Margaret Richard & Friends 2022

[Pat58]

Good morning all, and Happy Moan Day. Sorry to be MIA all weekend! It was simply beautiful and I stayed outdoors most of the time, soaking it up. I didn’t do very much in the way of fitness anyway:

Saturday:
~ Kassandra’s new 60 minute yin yoga practice
~ 4,555 steps

Sunday:
~ One mile hike at osprey trail
~ Short walk at beach
~ A 10 minute Jessica Valant back pain Pilates
~ 5,846 steps

I loved the hour long yin practice and would rate it as intermediate. It was nice to have a little challenge and it helped my back.

Summer Breeze - sending lots of hugs and prayers for a successful surgery. I'll be thinking of you today.

Donna, I'm so sorry that you're receiving bad news. I'm sorry your lab is struggling. Sending prayers to your friend and her husband. I hope he can tolerate the meds. Sounds like you have some good ideas for your work day. What kinds of things would you enjoy on your free day?

Diane, those are some hardcore jobs. Garage and basement loads are daunting! Were you able to sell the tickets? BTW - I saw this clip on the Sunday news and thought of you right away:

Dexter the Bipedal Dog

Everyone have as good a day as possible! Sending hugs where needed.

[amoodygirl]

Hi everyone,

I wasn’t feeling great this morning. I am an allergic-type person so when the weather changes, my sinuses get battered. Still, everyone needs to be fed, boxes need to be scooped so life must go on!

Sunday’s Workout:

• It Figures weights and step (2 shows)
• Bike Ride: 9 ½ miles

Monday’s Workout:

• Treadlift – I am having a bad allergy day, including sinuses (not Covid – I automatically test!) so instead of spin bike, I opted for a Jenny Ford Step workout followed by the chest and triceps exercises.
• Stretch

Summer Breeze: Thinking of you!!!! I don’t blame you for wanting to get this over and behind you! Keep us posted!

Donna: It’s very hard when we have either old animals or disabled animals. I now have 3, with 2 on medications so getting a pet sitter to medicate is super expensive. With that said, I’d rather just stay put or take them with us if we go anywhere. We spent a lot of money last year on the porch, the floors, etc. so this year, even if Covid were behind us, we would have to hold off on any vacations. There’s still a lot to do up here that we haven’t done so that works! I don’t envy you on Remodel 2.0 but it will be done before you know it! Thinking of your friend's husband.

Pat: OMG that video of Dexter! Our Cooper is missing his front right leg and gets around just fine but now I want him to walk upright! LOL! This brought me to tears. I think one of the reasons I love animals so much is they just get on with it. No “woe is me” human stuff. When we adopted Cooper, our house in CT had a stone fireplace and mantle. He immediately jumped up to walk across the mantle, jumped down to a cat tree and back to the floor. I nearly had a heart attack but then realized he adjusted and is just fine. We have no idea how he lost his leg but I have the suspicion that he was abused. It took him YEARS to purr. Now we can’t shut the motor off! He’s loved and safe and knows it.

Hope everyone has a great rest of their Monday! See everyone tomorrow!

[summer breeze]

Good morning!!

Thanks so much for the well wishes, prayers and good thoughts. The surgery seems to have went well and I'm doing ok. I just hope the recovery goes smoothly and I can get this all behind me. A few stressful things happened yesterday unrelated to the surgery thankfully. On our way to the surgery center, which was 45 minutes away, I heard a little ping and noticed a crack on the windshield! A pebble or something must have hit the windshield while we were driving. It's a leased car so must be fixed of course. Well it would need to be fixed anyway but still. Not exactly a calming experience on my way to surgery.
Then afterwards we went to CVS to pick up my meds and when we get home I realize the blood thinner my dr prescribed was to be taken by syringe. I had no idea beforehand and had no idea how to do this nor did I want to. So I called the dr to have it in pill form. First they tell me I can't return the syringes and liquid medicine which was $84. Of course I'll be disputing that. Then my DS goes to pick it up and they tell him the pills are $390!!!! ***!!I call my silver script carrier and I'm told there's a $500 deductible on the prescription plan! Seriously!! I don't recall anyone telling me that. I'm fuming. But I need the blood thinner so I send my son back to get it and my credit card is declined!
I have excellent credit and pay my card on time every month so this is insane. My son puts it on his card and I pay him back of course. When I call my credit card company I'm told it was an unusual amount for me at CVS pharmacy, which is true, so they put a fraud alert on it. Which is great but I should have been informed immediately. They did send me an email but I wasn't checking my emails. I need to set up some kind of notification on my phone. Just additional stresses I didn't need on a very stressful day.

