Cool down

So, right before summer's end, we finally get a cool down. Thank goodness. We had a few more hot days this past week, and then on Thursday we woke up to cool, cloudy skies. Both Thursday and Friday the temperature only got to 67 or so, it rained heavily, and it was in the mid 50s at night. Fabulous. Teen B even asked me when it would warm up! The answer is -- today, when we're supposed to get to 87. But no more 90s for a while. All this coming week, for the next 7 days, high temps are predicted to be in the 80s. I can live with that! For the past three days I've been wearing shirts with actual sleeves, but this morning I put on a tank top (even though it was rather cool). 

But really, only a few more weeks of tank top weather. After that I can wear one with a little sweater over it if I want to, or I can just wear short sleeves. It was heavenly to wear short sleeves this week, even my boring old shirts that I've worn a hundred times (or more).

The only sad thing about the return of cool weather is that the hummingbirds will be leaving. I mean, not yet -- we have a few more weeks with them. But right now they're coming to the feeder almost constantly -- buzz buzz, oh, there's another, buzz buzz -- and I will miss them SO much when they're gone.

***

The other thing that happened this week is that I got my braces off. Yes, after two years and five months, 29 very very long months, I no longer have braces on my teeth.

I think it's an improvement. Hard to tell, really. I don't have a good "before" picture to use as a comparison. The main difference is that my top teeth now come sort of over my bottom teeth, which is a bit uncomfortable. I'm learning how to position my teeth so they don't hurt. I may ask the orthodontist about it when I go back on Tuesday to get my retainers.

I think the main benefit to having had braces, honestly, is that I don't bite my fingernails anymore. I was worried that as soon as the braces came off I would start nibbling again, but I don't have the slightest urge to. I started biting my nails when I was 18 months old (according to my mother) and stopped when I got my braces at age 61 and a half, so that's 60 years of nail biting. But I think it's over.

Actually, all week after getting the braces off I had terrible nausea, which I think had something to do with getting them off, even though I can't find anything on the internet about it. Some people get nausea when they get braces put on, but apparently I am the only person who has ever had it when getting them off. Figures. Of course, yes, I already had nausea from my drugs, but it got much worse after the braces came off. It had something to do with having to position my teeth differently, constantly moving my jaw and my tongue because everything felt weird. Also, it hurt like heck when the orthodontist removed the brackets, and my gums are sore, and my teeth hurt for several days and... let's just say, getting braces in your 60s is FOR THE BIRDS and nobody should ever do it. 

But it's over, and the nausea was better yesterday, and the pain was better, and my gums are improving (though it still hurts a little to brush and floss). It's kind of funny -- with braces I brushed my teeth with water a lot, on and off throughout the day, in addition to brushing with toothpaste a couple times a day, plus I was constantly poking at my teeth/braces with dental picks and things. I'm trying to stop, because I think I'm irritating my gums. I keep telling myself, you don't need to do that so much, you don't have 18 million things stuck in your braces anymore, the braces are GONE.

***

Speaking of nausea, I lost a little bit of weight this week.

•     Weight the morning I took my first shot: 254.6
•     Weight last Sunday: 244.4
•     Weight this morning (after 8+ weeks on Mounjaro): 244.0

Last Sunday I thought my weight loss that week was partly due to vomiting, so it makes sense that I only lost .4 lb this week. I'm good with it. So that's 10.6 lbs down in a little over 8 weeks.

I had to start a higher dose of Mounjaro this week -- up to 5 mg from 2.5. I was worried about it, but so far I don't feel too different. Maybe a little. I took my shot last night instead of Friday, because I'm trying to change my shot day. Rocket Boy arrives next Saturday and Back to School Night is Monday the 19th, so I'm thinking I might delay my next shot until that Monday night (so I have the energy to do all that running up and down stairs). Then I won't have to worry about shots during my little trip to Seattle -- I'll just take a shot when I get back. Friday has been sort of a bad time to take the shot, because we go out to eat on Saturday.

***

I thought maybe the kids and I could do something fun this past week, their last full week of freedom, but they didn't want to do a darn thing. No movies, no trips to museums. They are 16, after all, and doing stuff with their mother isn't high on their agendas. One night we went to Sweet Cow for ice cream, and Friday night we went to Dairy Queen, and that was about it. On Friday we also did a Target run, to get school supplies, but they didn't want to get much. Of course, they won't find out their schedules until tomorrow afternoon, but they pretty much know what they're taking already, and the stores run out of supplies pretty quickly. I finally convinced them to choose one notebook and one folder each, plus some pens and pencils. That's all they wanted for now. It's fine.

They don't seem to have a real sense that this is their second to last year of school. Of course, Teen B may go to college, and even Teen A may have some more education in his future, but they have only two years left in the public school system, which blows my mind. Only two years left of me getting up at 7 am in order to get them up at 7:30 am to catch the bus at 8:10 am. 

Only two more years of the school lunch calendar! I love that calendar. I've loved it ever since they were in kindergarten and they both brought it home in their Friday folders. (I used to put the extra calendar up at work.) I keep track of the laundry on it. 

