Welcome, December

I feel as though November went by so quickly! The election already seems like a long time ago, although it continues to keep on giving. What do you think of Trump's pick to lead the FBI? Whew. That's all I can say, really. Hoo boy.

Anyway, November is over, and now we have December, the holiday month. Actually, October, November, and December are all the holiday months, so we have only one left, and it will speed by.

I have the month plotted out already. 

• The first week is for writing cards. I'm all set -- got the cards, the stamps, the printed letters -- and I started addressing envelopes yesterday. I figure I'll do 10 a day. We also have some appointments (eye for Teen A tomorrow; hair for Teen B on Tuesday; bloodwork for me maybe Thursday; Covid vaccine for me on Friday). We have some activities (a field trip for Teen B on Friday; a work party for Rocket Boy and me on Friday night; the harp concert at the library on Saturday; the lights of December holiday parade on Saturday night). And we'll be doing a lot of cleaning.
  
• The second week is for shopping. I've already done some online shopping and will probably do more this coming week, but the second week is for in-person shopping (assuming it doesn't snow, which is a lot to assume). There are also some activities that week (the choir concert on the 10th; the book group here on the 11th -- that's why we'll be cleaning the week before). We will also probably put up our tree that weekend, maybe the 14th.
• The third week is for cookie baking (though I might do one batch the week before, for the book group). I hope that's not too late. It just seems like the cookies get stale if I start too early. I plan to make six batches this year. That week is also finals week, so the kids will be in and out. They can help bake or not, won't matter.
  
• The fourth week is Christmas, and the fifth half week is vacation leading up to New Year's. Nothing planned, but I'm sure we'll do things, depending on the weather.
  

So that's December! A busy, busy month, but it'll probably be fine. It helps to be organized, although you can't organize disaster, and you never really know what will happen from day to day.

Not to be a downer, or anything, but Christmas. You never know.

***

This was a busy week, with Thanksgiving and all. I felt very sick for the first couple of days, due to the stupid shot, so didn't get much done. It was supposed to snow on Tuesday, but it didn't get started until that night, and then it snowed until mid-afternoon Wednesday. Quite a lot of snow, really, more than was predicted.

I'd purchased expensive tickets ($25 each) to go to Blossoms of Light at the Denver Botanic Gardens that night, and oh my, did I ever regret that decision. Heavy snow on the ground, freezing cold. 

The twins thought this was possibly the stupidest idea I'd ever had. Teen A went out with his friends after the snow stopped and I had to text him to come home in time for us to drive to Denver. 

Me: We need to leave by 6 pm, so be back before then

Teen A: It's too cold though

Me: No, it's colorado

Teen A: Yes it's too cold

Me: Be home in half an hour

He came home in time, very very grumpy. Teen B was not in a good mood either. I managed to get us all out of the house (Rocket Boy drove) and all the way to the Gardens without anybody killing anybody. Being a mom to teenagers is not for the faint of heart, as they say.

And then of course we had a great time! Stupid twins. It wasn't that cold (30-ish probably), the walks were fully cleared of snow, the lights were beautiful, and everybody there was in a good mood. We stopped at one of the cafes and had "loaded hot chocolate," which consisted of a paper cup of hot chocolate, plus mini marshmallows, whipped cream, chocolate sauce, and sprinkles. A little over the top! We stood around a fireplace outdoors and sipped our treats. 

On the way home we stopped at Great Scott's for dinner, and that made everybody grumpy again. Teen A just wanted to go home. Teen B wanted to go to some unknown "better" restaurant in Denver. I pointed out that it was almost 9 pm, and on the night before Thanksgiving most restaurants would already be closed or would be closing soon, and anyway, we didn't know of any "better" restaurants in Denver. Teen B was not impressed with these arguments. Pretty soon I felt like getting up and walking out of the restaurant. But the food arrived, and we ate it, and tragedy was averted.

I promised I would never make them go to something like this ever again (I'll wait until they're older and actually ASK to do something like this). But we got to do a fun winter holiday activity, so I'm happy about that.

I hadn't managed to do any Thanksgiving prep ahead of time, due to feeling lousy from the shot, but it was OK. I just got up early on Thursday and got to work. I made the cranberries and the pumpkin pie (Teen A helped, grumpily -- I told him he didn't have to, but he obviously wanted to, he just wanted to be sure I didn't think he was enjoying himself -- ah, teenagers). Then I made the spinach dish and the sweet potatoes. Rocket Boy made the mashed potatoes and gravy. Teen B observed the gravy making for a moment or two, after Rocket Boy insisted.