Oh and I was running a 100.8 fever Friday and Saturday. I was thinking I would have to cancel surgery. It broke Saturday night thankfully and I did a home covid test Sunday anyway and it was negative. I think it was a stomach bug but it didn't help my anxiety all weekend.

DONNA, you got some good soul searching done on your staycation. Good luck with the Remodel and your presentation this week.

PAT, ah good job enjoying the beautiful weekend outdoors. That dog is very resourceful and amazing.

DIANE, I was very post nasally from allergies too yesterday. Not ideal for going into surgery but it seems to have worked out ok. I used to be a big Charlene fan in the 80s and early 90s. Good bike ride.

Have a wonderful day everyone!

[donnamp]

Hi Everyone,

Not much new to report - this morning's workout was:

Jessica HIIT walk from her 30 day set. The "5K" DVD is a bit long for me and i was running behind this morning.

Summer Breeze - I'm glad the surgery went well, but oh my - what experiences before and after. I hope you see continued improvement and yesterday's mishaps are the last of the bad luck.

My friend got some decent news about her DH. Things are still up in the air but she said the Dr. they saw has seen this 100s of times so it may all work out in the end. He has more follow ups tomorrow to see how things are progressing. I hope he can get back on his treatments, though. He was diagnosed w/ Stage 4 esophageal cancer - very scary - he had no risk factors and no symptoms - until it was too late - my friend said he never so much as had heartburn. Ironically, she has had reflux her who life and sees a gastro regularly for check ups. Anyway, I hope he can get back to his treatments.

Sorry to ramble...

The weather is beautiful here today!

Donna

[Pat58]

Good morning! Yesterday evening I attended my grandniece's debut studio yoga class by Zoom. She did good! Attendance was not high though. Other than that I was a lazy mess and didn't even make it to 3,000 steps.

I saw an occupational therapist yesterday afternoon. I'm going to explore a round of therapy for my hands. I'm ordering a gizmo called an ulnar drift splint, and he gave me a jar of therapy putty which is interesting. You squeeze it, form it into shapes with one hand, make a log and roll it on the table, and hide things in it like a button or coin and practice picking it out. I don't know if it will help, but it can't hurt to try.

Summer Breeze how awful about the meds mix-up. I wish I was near you, I'd come over and give you the injection. I've given myself more than I want to remember. I suppose CVS Minute Clinic has a rule they cannot inject meds? You've been going through too much - sending lots of hugs and good luck with disputing that medication mess. Try to get some rest and heal.

Diane that is a cute story about Cooper. The animals do get on with things. They don't have much time for feels, especially wild animals. Good workouts for you despite your allergy attack!

Donna, that's some optimistic news about your friend's DH. Yikes that is a sneaky case of esophageal cancer. Very, very scary. I have a colonoscopy in a few weeks and asked to have an endoscopy while I'm out to see if there's anything I need to know about after years of NSAID use.

I think everyone here needs some happy fairy dust! Sprinkle sprinkle sprinkle!

[Pat58]

Good morning! It was a beautiful day here again. I'm embracing every jackpot second of it. Yesterday featured a 20 minute lunch walk, gym for 40 minutes of weight machines and dumbbells, and 6,000 steps.

Sending hugs to Summer Breeze and good morning to all who visit!

[donnamp]

Hi Everyone,

Quick fly by -

This morning was Jessica Valent - Full Body Weight Workout. I enjoyed this one, it was very straightforward with the option to add "layers' to make it more complex.

My subscription ends in a few days and I'm still on the fence about keeping it.
I like the workouts, but I don't reach for them often - but I do have it at a good price...1st world problems!

Last night I did a stretch from Essentrics - it was live workout from Monday. I really like the Live workouts, they are the highlight of the subscription!

Hope everyone has a good day!

Donna

[amoodygirl]

Hi everyone,

So, my friend Scott with Covid (Angel’s dad), after 5 days, still has tested positive. Believe it or not, his job told him he should come back to work! First of all, he has a cough that sounds like he’s coughing up a lung. Second, he would have to wear a mask but with all the coughing, how bearable would that be? He had a tele-med visit with his doctor and she said absolutely not, he cannot go to work. He may be carrying a heavy virus load and one cough could infect anyone close by. How irresponsible! And….he works for New York State in Albany! I mean, really????? So, he’s working from home the rest of the week and, fingers crossed, he’ll test negative and can go back to daily life.