The last few years I've had to beg Teen B to bring me one (they have them in a box at the school and kids can get one if they want it). He says it's embarrassing. This year I'm offering $10 to the first kid who brings me one. We'll see. 

You can also print them out at home, but it takes so much ink and then you have to put it together and it's a pain. I did print out August, because Teen B probably won't bring one home right away.

***

Speaking of school, there was a weird thing in the paper this week. The headline said "Teacher accused of inappropriately touching students." Oh dear, I thought. Then I saw the subhead: "Manhattan Middle School." The twins' middle school. Oh no, I thought. So I read the article. And I realized it was their 6th grade math teacher.

And, you know, I'm ashamed to say my first thought was -- it couldn't be. There has to be a mistake, he's been falsely accused. I liked their 6th grade math teacher! I thought he was a nice guy. They didn't like him -- apparently none of the kids did -- and I thought that was very wrong of them. I spent the whole year trying to get them to like him. And now this. 

I asked Teen B whether he'd ever been aware of anything like this with this teacher. He said "there were rumors." And I thought, oh my God, this is why the kids didn't like him. They didn't feel safe around him.

The former principal (he retired the year the kids graduated) is accused of not reporting the teacher, but instead having him take some sort of class on how not to inappropriately touch students and then putting him back in the classroom, where he apparently continued to inappropriately touch them. The teacher has been on leave since March and now they've finally arrested him and he's in jail. Blows my mind.

We spent the rest of the day making jokes about inappropriate touching. I kept saying to the cats, "Come here and let me inappropriately touch you," and things like that. But mostly I just kept thinking, OMG, OMG, OMG.

***

Well, so anyway. It's August. I was thinking I should do a monthly overview of July, plus my goals for August, since I forgot to do it last week.

1. Reading. I read 9 books in July, for a total of 72 books through the first 7 months of the year. I've already read four books in August, so it's looking like another good reading month.

2. Presidential biographies. I finished that biography of Warren G. Harding's wife Florence in July, so this month I am planning to read a biography of Calvin Coolidge (it arrived from Prospector this week). At the beginning of the year I thought I would only get through three presidents, but I can't see any reason not to read Herbert Hoover this fall. That will set me up for FDR in 2025 -- I expect I will read more than one book about him and Eleanor. It's crazy to think that in a few years I will actually finish this reading project.

3. Movies. I watched just one movie in July, something I got from the library, but it's possible Rocket Boy and I will watch something together while he's here in August.

4. Special things. I've done nothing "special" since our trip in May/June. Someone in the neighborhood was offering two free tickets to Macbeth, at the Colorado Shakespeare Festival, for this afternoon, and I asked Teen B if he'd like to go, but he said no. I didn't push it. Soon school will start and there will be concerts and plays to attend.

5. Writing. I haven't done a lot of writing, but some. I typed up and edited the short story I wrote on our trip and I was pleased with the result. I've been doing a lot of genealogy stuff, which seems to use the same parts of my brain as creative writing. And of course this blog.

6. Exercise. In July I did 7 stretch videos and took 23 walks. I'm trying to get back into the stretch videos, while also continuing to walk. It's going pretty well, although there are certainly days when I do one but not the other. The goal is not to have too many days where I do nothing at all.

7. Hiking. In July, Teen B and I did that humongous hike for his class. I don't know what I'm going to do for August. It would be nice if I could get Rocket Boy to take a hike with me while he's here, but I don't know if that will happen. We'll see.

8. Goodwill or Charm. I am really not doing well with this goal. I didn't take anything to Goodwill in May, June, or July. Meanwhile, the huge garbage bag full of clothes and linens in my room now has a big hole in it, caused by the cat. I would like to transfer the stuff to a new bag and take it to Goodwill this week (before Rocket Boy comes), but I don't know...

9. Wardrobe. For several months now my goal has been to work on shoes, and it's just not happening. I could really use a new pair of tennis shoes, because my current ones have holes in both feet, but I haven't felt inspired to do anything about it. Maybe this month. I'm more focused on clothes for the kids right now, though. Teen B needs new shoes, Teen A needs new pants...

10. Files. I have done nothing on the files this whole summer. Maybe after the kids go back to school.

***

This coming week, before Rocket Boy arrives, I am planning to do some cleaning and decluttering. I know I won't get as much done as I want to, but it always helps to have a goal. So here are the plans:

• Sunday (today): dig up some of the weeds in the front lawn (see photo; this might not happen, since it's already 5:30 pm).
• Monday: clean up the front porch a little, and the piece of furniture by the front door that always gets stuff heaped on it.
• Tuesday: declutter the kitchen counters a little, clean out the fridge
  
• Wednesday: clean the bathtub and maybe the bathroom walls, possibly wash the shower curtains
  
• Thursday (kids at school): declutter our bedroom a little, vacuum the house, maybe take stuff to Goodwill, maybe work on the desk room
  
• Friday (kids at school): declutter the living room, wash our bedding, mop the kitchen floor!
  
• Saturday (before he arrives): work on the weeds some more
  

We'll see. Whatever gets done will be good, whatever doesn't get done just won't get done.