Couch 240: The Vanadis Couch

So do I, the worst part is that she will likely be in the hospital on her 70th Birthday, I did get her a card though and I will probably give it to her when she gets out

Ugh it's 1.30 am in the morning and I can't sleep

I'm still not over all the sleep I've been missing lately. I went to bed at 8:30 PM last night. The alarm woke me at 7:45 AM and I was still tired. I have a lot of grading to do, still. And I have to post an assignment for my Saturday class, which is online this week.

I turn 50 on Wednesday. This fact only registered with me about a month ago. I am not ready.

Wishing all the couchies the best... even the quiet ones.

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H took me out driving today. I drove about 12miles with very little discomfort. Actually, I think the discomfort was more digestion issues than the car ride. But I drove! That's another step closer to seeing L! I'm so excited. We have everything planned. It will be a double session. Gentle long hug. No sitting on the floor. I sit on the couch and she moves her chair over to me. (She's already tested it out...lol). We already know what we'll be processing too. It will have been 2.5 weeks since I've seen her in-person. I'm happy, and this is the happiest I've been in awhile.

I got my new coma inducer comforter today! I definitely won't be cold this winter.

I just turned 48 - that hasn't registered with me yet either. Happy Birthday!

My mom is out of surgery, hopefully all will be well.

Happy Birthday! I'll be 46 in January.

Happy early birthday! Wishing you lots of sleep.

Question for the parental types or anyone with more knowledge about young children than I apparently have. I'm buying Christmas gifts for a 2 year old through a local org that supports people experiencing homelessness. This particular program is for families in housing. They gave a monetary range of $50-$150. I have no idea if it matters if I spend over the top amount. His wish list was for cars, trucks and shoes. Yesterday I went to target and blew through 2/3 of the budget on just shoes and clothes. I got two shirts, some jammies and two pairs of shoes. I still want to get him plenty of toys too. I know little kids grow out of stuff so quickly. Would my money be better spent if I just get one pair of shoes? Have two-year-olds even reached the stage where they care what they're wearing yet?

Hugs Scarlet, I'm glad to hear you were able to drive today with very little discomfort, and that you have your session with L all planned out, it's good to hear you are feeling happy!

We saw H's liver dr today, his normal appt not related to the study. They mostly talked about dietary changes (because that's really all you can do right now for this stage of the disease other than the medication trial he's starting on Tuesday). No sugar, no white flour products, no butter, no 1% - whole milk, no fruit juices... then they talked about what he can eat, like whole grain carbs, fat-free milk in moderation, sugar-free products (they said well it's chemicals, and we're not saying it's healthy, but we also want to be realistic, we'd rather you do that than not make any changes at all), cashews, avocado, eggs, all kinds of whole fruits/veggies, plain greek yogurt adding our own fruit to it, etc. He is actually listening now, and said that he will do what he has to with what they told him, and he told me that he is willing to make these changes since they're allowing sugar-free versions of stuff. He said he feels like he doesn't have a choice now where a year and a half ago, when it was just NAFLD and hadn't yet progressed to NASH, he felt like he still had a chance of it being the kind that doesn't progress but now he knows he has the aggressive kind and knows he doesn't have a choice. I bit my tongue and didn't say "But if you'd made these changes a year and half ago, it probably wouldn't have progressed to NASH". It's his body and I'm not his mother so I can't tell him what to do. I did tell him I'm proud of him for being willing now to make changes, and that I will support those changes any way I can. We went to breakfast after and he found something on the menu that fit the guidelines he was given, and he enjoyed it, and said maybe it won't be so bad. My challenge is now to figure out snacks he can take with him on the road when he's working that are healthy, like veggies, those tuna pouches, etc. Somehow neither one of us ever learned the proper way to eat growing up. I'm going to clean out our pantry of all the stuff he can't have anymore and either donate it to a food bank if they'll take it (I read that most of them now want only whole-grain stuff, and we have a lot of pasta) or we'll give it to our friend's 20-something son who is a beanpole that can eat anything he wants.

Well that was long! Oops. I'm just so relieved that he seems to be taking this seriously now.

Happy birthday! I hope you're able to get caught up on your sleep!

I was okay with turning 50 - but I'm still getting used to being 60, and that happened 4 months ago - that was a tough one for me!

Artie - i had drained canned peaches over nonfat greek yogurt for dinner last night, and it was delish!

There are lots of different like 7 0z cans of fruit on amazon (and i suppose at stores!). They are more single serve than a 15 oz can. There are even tiny avocadoes now.

Thanks! What's the best brand of greek yogurt? I've never bought that.

My H likes Chobani Greek yogurt. If you have a Costco near you, they sell big multipacks of the ones with fruit. Or you can get a bigger container of plain. (I have a textural aversion to yogurt, so can't speak to it!)

If fruit is okay - greek yogurt has a lot of protein and can be sweetened with ripe banana - adding in frozen fruit (blueberries for example) the consistancy sort of is like ice cream with frozen fruit. Mashed frozen bananas are an ice cream substitute as well. I like fage (I think that is how to spell it) and trader joe's is good too

Well I'm off to the grocery store to re-stock my pantry with stuff H can eat!

Thanks LT and sd, I'm going to buy a couple different ones so he can try them and see which one he likes the best. We'll add frozen strawberries, etc and good idea about mashed frozen bananas as an ice cream substitute.

I feel a lot less helpless now that I know he's willing to do this.

Those are my favorites also. Twins!

Yogurt used to have that loose consistency, but now the greek yogurt is almost like cream cheese.

My kiddo cared what she wore at two but she was a mercurial beastie so pleasing her was a moving target anyway. She usually just had one pair of shoes at a time, unless it was winter/rain boots and regular shoes. If you have a current size, you could also buy that size and the next size up because small children do go through shoes quickly. We really like all things Cat & Jack from Target, including their shoes.

Melissa and Doug makes excellent toys. Simpler is often better, both in terms of child development and in terms of keeping the kid's attention. Mine also really enjoyed being read to starting at about 2.5 years old, so a book could be a nice option too. I bet he'll love whatever you pick out!

Yogurt can be tricky if he has to avoid sugar. A ton of brands have added sugar, so make sure you read the label. Hardboiled eggs, dried edamame, and nuts can all be good portable snacks.

That's very kind of you NP. I would just get one pair of shoes.

I don't remember my sisters caring at their age.

This is the Amazon wishlist for a charity in the UK that does similar. You can have a look at some of their requested toys for ideas.

Amazon.co.uk

I second all of this. For clothing, Old Navy also has good-quality clothes for cheap. Not sure about their shoes, though! In terms of toys, I would highly recommend the Leapfrog My Pal Scout stuffed dog, which looks like it's on sale for $12.49 at Target right now. It talks and sings, teaches stuff like ABCs, and you can get it to use the child's name. My daughter *loved* the Violet version and played with it for years. Really, most Leapfrog toys are high-quality. And less annoying than toys of similar brands!

ETA: Do NOT get the B. Toys Cat Piano from Target. It is incredibly annoying! The guitar from the same brand is as well. The kid might love it, but the parent(s) will not!

Ooh, chance for a favorite complaint. Greek yogurt in the US is nothing like real Greek yogurt in Greece, though the plain comes close in some brands (the more sour it tastes, the closer it is to the genuine article).

It’s sweeter here, with added sugar or artificial sweetener. In Greece you sweeten the yogurt yourself by adding honey and/or quince.

Every time I see Fage I think of autophagy.