[Wild Coyote]

Originally Posted by Moreta

The rest of the hurricane came through today here in NC. By the time it got here it was a tropical storm and we had a lot of rain and wind gusts of 55 mph. The city is a mess. My power has been off since 2 PM and it is almost 7 PM now. I called the power company again and there's still no concrete time for when the power will come back on. ugh.

I am so glad you are okay!
Stay safe.


WC

[Blueberrybook]

Originally Posted by Moreta

The rest of the hurricane came through today here in NC. By the time it got here it was a tropical storm and we had a lot of rain and wind gusts of 55 mph. The city is a mess. My power has been off since 2 PM and it is almost 7 PM now. I called the power company again and there's still no concrete time for when the power will come back on. ugh.

I am glad to hear you are OK

[TheSeaCat]

Originally Posted by Moreta

The rest of the hurricane came through today here in NC. By the time it got here it was a tropical storm and we had a lot of rain and wind gusts of 55 mph. The city is a mess. My power has been off since 2 PM and it is almost 7 PM now. I called the power company again and there's still no concrete time for when the power will come back on. ugh.

I'm glad to hear that you are okay. Sorry that you don't have power, I hope it gets turned on soon.

[pirilin]

I promise myself I won't spend any more money in at least 24 hrs.
Then the good stuff appears and temps me. And I end up spending more than the day before.
My body is way stronger than my brain. Always looking to be pleased. Even when is perilious to the pocket.

Other than a perennial lack of control, life is good.

Cheers.

[Moose72]

Moreta, I am sorry to hear about the storm and your power being out. (I hate it because i cant sleep well without my cpap.) I hope the power is restored asap.

[Wild Coyote]

Many of us have varied degrees of difficulty getting meals.

I have found it much easier to use my Crock Pot. I add ingredients in the morning and enjoy a hot meal at dinner time. This is especially appealing for hot meals in cooler weather.

I have started a thread under "Recipes and Healthy Living" in which we can share our favorite Crock Pot recipes. We can either type out the recipes and/or share links.

I hope you will participate.


WC

[BeyondtheRainbow]

WC thanks for the crockpot idea. I love to use mine and am always looking for new recipes.

I am awake from the weirdest dreams.First one I was in a meeting and kept (loudly) passing gas. I was horrified and then I had to sit on a bench in a specific part of the hospital where I go for my pdoc and the gas continued. The others were reassuring but I knew I wasn't going to get the job or whatever i was there for.

Then I dreamed I was living in my old house. I had a neighbor there who clearly was disturbed by anything out of order. Which is fine and understandable. He took it to extremes like never asking if I might need some help shoveling my car out while I was on crutches but wading thorough 18 inches of snow to put my trash car back by my house after it blew into my yard in a storm. So I dreamed I was talking to him and all of a sudden around the corner comes a big, squawking duck. Which I was sure he would be upset about but instead he just laughed and greeted the duck. So weird.

I never remember dreams so remembering 2 is really unusual.

[Moreta]

Still no power. At least I slept most of the night. Called duke power and they’re still not giving an estimate of when it will come back on.

[Sunflower123]

Originally Posted by Wild Coyote

Many of us have varied degrees of difficulty getting meals.

I have found it much easier to use my Crock Pot. I add ingredients in the morning and enjoy a hot meal at dinner time. This is especially appealing for hot meals in cooler weather.

I have started a thread under "Recipes and Healthy Living" in which we can share our favorite Crock Pot recipes. We can either type out the recipes and/or share links.

I hope you will participate.


WC

Wow! What a great idea! I must admit I have no confidence with crock pots (I’m fairly new to cooking and started with casseroles) but I’ll definitely give it a whirl. This will be fun! Thank you.

[yellow_fleurs]

Originally Posted by Jennifer 1967

Wow! What a great idea! I must admit I have no confidence with crock pots (I’m fairly new to cooking and started with casseroles) but I’ll definitely give it a whirl. This will be fun! Thank you.

