gloomy monday morning...

This is what I look like on Monday morning.


This is what my lap looks like on Monday morning. Kitty doesn't understand that I need to reach the keyboard. He purrs and purrs, and when Jonathan came to move him for me, he tried to bite him. Moody cat, he knows what he wants.

It's rainy and chilly here, and shh, I love it. It's the kind of day that begs one to crawl into bed with a good book and a cup of tea. Now that I have finished up my morning work of sweeping up and dusting and washing some dishes and doing some laundry, I have to get moving. The kids are going to do some spelling, and then we are going over to visit Grandma.

I don't have much to write about today, although life is anything but dull. I am working at the baseball stadium on Thursday, and on Saturday or Sunday. Paul ordered the parts to fix the pool (yay!!!). My older kids have asked me what I want for my birthday. I told them I want the hot tub fixed. For some of you who have no hot tub at all, I can tell you this, there is something worse than that: having a broken one. It has been sitting there broken for so long. It needs a few leaks patched up, and a cracked motor housing replaced. Who knows, after all this time, maybe more stuff needs fixing. I absolutely LOVE having a hot tub. I think coming home from a baseball game or from standing on my feet after working at a basketball game on that concrete floor...and getting into the hot tub...ahh, bliss. So..I think the kids are going to try to arrange to get it fixed for me. I know, I know, we should just call someone. But we aren't like that. We pay someone we know, or try it ourselves.

Anyhoo. It's quiet here. The princesses want their cousin to come over, so are trying to clean their room, which leads to some little spats, accusations about who's doing more work, and who is just getting distracted by the treasures they unearth.

The dogs are stretched out on the leather couch, the only one they are allowed on anymore. Suri had a nice bath last night, after coming in smelling like she rolled in a farmer's field. It isn't easy to have inside, but they are worth the work. I have to sweep up the floors several times a day...dog fur!


Charlotte Claire and Camille...at the soccer tournament. One of the fields is being repaired/reconstructed, among other things.

Weight loss update: it's working! It's been about a month now for me, on the keto diet (higher fat, mostly veggies for carbs, moderate protein), and I have lost 5 pounds all together. It's hard work to keep focused, to keep my electrolytes balances. I have to remember my vitamins and minerals and sip that salt water. I eat plenty of calories, but now I am burning fat for fuel instead of glucose. It's better for someone like me, so insulin resistant, to not have sugars in the bloodstream. I feel better, in general. I still have a ways to go, but am planning to stick to this through thick and thin. I have not cheated at all. I have had a few nights where I purposely "carbed up", and had a few cups of buttered popcorn cooked in coconut oil. I have had little bites of dark chocolate three or four times, but honestly, found it really sweet. I have about one serving of fruit a day, mostly berries (fresh blueberries in heavy cream, yum!) I am rarely hungry, and my cravings are at bay, which is a total miracle. I still love the sight of a swirled ice cream cone or frosted cupcake, and the smell of chocolate...divine. But I don't HAVE TO have it anymore. I keep telling myself that I have lived without it for a whole month, I can live without it for another whole month. I plan to have an ice cream cone at the end of summer:)

And now, we are going out the door....bye.