Tuesday’s Workout:

• Treadlift Rotation: Treadmill run followed by pushups and tricep dips
• Stretch

Wednesday’s Workout:

• Legs day – did squats, sumo squats lunges, deadlifts, followed by pushups and tricep dips. I hate working my legs - always have and always will but it's a necessary evil sometimes.
• Walk in park while DH ran: 3.45 mile walk

Summer Breeze: I’m happy the surgery went well. It’s always something with cars and for sure the timing is bad to have a cracked windshield. Sigh…. Life can be so insane at times. Don’t get me started on healthcare and pricing – it’s disgusting that healthcare should be for profit, even Medicare. There has to be a better way but I haven’t thought of anything that would be viable other than Medicare for All. When I worked for Oxford Healthcare, I always felt as though I was working for the enemy and now I’m sure. Not too long ago, prescriptions were NEVER part of the deductible. Now, all of a sudden, the light bulb goes on some paper pusher’s head that even more money can be made by adding that as part of the deductible. I could go on and on – it infuriates me! Nevertheless, I’m sending your virtual hugs and positive thoughts and energy your way. You did what had to be done and you will be on the other side sooner rather than later. It goes a lot faster than we think – especially as we age!

Donna: Good news on your friend’s DH. My best friend’s father, a heavy smoker, died from esophageal cancer. She is also a smoker and has never been successful at quitting. She had some precancerous scrapings done from her esophagus and she quit smoking out of sheer fright - only to go back to it when she became “stressed”. I’m trying not to be so judgmental but come on! She says the second scraping didn’t show any precancerous cells so I think in her mind she’s in the clear. I just shake my head. We can't take our health for granted. I remember a doctor friend once said to me the absolute worst thing you can do for your health is smoke. My father died of lung cancer and my mother from heart disease - both heavy smokers. My sister and brother both smoke and they freak out when they have to see me because of their smoking and my lectures.

Pat: I have plenty of lazy days. We just need to allow ourselves to have them. Interesting about the ulnar drift splint and therapy putty. Who knows! You may be pleasantly surprised that it can help. It certainly can’t hurt.

I hope everyone is having a good week – it’s already Hump Day!

[donnamp]

Hi Everyone,

Last night I added in a Live Essentrics Workout from 7/12 w/ Amanda.

My remodel starts today and I didn't have time to get anything in this morning before being "ready' for them to arrive. I used to be able to get up super early to workout, but I just can't these days - my elderly dog gets me up at least once a night and it is hard for me to get back to sleep. For the next few weeks I'm just going to have to be flexible and do my best - some days they will not get here so early so I can do a morning workout, other days I'll have to do evening or lunch time - oh well, it is short-lived and will hopefully result in a nice new bathroom!

Diane - I agree about smoking. My Dad was a heavy smoker, he did quit though - but it definitely impacted his health long term. He is 80 now and not in very good health at all. The fact that he made it to 80, however, is impressive considering his lack of healthy habits - no exercise, meh diet - not much in the way of veggies, fruits or whole grains, smoking and drinking. Go figure. My friend's DH, however, no smoking, no drinking, exercises regularly, eats decently and gets cancer. There is just no logic sometimes!! I guess we can only do what we can - if nothing else I think our healthy habits have the capacity to improve the quality of our life. My Dad has been a mess for a number of years and my Mom was a wreck, too.

sorry to ramble, hopefully will have some sort of workout to report. I have two interviews today and a presentation and I'm going to have to hide in my basement to do them!

Take care!

Donna

[Pat58]

Good morning everyone! I spent some outdoor time enjoying the evening yesterday. We had a short walk at the beach and then a longer walk around the UCONN campus near us. Total about 7,500 steps for the day.

Donna, good luck with the bathroom construction. I'm sure it will work out well. You're so good about fitting in your workouts no matter what!

Diane, they relaxed COVID back to work where I am, too. Thank goodness the Telemed doctor put her foot down, and I hope he feels better soon. I think my co-worker had it and just didn't report it because she didn't want to waste sick/vacation hours. It's been more than a month and she's still coughing and speaking with a nasal voice.

Sending those positive thoughts to Summer Breeze.