Friday

Fog this morning and approaching rain. I ran around the house early, shutting windows, but the humidity indoors had reached 78%. It's not uncomfortable, though, and the AC will eventually get rid of it.

No outdoor time this morning - had laundry to start and some bone broth to strain. I've been making it in the oven - brown the bones, add water, bake at 230ish for a really long time - but our oven doesn't seem to like that last bit (the really long time). I came out this morning to find that it, and only it, had had a power failure about 2 hours before I got up. Fortunately, the broth was still at 180, well over the danger point, and I pulled it out and put it on the stove while getting things ready to strain and cool it. It's in the fridge now.

Mostly the dogs get it - poured on their food to juice things up a bit. But when I have a recipe that needs chicken broth or stock, I use it. They are responsible for the bones, since we've found it's far cheaper to pull apart a roast chicken from Costco or Sam's than it is to give them decent quality canned food, and possibly better for them. And we get free bone broth - I did 4 carcasses' worth yesterday and still have another 2-4 in the freezer.

So, 157.6 this morning again. I'm a bit surprised, actually, given my eating yesterday. Which looked like this:

• tea with cream
• bacon
• cheddar cheese
• a few almonds - not many
• ham and swiss cheese
• ice cream - a vanilla Haagen-Dasz single serve
• potato chips - a handful
• 3 or 4 milk chocolates with almonds
• about a handful of peanuts - to clean the bowl out

Boredom/stress eating. I spent a lot of yesterday working on not killing the dogs, who were all mildly psycho. In and out of the house all day. Barking like mad at nothing. Needing attention. I don't know if the approaching weather was causing it, or the fact that Lee's been gone most of the past week.

New job's all set - and I'm feeling extreme love for it at the moment, since my first day consists of being taken to lunch, and nothing more. I have a full day Tuesday, but Monday, it's just lunch. How cool is that?

Busy weekend ahead - errands, a haircut, Halloween, possibly some furniture-building. Housecleaning since I won't be in the house during weekdays after this. Prep cooking so we will have dinner available next week. Shipping out my soon-to-be former employer's equipment. And it may be in the rain, all of it.

Thursday

The weather here has been magnificent the past couple of days - clear, sunny, not terribly hot. I left the windows open all night and will continue today, to air the house out thoroughly. It is supposed to rain a lot starting some time tomorrow; if it gets as humid beforehand as it did last week, I'll have to shut things up for a while, just to keep it reasonably dry in here.

Spent a brief time outdoors this morning, taking the trash out, tidying a bit, putting Halloween decorations out. A little natural light at the beginning of the day. Quite nice, and I probably should have been doing it all along.

157.6 again this morning. Here's yesterday:

• tea with cream
• cheese
• a small handful of cashews
• leftover spaghetti squash with butter and Mizithra cheese
• tortilla chips and salsa - about 20 chips
• leftover burger
• salad with faux Olive Garden dressing
• dark chocolate with hazelnuts (2 pips from a Ritter bar)
• 1 milk chocolate with almonds
• a small container of potato chips

Truly an odd mix of stuff, but it was what I wanted at the time. I have one more burger left over and will probably have it tonight, with another salad, since I need to be eating the lettuce before it gets old. And I need to think of something for dinner tomorrow, so we won't be tempted to eat out. Not feeling inspired, I must say.

Wednesday

Did I label yesterday "Wednesday"? I have an odd idea that I might have, but can't go look. Today is Wednesday. I checked on the calendar and everything.

157.6 this morning, give or take. Here's yesterday:

• tea with cream
• the usual supplements (including Magnesium at night)
• scrambled eggs
• sausage patties
• almonds - probably a lot, about 5 at a time
• cheese
• 3 potato chips
• 1/4 lb grassfed beef burger
• a lot of spaghetti squash with browned butter and Mizithra cheese
• 3 milk chocolates with almonds

I had a wee bit of a sweets craving going last night. Need to come up with some better snacking options, I think, whether that's cutting up peppers and making dip or what. The apples were actually helpful; I could get some more of those as well. Worth some thought.

Ran some errands after dinner; Lee had to go to a conference and will be there the rest of the week, so I'm on my own for eating. Thinking another salad with meat and cheese for dinner - more of the faux Olive Garden dressing on it.

The weather is super nice today - I have open windows to get the air recirculated. It's supposed to be better for our concentration to have access to fresh air, and I'm good with that. I'm rather hoping we can keep a few cracked from now until next spring, and just reverse the seasons here regarding when the house is shut up and when it's not.

I start working away from home next week. I'll be glad to get out, at least at first. It's bizarrely isolating to spend all day here, eat dinner, hang out through the evening, and never leave. Probably a really good break for me - no commute, able to get caught up on sleep a bit, stuff like that. I'm hoping this new job won't turn into a death march, and from everything I heard about it, I think that will be in my control. I certainly hope so. But before that, I have one more late night, if you can believe it. Tomorrow night off-cycle deployment. Ugh.

Tuesday

Mexican for dinner last night. Sort of. I had a Mexican-influenced Cobb salad - chicken, bacon, avocado, olives, etc., with a spicy ranch dressing. Also chips and "green sauce", which seems to be a thing here. Whatever it is, it's somewhat addictive.

In other words, I ate too many chips. It happens. 157.8 this morning. Could be worse.

