:
My mood has been spiraling and my outlook turning very negative lately, so I needed to try to turn things around. To that end, we sat down and made a list of places we want to visit or re-visit on vacation. We then started to map out a plan of two, week-long vacations a year, over the next 3 years. This has really improved my outlook. Now we have more to look forward to than just the daily chores and several more years of work. Instead, we will be looking forward to vacations every 6 months, with a few long weekend trips peppered throughout. While some of these trips may not happen, it’s still exciting to think about them and have something to plan and work towards/on. And, if I can work out seeing/meeting a few blogger buddies along the way, even better.
Additionally, we have made a list of potential places we might like to move to after retirement, and we will start researching property, cost-of living, tax implications, amenities, safety, gay-welcoming, proximity to our favorite places and people, etc. Once we have a solid list of places we think we could/would want to live, we will make plans to start visiting them and exploring them.
Added benefit: this has all made three years seem a much shorter time span than they do when I just think about how much longer I have to work.
Something I bought:
I said I am trying to change/control my buying habits. I didn’t say I’ve succeeded. My goal is to be able to say “nothing” more often than not. Until then:
Need purchase: A citrus juicer. Although I have a lemon and lime press, I did not have an orange juicer. I have become a big fan of using freshly squeezed juices over bottled juices for ingredients in my cooking and cocktailing, and my recent efforts to juice blood oranges resulted in a sticky mess and wasted juice (that sounds dirty AND DIRTY!). I located and purchased an inexpensive plastic, lightweight juicer that works wonderfully, keeps all the mess inside, works great, and is easy to clean:
Want purchase: An action figure set of 3 Marvel super-hero characters that make up the team of “Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends” (Peter Parker/Spider-Man; Bobby Drake/Ice-Man; Angelica Jones/Firestar) a favorite superhero cartoon of mine from the 80s. Angelica/Firestar had a dog, Ms. Lion, as well. This was a made for TV cartoon, and was not based on an existing comic book team. While Ice-Man and Spider-Man were existing comic book characters (although not established friends in the comic book universe) Firestar was created explicitly for the cartoon. The premise was that they were all college friends, roommates, and a super-hero team that lived with Peter Parker’s (Spider-Man) Aunt May, and had a secret headquarters in their shared loft in Aunt May’s house. It was a silly and fun cartoon and I loved watching it, especially because it often featured other Marvel comic heroes and villains.
After watching the cartoons again recently (than you, iTunes,) decided I wanted a representation of this team in my collector’s display room in the basement. Upon researching these characters, I discovered there was a single set of all 4 figures released that goes for $75-100.00, but that seemed steep just to own a small and silly piece if nostalgia to display. Instead, I chose the cheaper route: I located much cheaper version of the characters sold individually, and spent a total of $25.00 putting my set together. I had to purchase Ms. Lion as a single piece from a game (Heroclix):
Fun Facts about the cartoon:
They wanted to use Johnny Storm/The Human Torch, an established comic book character and a member of the fantastic Four, as the third, fire-based member of the team. For licensing reasons, they couldn’t, so they created a new character, Firestar for the show instead.
There was only one comic book issue based on this team printed.
Firestar eventually crossed over into the comic-book universe, making her first appearance in Uncanny X-Men #193, then got her own comic-book mini series, and is now an established member of the Marvel Universe, having served as a member of both the Avengers and the X-Men.
Ms. Lion eventually appeared in the comics, became a member of the Pet Avengers (don’t ask,) and was revealed to be a male dog, with no explanation where the honorific “Ms.” came from, but his name has remained “Ms. Lion” regardless of this reveal.
There have been several “meta” moments in comics over the year, referencing “Spider-Friends” or stories where the three of these characters appear together, and it always gives me a cheap thrill.
And that’s my Sunday Seven, folks. Stay safe, all!
Idle Eyes and a Dormy 