We had a bit of a logjam, as usual, right at the end, when we were trying to heat everything up AND make the sauce for the fish AND broil the swordfish AND bake the rolls. There's something wrong with our oven, or maybe it just needs cleaning -- anyway, it set off the smoke alarm while we were broiling. So there's always something exciting about Thanksgiving. But really, it was about as easy as it could have been, and dinner was pretty good. The swordfish was undercooked, so we put it back in the oven for 10 minutes and then it was tough. Still tasty, though. The cranberries were HORRIBLE -- I was trying a new recipe. I should just go back to my tried and true recipe next year. But it was good to experiment, too.

After dinner we took a break and then had pumpkin pie and whipped cream while watching "Ghosts" (I had gotten Season 4 of the British version from the library). I wished we could have taken a post-dinner walk, but the sidewalks were so icy that we didn't. Another year.

I guess this is a good place for the Mounjaro report, but I am not happy about it.

• Weight the morning I took my first shot: 254.6
• Weight last Sunday: 231
• Weight this morning (after 23+ weeks on Mounjaro): 231
  

OK, I realize it was Thanksgiving week, and I ate two pieces of pie (Thursday and Friday). We also ate out twice (Wednesday and Saturday), although both evenings I just had scrambled eggs and toast. And I had that "loaded hot chocolate" Wednesday night. But I was also on the 7.5 mg dose and felt terrible the first few days, and certainly did not overeat at any point during the week. I had very small helpings of each dish on Thanksgiving and did not have seconds. 

So I'm pissed. I'm trying not to be, but I am. Why do I have to feel so nauseated and tired all the time if the shot's not doing anything for me? There was a guy who posted on the Mounjaro subreddit a day or two ago, and he'd lost 100 pounds in 24 weeks. A hundred pounds. I just don't get it.

I'm going in for bloodwork this coming week, my 3-month A1c test, so we'll see how that goes. If my numbers are down again, I'll be happy with that, I promise. If they're not, I don't know what I'll think. But I must admit that I don't want to gain back the 23.6 pounds I've lost. If I just stayed right here at this weight, it would be about a thousand times better than gaining it all back. So there's that.

***

Rocket Boy and I went to a funeral on Friday, for someone I used to work with. It was held at Rocket Boy's old church (where he went with his mother in the old, old days), so he knew where to go and where to park and whatnot. I had somehow imagined that lots of my old coworkers would be there, but I only saw ONE, and I'm not sure he recognized me. I was going to speak to him afterwards, but he ducked out as soon as the service was over. There were other old men there who might have been people I used to know -- after all, it's been a while, and people change. I don't think I've changed much, and people always seem to recognize me. I still have long blond hair (blondish, but close enough). Anyway, none of them spoke to me. 

But really, the whole thing was weird. The church was full, at least the main floor pews were, so that was nice for the family. The man who died was a very cheerful, sociable sort -- I liked him a lot -- so these were probably friends (all with white hair). I enjoyed listening to the people who spoke about him, especially his son. Everyone who spoke kind of made fun of his work, on radio spectrum management. It had never occurred to me that it was funny. Apparently most people think it's so boring that it's funny, funny that anyone would be interested in it.

I kept thinking about other funerals I've been to in my life. The thing about funerals is that often the person who dies has outlived most of their contemporaries. This man hadn't, I guess -- he was 85, and many of the people attending looked to be around that old. But where were the coworkers? He retired 18 years ago, so I guess people had forgotten him. Or they don't get the paper anymore, and so didn't see the obituary. That's probably it. Or they didn't care enough about him to come? Hmm.

***

Well, it's the last day of the twins' vacation, so I must be mindful of that. Tomorrow we all have to get up early again. Helpfully, my body woke me up at 7 am today, so I'll be in good shape for tomorrow, even if no one else is. I'll be tired early tonight, and so I'll try to go to bed at a decent hour. I seem to have remembered how to sleep in our little bed with Rocket Boy, even with all the tossing and turning we both do, even with all his extra blankets and pillows, even with the two cats attempting to sleep with us, even with the temperature in the room higher than I like, even with the window closed. He's not sleeping as well, but then he's never been a good sleeper. 

It's also the first Sunday of Advent, so I need to get out my wreath, and the candles. Or go buy some, if I didn't buy an extra set last year.

We have a magpie who comes to our back patio and eats the citronella candle that's still sitting out there. (This is a thing that magpies do - I've read about it.) You can watch him through the kitchen window -- he just scarfs down the wax, obviously enjoying it. 

So Rocket Boy picked up a package of suet at McGuckin's (thinking it would be healthier) and we put it out for him yesterday. I just checked, and something has sampled the suet, but it looks more like squirrel paws than magpie feet. Anyway, both the candle and the suet are there, so the magpie could have whichever one it prefers. I hope it comes back. Maybe it went away for Thanksgiving.