Taste Like Chicken Tuesday 7/9

Chele, that's good that the doctor would have gotten Iggy in this week if he had been in the office. Is he feeling any better today? Has this been going on since before the gall bladder surgery? Is he eating any differently so far this week? Are you allergies grass pollen or mold related?

Congrats on sleeping like a rock, Kathy. Even when we were between dogs, I was a mainly light sleeper. It's not out of the ordinary for me to wake up at 1 or 2 in the morning and not be able to get back to sleep for a while. Arya doesn't help because she pretty much takes over the bed, and you know what they say about letting sleeping dogs lie. I have started taking an herbal product and it seems to be helping. We also didn't eat much fast food when I was growing up. Wednesday the family would go to the grocery store together and we would stop at a drive-in burger joint and everyone got the smallest burger on the menu and a small drink. That was pretty much it for the week. Dale's family traveled alot and always took "the poke" (southern for bag). The stuff in it wasn't all that healthy, however. We're talking cans of Vienna sausages, Beany-Wienies, and packs of crackers and cookies. I also don't remember anyone being diagnosed when I was growing up. However, there were a lot more institutions back then and kids with severe mental handicaps were more likely to be locked in one of them. The first time I heard about autism was on St. Elsewhere in the early '80s. I hope the rain has cleared out your pollen. On the weather map, it looked like your rain from the system should be over. Feets did fine on the treadmill. As long as the shoes have a decent toe box, they don't hurt or get numb. It also helps if I don't wear them for more than an hour.

Linda, I doubt we will ever go to Flemings but it's nice to know I could get something to eat there and probably still have some to take home. You were a busy lady yesterday. I wish we had a place to hang a clothesline. We did that when we lived in Austin where we had a flat back yard. It's too hilly to do that here. Enjoy the Y in the morning.

Glad you were able to find a few minutes to check in yesterday, Liz. Hope the bandage change and the ultrasound went well. Hip has been ok for the last couple of days. Allergies are another matter. Several of you will get a chuckle from this, but I ran the AC in the car the entire time I was out this morning. I did manage not to snort, honk, and blow in AF and otherwise just had a couple of sneezes every now and then. Congrats on upgrading to an Alta HR. I think you'll like it. I guess I'm just a nerd and love some of the things Becky described about her new tracker. The plants look good so far, but I had to pull off a few caterpillars since I transplanted. Don't know if they hopped on the plant while it was outside or were hiding in the dirt. Now I have to get a few things to "decorate" them. I'm thinking about getting little geckos and other desert critters for the aloe plant. Not sure what I'll do with the herbs yet. I would love to find a miniature Indian looking tea set to use in the pot with the holy basil. Please let us know how Zoe is on Friday.

Becky, congrats on the long overdue recognition from WW. I was never happy with the way online members were treated by WW, compared to what the in-person folks got. DM was lifetime and, of course, never did it online. She used to get all kinds of perks. I downloaded the VS4 manual from the Garmin website and was reading it last night. There is a way to change the HR settings. You can turn off the HR as well (page 12-13). It's under User Settings in the menu on the device. There is also an explanation on page 16 about the max HR. I'm anxious to see how the VS4 will do on the NuStep. According to my Alta, I hit 179 for a max last week. No way that's accurate. I saw all the exercises that I can do automatically with it, including elliptical trainer. That's exciting. I have several programmed in on the 735XT, so I'll be the VS4 will be similar. Are you getting ready for a lot of rain?

We stayed up later than usual last night watching the Home Run Derby, and neither of us is at the top of our game today. Dale had 2 conference call presentations on different projects and started giving the wrong presentation to the wrong group. I can't keep 2 thoughts straight right now. Allergies are definitely affecting that as well for me. I've been using my Olba's inhaler to keep my nose clear and need to get another one. I went online to see if Walgreens had my brand, which they didn't, but I looked at Walgreens brand and was shocked to see that it has Levmetamfetamine as the active ingredient, which is a form of methamphetamine!! Wonder if the local meth heads have figured that out. The Olba's is menthol, peppermint, cajeput, and eucalyptus, and that's the one I'll be sticking with. Amazon had it. Dale thinks it's worse when I swim because the pollen floats on the water. So I guess I won't be swimming again tomorrow unless we get some rain this afternoon, which looks pretty iffy. I don't think we'll be watching the all-star game this evening and may be going to bed early. I may take a little power nap this afternoon, in fact.

Karen, I hope you get your nap. Poor Dale and mixing up his calls. I like bells and whistles on my watch as well. The Apple does not monitor sleep and I probably wouldn’t wear it to bed even if it did. I always blamed Teddy for my middle of the night wake up call but I still wake up in the middle of the night. I think it is a weed we have here that is causing my allergy issues. I don’t know the name of it but it has thin tall stalks with spiny needles on the leaves and stem and tiny yellow flowers that poof up and blow away when they are done blooming. Iggy had these symptoms when they decided he needed to have his gall bladder out. After the removal he was better but still had the symptoms on a milder basis. Now they have flared again. Yikes on the Walgreen’s brand of nasal inhaler. No wonder they become addicting.

Linda, I am glad you made it for your bloodwork. It sounds like you needed the sleep. I hope the itchies improve

Liz, I hope all is well at the doctor.

Waving to Becky and Kathy.

I went to the grocery this morning and then mowed the front yard and had a second shower. Iggy got a half day off due to the time put in during the air show. We had a bean burrito from Taco Bell, watched a show and now he is mowing the backyard and cleaning out the bird bath. I made him stop drinking this new tea I got him - a jasmine green tea. He has drunk this type of tea before but not this brand. He is still having symptoms but not as severe. I hope they will keep calming down over the week.

Becky, I've heard of some other online only people getting some of the charms in the mail. I don't know why they couldn't of done that all along, but it's nice that they sent it to you.

Chele, hope Iggy's symptoms keep calming down. If he hadn't had that tea before, it's possible something in it didn't agree with him.

Karen, I don't think I would sleep nearly as well with a dog in the bed. I don't know how you do it! We're still getting rain and they said the tropical blob that may become Barry will drag some of the outer bands across our area. Once it moves into the Gulf, we should dry out some. I hope it doesn't stay out in the Gulf waters too long since they said the water temps are really warm and could cause it to strengthen. St. Elsewhere may have been the first time I heard about autism too. Yikes on the Walgreen's inhaler! I wonder how many people use that without realizing what's in it. Eucalyptus makes my sinuses close up and makes me cough for some reason, so I try and avoid it. I've just been using the Simply Saline.

Linda, I agree with the AC helping with allergies. I think I've always fought my weight, although I was only a few pounds overweight in school. I used to lose about 15 lbs in the fall each year with marching band. When I went to college I walked so much that I lost weight and was at a good weight when I graduated. You did good to make that appointment in 15 minutes!

Liz, hope all went well today. I don't think we'll get too much weather from Barry. They said we might get about 1 1/2 inch of rain from it. We may even dry out some once it gets closer to TX or LA. I can't imagine living in CA right now and feeling all those aftershocks. It has to be really nerve wracking. Hope the rest of your week isn't too crazy and that all goes well with Zoe.