I just got an instant pot. It's a slow cooker, rice cooker, pressure cooker in one. The one I got even makes yogurt haha. If you are looking to buy a crock pot it's something to consider. I got it for a similar reason, to help me make healthier meals with less time and effort, that I can leave to cook while at work.

[Sunflower123]

Originally Posted by yellow_fleurs

I just got an instant pot. It's a slow cooker, rice cooker, pressure cooker in one. The one I got even makes yogurt haha. If you are looking to buy a crock pot it's something to consider. I got it for a similar reason, to help me make healthier meals with less time and effort, that I can leave to cook while at work.

Yay! This is great news! I’ll be getting one today.

[Moose72]

I have a crock pot. Where do I join?

TGIF!

I thought that my husband and I would be working on our deck this weekend and upcoming week, but I guess not. There is an issue with our homeowners association. They always dictate to members what they should do, and seem to be pocketing money they shouldn't. We look forward to the day when we move from our current house to one without such restrictions.

I have my weekly therapy appointment today. I'm not looking forward to it. I talked about the issues behind this with my psychiatrist earlier this week. He's sort of a father figure and doesn't hesitate to suggest actions that would make me feel quite uncomfortable/vulnerable. I know his suggestions are the right ones, but I don't know if I have the courage to implement them right now

[Daonnachd]

Moreta, I hope you have power back today.
BirdDancer, your therapy appointment will go well.

We have an InstantPot, too. There are lots of yummy recipes online for them. Be adventurous.

I haven't been sleeping well, but stayed in bed until 0600 this morning. Off work today and not sure what I'll do with it. I should exercise. I could go for a ride on my bike, but feel anxious about crashing. No idea why the fear.

Originally Posted by yellow_fleurs

I just got an instant pot. It's a slow cooker, rice cooker, pressure cooker in one. The one I got even makes yogurt haha. If you are looking to buy a crock pot it's something to consider. I got it for a similar reason, to help me make healthier meals with less time and effort, that I can leave to cook while at work.

I like my Instant Pot a lot. Pretty and simple easy to cook things with it. It really takes the hassle out of a lot of things. I like that rice only takes me 12 mins once fully heated up. Or at least I think it's 12 mins (haven't made rice in a bit).

I make Indian food in mine, even though I'm not Indian. I follow Indian people's blogs and just put whatever they tell me to put in it. lol. I also follow Mexican blogs.

If anyone isn't familiar with Instant Pot, there are a lot of Indian recipes for it. It sounds like most Indian people use an Instant Pot, based on all the recipes I see out there since the overwhelming majority of them "require" an Instant Pot. (Obviously you don't *need* to use an Instant Pot, but I'm just saying that the Instant Pot is part of their recipe.) So if you like Indian, that's a really cool option. If you haven't tried Indian, I recommend at least going to an Indian restaurant and trying something like chicken/paneer tikka masala (depending if you're veggie or not)! Or chana masala. A good chunk of Indian food is pretty healthy and it's great if you're dieting or maintaining. It's just that the dishes with creams in them that aren't so healthy...

Originally Posted by Daonnachd

I haven't been sleeping well, but stayed in bed until 0600 this morning. Off work today and not sure what I'll do with it. I should exercise. I could go for a ride on my bike, but feel anxious about crashing. No idea why the fear.

Have you ever crashed your bike before? If so, I can understand your fear.

If you're anxious about crashing, what about wearing long sleeves and pants? That may help you with your fear because that could add some protection from scrapes and cuts, and having protection might make you less anxious (since nobody really wears elbow and knee pads...).

I know you're in CA, but you could always wear a flannel top and abrasion resistant pants, like Carhartt's, which is what my dad wears when he goes mowing out on sunny days (e.g., 90F weather). He says it's not too bad because the riding mower allows some breeze, so I'm guessing the breeze you get from a bike would be similar.

I actually have a female Carhartt jacket that's abrasion resistant and I have it for biking and other outdoor activities where I might fall. But of course I'm snow land where weather is regularly around 0-15F, ish, in the winter. Sometimes like -10F, lol. So a jacket probably wouldn't be a good idea for you unless you want a heat stroke. Though if you're fine with jackets -- e.g., for blustery days -- then you could try that. That'll probably protect against bruising.