Other than that, food included cheese, almonds, bacon and eggs, tea with cream, cashews, and peanuts. Pretty normal day around here.

I don't have much to say, obviously. Woke at 3:20 am. Fell back asleep around 5:45. Woke again as the alarm went off, 15 minutes later. I'm a bit cranky.

Monday

Quiet weekend. Had to be, actually; we had something over 6" of rain throughout the 48 hours. The dogs and I stayed home, and I puttered a bit. Moved books around, cooked a little, sewed a little. Stuff of that sort. Read a lot - real books on paper and everything. Took it easy on the electronics - didn't skip them entirely, but laid off as much as possible. Well, not the TV. It was on more than usual for me when I'm by myself.

I think I ate well. Sort of. A lot of cheese-nuts-chocolate going on. Skipped breakfast on Sunday. Had a salad-with-meat for Saturday dinner, and chili last night. All good stuff.

I went from 157 on Friday, to 158.6 on Saturday. No idea why. Back to 157.4 yesterday, and 157.0 today. I've been doubling up on magnesium at night, and the cramps aren't back. For which I am truly grateful. Sleep Friday night was okay, Saturday wasn't great on account of a lot of flash-flood warnings over my phone (which buzzed it even after I turned the sound off). Last night, I slept like a rock. Woke up for the first real time at 5:58 am.

Seems like hot flashes are on the uptick these days. I'm starting to think they will never stop; that this is the new normal and that everyone else is suffering through them but figures they're not worth even talking about after a while. Ugh, if true. But not much real that I can do about them.

Friday

So, if I drank half of a bottle of Gatorade at 2 am, is that yesterday's eating or today's?

Damn leg cramps. Super nasty ones. Left leg, obviously. 

First bout was easy to get rid of - hop out of bed, put weight on my heel, gone. Second bout - it took several minutes to make my heel move even a little bit toward the floor. That down, the outside of my ankle/calf cramped up, making it impossible to use that leg for anything. I put magnesium oil on it. I walked around a bit. I couldn't get back in bed without it getting worse. I finally walked into the kitchen and got a Gatorade, and either that or the longer walking finally got it so I could lift it back into bed without significant pain. Put some heat on it, and it finally died down to a low fasciculation, and I fell back to sleep. I guess I should probably drink the rest of that Gatorade today. I did double up my Potassium this morning, and will be stricter about Magnesium at bedtime (I took it last night, for what that's worth).

157.0 this morning. Here's yesterday:

• tea with cream
  
• the usual supplements
  
• scrambled eggs
  
• pork sausage
  
• almonds - not a whole lot, I think
  
• cheese - 3-4 pieces of Cheddar
  
• an apple
  
• Mahi with lump crabmeat and lemon butter sauce
  
• a few green beans
  
• a taste of cheesy grits
  
• a handful of cashews (maybe 2? I can't remember)
  
• 2 milk chocolates with almonds
  
• (half a bottle of Gatorade)

I'm just wrung out this morning. Looking forward to a weekend with not a huge amount to do - it's supposed to rain torrentially and we're being advised to avoid leaving home. Kay-fine. I'll start working on dismantling the home office a bit, stuff like that. Work on making hangers for masks in our Mardi Gras-themed bathroom, maybe do some cross-stitch on a towel I started about 2 years ago. Let the dogs through the back doors. Cook, maybe. And try to eat healthy and avoid junk. Also, now that I've figured out how, clean the shower. We have hard water, and it's a bit crusty in there.

Thursday

"Sleep, that knits up the raveled sleave of care..." If only. Last night, one of our dogs was dissatisfied with sleeping in a crate, and we let all 3 of them out for the night. Turns out all we really needed to do was let him go outside (which, of course, we did not do - oops), but he slept between us, and I woke up at 4 am with him pressing heavily into the small of my back. For a smallish dog, he can generate a lot of pressure in that way. Anyway, I got a solid 6 hours before that point, and that will have to do. Now I just need to get over the headache...

157.0 this morning. I guess what I'm seeing is a slowish reaction to the bad eating last weekend - a spike, followed by the slow loss of whatever it was - water, certainly, at the least. Anyway, I'm glad to see that reversion to the mean in my case is a decrease, not an increase. Here's yesterday:

• tea with cream
  
• the usual supplements
  
• bacon
  
• almonds
  
• cheese - 5 pieces, I think
  
• two handfuls of cashews (overall less than a half-cup)
  
• a "heritage pork" porterhouse - really thick bone-in chop, quite tasty, with apples and pomegranate glaze
  
• brussels sprouts - not roasted, but still good
  
• 4 french fries fried in duck fat
  
• a glass of fairly dry Chardonnay
  
• 2 milk chocolates with almonds
  

Dinner was big - also late. So of course, I went to bed mildly hungry. We were being guinea pigs for a new restaurant - I think it opens Friday. Never done that before. The food was very good, although one member of our party thinks she got food poisoning, which wasn't so great. Anyway, the whole meal appeared either Paleo or Paleo-able. Though I didn't inquire about other cooking fats. 

I think I have a job. Haven't seen the details yet, nor formally accepted an offer, but if nothing goes sideways, I will. Don't know if that will increase or decrease my stress levels. At least initially, it should decrease my annoyance levels. And it will get me out of the house. Definitely a good thing, that.