Update Post

Well, it has been a pretty decent week in the healthy choices department. Still not drinking, and that feels great. I had a Seedlip Grove and fancy tonic water earlier, and it definitely hit the spot. I’m now going to do the boring thing of reporting back on my progress since last week. If this isn’t your thing, feel free to look away now!

So, the good: I exercised three times this week. Twice on the elliptical and once, unfortunately, by mopping the whole house and scrubbing the bathroom and kitchen. 😦 I made healthy fruit smoothies for myself and family and ate green vegetables almost every day. And I lost one more pound EVEN THOUGH we had brownies with ice cream AND chocolate chip cookies AND dark chocolate this week. Woo hoo! That makes a total of 12 since starting this teetotaling adventure, all without dieting at all. The little things add up, and in general, I’m feeling like I have much more energy these days.

The bad: I’ve been having these terrible all-body itching spells lately. It may be related to my chronic blood disease or it could be some reaction I’m having to an unknown allergen (according to my doctor), but when it is bad (which isn’t every day, thank goodness), all I can do to stop it is take an antihistamine and pass out for hours afterwards. When I wake up, it is gone, but the day is pretty much wasted. Sigh. I’m pretty sure I would have exercised more this week had this not been happening, but it is what it is. Like I said, I’m not going to beat myself up if I don’t get to everything every day. Also, I’m afraid I have to admit that I have become addicted to the game Animal Crossing. I might need an intervention soon. On the other hand, when you are stuck in the house most of the time, having silly little projects to accomplish in this game might just be keeping me sane.

In other news, school is finally over for the summer. Hooray! But, I have to come up with a way to keep my daughter occupied. Right now, she is downstairs playing video games, but who am I to talk (see above confession re Animal Crossing)? Luckily, she has her downstairs neighbor (2 years younger, but still a pretty good playmate and in our coronavirus bubble) to hang out with. Yesterday, my daughter really amazed me with her gratitude. She just started telling me what a lucky kid she was. How she was sure that not all kids have a backyard to play in, a neighbor to safely play with, the jungle gym-type stuff my neighbor put up in the backyard, good food, video games, parents that she can sleep in bed with when she’s scared, etc. Kids are amazing.

We will, however, see how she feels when I most likely tell her I’m not going to feel comfortable with her going to a rented house (with a pool!) with her friend’s family in July. I’ve just been agonizing over this decision because I just don’t know enough about how this family is interacting in the world to know if it is safe. Her friend’s family has rented this beautiful house for most of the summer. I’m pretty sure that my daughter is not the only non-family member they are inviting up to the house. And many people here seem to be completely not worried about the virus anymore. Masks are mandated outside whenever one is within 30 feet of someone else, but does everyone do this? Not a chance! Then, there are the protests which are a wonderful and necessary thing but also scary because social distancing is impossible, and not everyone wears masks. I gave a conditional acceptance to the offer because my daughter REALLY wants to go, but I’m probably going to have to trigger the conditional part as cases are going up. Sigh.

That’s it for now. Wishing you all love, health, and the occasional homemade chocolate chip cookie.

xoxo

Ms. New Leaf