I took a shower today and used a diffrent shampoo.

I still felt totally gross afterwards, and it didn't do anything for my mood, but i suppose it was nice to try a diffrent scent.

had to send a few emails this morning to people, but didn't do much else.

feel a little nautious from all the overeating I've been doing, but it means nothing... I continue on regardless

nice to see we're back to the rain and the wetter weather today

apart from hating the sun, october is not the month for warmer weather.

come on darker nights all ready..

[Daonnachd]

Originally Posted by bluebicycle

Have you ever crashed your bike before? If so, I can understand your fear.

If you're anxious about crashing, what about wearing long sleeves and pants? That may help you with your fear because that could add some protection from scrapes and cuts, and having protection might make you less anxious (since nobody really wears elbow and knee pads...).

I know you're in CA, but you could always wear a flannel top and abrasion resistant pants, like Carhartt's, which is what my dad wears when he goes mowing out on sunny days (e.g., 90F weather). He says it's not too bad because the riding mower allows some breeze, so I'm guessing the breeze you get from a bike would be similar.

I actually have a female Carhartt jacket that's abrasion resistant and I have it for biking and other outdoor activities where I might fall. But of course I'm snow land where weather is regularly around 0-15F, ish, in the winter. Sometimes like -10F, lol. So a jacket probably wouldn't be a good idea for you unless you want a heat stroke. Though if you're fine with jackets -- e.g., for blustery days -- then you could try that. That'll probably protect against bruising.

I raced road bikes when I was a teenager so that's the sort of gear I'm used to wearing on the bike. Have I crashed it before? Oh, yes. I've twice hit a car, once hit a dog, and, less surprisingly, I've hit potholes and gone down. I think I even have a picture of my face here on PC showing my last results when I landed on my face and bit through my lip. In fact, I think it's the most recent photo I've shared so easy to find if you're interested.


The tights and jacket would help, though, so that may get me out the door. Thanks for the nudge.

[Blueberrybook]

I woke up in a better mood than I ended yesterday with.

I got productive this morning and vacuumed most of the house. Then, I naturally lost an attachment to the vacuum cleaner. I still haven't found it. It is not in the attachment bag, the kitchen or dining room, and it has to be there...I think. Another thing lost...sigh, terrible memory.

Then, I decided to wash the futon cover, the blankets we keep there, the blanket we throw on the floor to watch movies.

I searched for a good while, found my letter of disability, which, naturally, I'd lost, I lose things all the time, and filed it under my medical info in the filing cabinet.

We may need to produce the letter of disability to help with an HOA deed restriction H is fighting, but he is saving the medical accommodation stuff for mental disability for appeals or mediation. We don't exactly want the whole community knowing I have all these mental health diagnoses but will as a last resort, so it's important to have that letter in an easy location to find.

I'm a bit tired now. I see the T after lunch today.

[Blueberrybook]

Originally Posted by BirdDancer

TGIF!

I thought that my husband and I would be working on our deck this weekend and upcoming week, but I guess not. There is an issue with our homeowners association. They always dictate to members what they should do, and seem to be pocketing money they shouldn't. We look forward to the day when we move from our current house to one without such restrictions.

I have my weekly therapy appointment today. I'm not looking forward to it. I talked about the issues behind this with my psychiatrist earlier this week. He's sort of a father figure and doesn't hesitate to suggest actions that would make me feel quite uncomfortable/vulnerable. I know his suggestions are the right ones, but I don't know if I have the courage to implement them right now

We have an HOA issue too though H has typed out a 4 page document concerning vague language, enforcement of only 1/2 of this rule; enforcing the other half would put 95% or so of the neighborhood in violation of the deed restriction. If it has to go to appeals, we will go with the mental disability issue with a letter listing issues with sleep that happens with every diagnosis I have. Ours is a violation that has been there over a decade (a window AC unit in the garage door viewable from the side while driving one direction on the street). H put up a few pickets as a screen, and now they say he needs a fence, which would have to include a gate, given the area it is located or remove the AC. Building a fence is expensive, and we don't have the money; he already mentioned he is a teacher and we have tons of medical bills due to a medical emergency earlier this year. Removing the unit is not exactly the easiest solution for us. Now, with H's screen, if you view it from the road, it could be a window unit AC or it could be a vent built into the house. This neighborhood is not exactly high class or ritzy. The houses were built in the mid-1960s. We are near chemical plants and hurricane/tropical storms areas. Maybe there are 2 or 3 2 story houses here. This is not one of the most desirable areas of the county to live in.

However, we do keep a bed in the garage that we use, especially with my sleep issues. Given the environment we live in, a person sleeping in the garage reasonably needs air conditioning for comfort. And we put the bed out there for quiet, away from the rest of the bedrooms as it can't fit anywhere else in our house; this house has small rooms, unless we'd not like to have a dining room.

The real kicker is this "unsightly" violation has been there for over a decade. Shouldn't they have noticed it sooner? The picture the HOA person thoughtfully included in one of her complaint emails is obviously such a huge zoom-in it is laughable.

But hopefully the HOA will tire of his 4 page essay on the vagueness/legality
of the issue (not even mentioning the bed or my mental health issues/disability.

Though HOAs have an amazing amount of power. But I agree completely with your assessment of HOAs.

I have therapy today too. I hope your therapy session goes OK.

Having a better day today... so far.

I went grocery shopping today for the first time in at least a month? I had sooooo much anxiety about it. I always get crushing anxiety whenever I go out like that. I'm not scared of what I look like, but scared of things that could happen to me, like losing my keys in the store, getting hit by a cart causing bleeding, etc.. I just think of all the worst possible things.

I also ate too much when I got home. Feel nauseous and bloated. Ugh. I normally never overeat. I usually undereat if anything.

Bad stomach feeling.

[Blueberrybook]

Originally Posted by bluebicycle

Having a better day today... so far.

I went grocery shopping today for the first time in at least a month? I had sooooo much anxiety about it. I always get crushing anxiety whenever I go out like that. I'm not scared of what I look like, but scared of things that could happen to me, like losing my keys in the store, getting hit by a cart causing bleeding, etc.. I just think of all the worst possible things.

I also ate too much when I got home. Feel nauseous and bloated. Ugh. I normally never overeat. I usually undereat if anything.

Bad stomach feeling.

I am glad you got groceries OK. I have a lot of anxiety about losing things like my wallet or cell phone in places like stores, the library, etc. Once I left my debit card in a drive thru ATM and didn't realize it. Thankfully, the person in the car behind me was honest and turned the card in to the bank. Then, the bank called me about it once I was grocery shopping. I worry about leaving credit cards behind after that. Ugh.

I'm sorry about your stomach

[Moose72]

Originally Posted by bluebicycle

Having a better day today... so far.

I went grocery shopping today for the first time in at least a month? I had sooooo much anxiety about it. I always get crushing anxiety whenever I go out like that. I'm not scared of what I look like, but scared of things that could happen to me, like losing my keys in the store, getting hit by a cart causing bleeding, etc.. I just think of all the worst possible things.

I also ate too much when I got home. Feel nauseous and bloated. Ugh. I normally never overeat. I usually undereat if anything.

Bad stomach feeling.

I do this too! Catastrophizing..... My dad told me as a teen not to put all my problems in a corner and jump in- thats what im still doing. I try to prevent so much but it just backfires.

Thanks for sharing that, Blueberrybook! I hope your therapy goes well, too.

Well, my elderly dad actually did show up to visit me this morning. I thought he'd forget or cancel. I think he dreads seeing me nowadays, because I've been the one to express the strongest concern for him.

Five minutes into his visit he said he wanted to go out for lunch. That surprised me since I thought he'd stay two hours max and rush home. He, of course, wanted to go to the tavern nearby. I said I only would if he only ordered one beer and nothing else. He nervously agreed.

Eventually he admitted that he is planning to go to a psychoanalyst. I told him I was happy to hear that and encouraged him to tell them a few things he'd not have, in the past. I said a few other things about that, but tried not to lecture him. I reminded him that he rarely sees me or my siblings, and that we are the three people that truly do love him in this world. We are the only ones that would be true dedicated supporters. Not his bar buddies. Not his cafe cronies.

He was shaking very noticeably. I asked him if it was anxiety being with me, alcohol withdrawal shakes, or both. He said probably both. I then tried to turn the conversation to lighter things, like nature. It turned out to be only a 45 minute visit before he stated he was heading home, skipping the lunch idea. I offered that I'd even drive him home. He refused.

My dad was walking very clumsily towards the front door, and probably realizing I noticed, said with a nervous chuckle that he was walking like my maternal grandfather used to. I warned him of the steps out and watched him get to his car. I watched where he couldn't see me. It was several minutes before his car left my driveway. I hope he was just adjusting or maybe calming himself, perhaps putting on the radio, and/or putting some snuff under his lip. I fear he was gulping down some vodka. My bro says he sits in his car doing that regularly for many minutes even before entering his own house, where my bro also lives.

After dad left, I called my hubby telling him the story. I said I feared he went straight to the tavern. Hubby told me to drive there and check. I did. Luckily he wasn't there.

[Blueberrybook]

Originally Posted by BirdDancer

Thanks for sharing that, Blueberrybook! I hope your therapy goes well, too.

Well, my elderly dad actually did show up to visit me this morning. I thought he'd forget or cancel. I think he dreads seeing me nowadays, because I've been the one to express the strongest concern for him.

Five minutes into his visit he said he wanted to go out for lunch. That surprised me since I thought he'd stay two hours max and rush home. He, of course, wanted to go to the tavern nearby. I said I only would if he only ordered one beer and nothing else. He nervously agreed.

Eventually he admitted that he is planning to go to a psychoanalyst. I told him I was happy to hear that and encouraged him to tell them a few things he'd not have, in the past. I said a few other things about that, but tried not to lecture him. I reminded him that he rarely sees me or my siblings, and that we are the three people that truly do love him in this world. We are the only ones that would be true dedicated supporters. Not his bar buddies. Not his cafe cronies.

He was shaking very noticeably. I asked him if it was anxiety being with me, alcohol withdrawal shakes, or both. He said probably both. I then tried to turn the conversation to lighter things, like nature. It turned out to be only a 45 minute visit before he stated he was heading home, skipping the lunch idea. I offered that I'd even drive him home. He refused.

My dad was walking very clumsily towards the front door, and probably realizing I noticed, said with a nervous chuckle that he was walking like my maternal grandfather used to. I warned him of the steps out and watched him get to his car. I watched where he couldn't see me. It was several minutes before his car left my driveway. I hope he was just adjusting or maybe calming himself, perhaps putting on the radio, and/or putting some snuff under his lip. I fear he was gulping down some vodka. My bro says he sits in his car doing that regularly for many minutes even before entering his own house, where my bro also lives.

After dad left, I called my hubby telling him the story. I said I feared he went straight to the tavern. Hubby told me to drive there and check. I did. Luckily he wasn't there.

One time H called the police on a very close friend of his who peeled away and was drunk when H got home. The friend & H lived in the same small apartment complex. H was worried because this friend who never had money and was a known drinker had also suddenly shown up in a pristine new red sports car, one of the expensive brand names. I was with H (this happened when we were engaged), and we spoke to the obviously drunk friend before he peeled away. H struggled with it but thought the guy (besides driving drunk) could be suicidal, and H called the police. He felt awful about it. The police let him know later that they'd stopped his friend with a DWI charge. At least he was safe. I know H always has felt guilty about that, and it did tear apart their friendship, but at least he was safe, and soon after, H got a job requiring him to move across the city, so we lost contact with him. The car ended up belonging to a friend of the guy.

Just saying...if you suspect your dad of being drunk, better safe than sorry. Or even just having the shakes from alcohol withdrawal. But turning in a parent has got to be difficult, much worse than the situation H was in.