Insomnia

Yesterday was so much fun.  We learned a lot at the meeting in the morning about estate planning.  We then picked up our friend Donna and went to the British Isles event celebrating the Queen.  The food and company were both excellent.  After a nap and a quick dinner, we enjoyed the Disney Fan Club meeting before returning home for some evening TV.

Then things got weird.  I usually have no trouble sleeping.  I might wake up a few times to go to the bathroom, but I always fall asleep again easily.  I go to bed between 11:30 and midnight every night and usually wake up around 7 and 7:30.

So I'm not sure what went wrong last night.  I went to bed at 11:30, and then played some puzzles on my phone before turning out the light at midnight.  Then I lay there with no chance of falling asleep for ninety minutes.  At 1:30 I got up.  Mark was still sitting up reading then, too.  I went out to the TV room and watched House Hunters International until 2 a.m. and then two hour-long episodes of Property Brothers.  At 4 a.m. HGTV goes off and turns into infomercials.  So I went back to the bedroom, played some more puzzles, and finally turned out the light at 4:15.  I set my alarm for 8:15 and fell asleep.  Four hours of sleep is not my usual, that's for sure!

I am blaming it on the can of Coke Zero and the ninety minute nap in the afternoon.  That's all I can think to blame it on!  I noticed a few years ago that caffeine late in the day keeps me up.  I switched to decaf coffee because of that, but I was craving that cold drink last night at 10 p.m. and forgot about the caffeine in it.  Oh, well...I managed to hold myself together to play Mah Jongg this morning from 9:30 to noon.  Soon we are heading up to the Palms for a HEAL meeting.  Then if I'm tired, I can take a SHORT nap before dinner and tonight's Travel Club New Year's Eve Cruise Meeting at 7 p.m.  I hope that sleep comes more easily tonight.

God Save the Queen!

I have several things to talk about today.

First, Mark and I failed in our quest this year.  Every year since the kids were little, we have played the License Plate game.  We try to find all 50 states from the start of Memorial Day Weekend through the end of Labor Day Weekend.  The kids have long grown up and lost interest in the game; Mark would stop easily; I am obsessed and cannot stop!  Most of the time we have found all 50. There was the notable year that we thought we would fail and then found the last one, South Dakota, on Labor Day.  This year we failed.  We did not find Montana OR Wyoming.  Wyoming is a hard one and has caused us to fail in the past.  Montana was odd because we have always seen it before. 

I must admit that it's harder to do down here in Florida than in the mid-Atlantic right next to a major army base and surrounded my dozens of federal agencies!  People usually think it's Hawaii and Alaska that mess us up.  Actually, we have always found them, and not just on the years when we were IN those states like this year.  We saw Alaska in the Disney parking lots more than once this summer.  I'm very glad we went to Hawaii this year because I don't think we would have seen it around here this time.

So...there's always next year.

Second, as I predicted yesterday, most of that weight from Monday night's dinner is gone.  277 yesterday morning and 274.6 this morning.  I'm happy.  I had a good day, foodwise, yesterday, although no exercise.

Today we are having a BUSY Solivita day.  At 10 a.m. we are attending a lecture about what to do with passwords and online accounts after someone passes away.  Sounds morbid, but seems like we should know.  At noon we are attending a special Fish and Chips luncheon to Honor the Queen with the British Isles club.  Today Queen Elizabeth II becomes the longest reigning monarch in British History, passing Queen Victoria who had held that record.  We will have a lunch and watch video of all the British hoopla and pageantry that took place this morning in England.  I'm actually looking forward to that.

Tonight we have a meeting with all the Travel Club members who are going on the New Year's Eve Cruise this year.  That should also be a lot of fun.

Just another day in Solivita.

Day after Labor Day

Labor Day is not just a day off from school or work. It always makes me think about unions. Mark and I were both members of our unions.  Most workers have enjoyed the benefits unions have won for them, even if they are not members. 

Meanwhile, Summer Frozen Fun on Sunday was great.  We had a perfect seat for the parade, in the shade, seated, right at the start of it.  Crazy good.  The new Olaf show was very cute.  We did all of our fastpasses, enjoyed our lunch and dinner, and then left early because it was pouring down rain.  I don't know if they did the fireworks or not because we didn't wait around.  At 8 p.m. we came out of the Frozen Sing-Along show, which was spectacular, and it was pouring.  We didn't feel like waiting ninety minutes to see if it would stop and have fireworks.  We went home and watched them on YouTube instead!

Yesterday morning I worked about two hours on SOJC Choir stuff for the High Holidays.  Then I played Mah Jongg and won only ONE game.  Tough day for me, but that's how it goes.  Last time I won five games, so I didn't expect to do that well this week.

I didn't write a Monday blog yesterday, so I didn't post my weight.  It was 274 yesterday, so about the same.  This morning I'm up THREE to 277. I am not surprised because we had a HUGE meal out at the Grand Floridian Cafe last night.  I had a bit more breakfast at home than usual and a good lunch, but then I ate an entire strip of Ritz crackers with lots of sodium.  Then there was dinner.  I had all of this: raspberry mojito, glass of Chardonnay, big bowl of potato corn chowder, half the cheese plate shared with Mark, two and a half BIG rolls with lots of highly salted butter, salmon with miso glaze on a mound of sticky rice and string beans, two scoops of mixed berry sorbet with raspberries and blueberries on top.  So....that's the reason I am up three pounds.  Mark had a whiskey, a glass of Chardonnay, the same entree but he only ate half the rice, half a roll with a little butter, half the cheese plate, and the no sugar added berry pyramid which is raspberries, blueberries, and strawberries in an artfully shaped no sugar gelatin mold.  Then he got up and walked out with no problems whatsoever.  We both felt a little tipsy, so we did sit in the lobby of the Grand Floridian listening to the orchestra and then the pianist for about an hour before driving home.  Mark also took a long walk from the lobby out to the boat dock and back to see if his heart would act up, but it did not. 

I'm sure it's very good news in the long run that his heart is not acting up!  His stress test was normal, and he has not heard anything about the echocardiogram, so we think that means it was normal, too.  He sees the cardiologist again in about two weeks, so I'm sure he will be pronounced just fine.

We went out for dinner with a purpose and we failed.  Mark has been wearing the heart monitor, and he has not experience any symptoms.  He usually gets them about every other month or so and usually after a big meal.  We like the Grand Floridian Cafe, and he had an episode after eating there in June.  We thought that same big meal with a couple of drinks would trigger something, but it did not.  It did give me an extra three pounds, but I'm sure they will be gone by tomorrow.  I'll have all regular meals at home and be a little bit active in that I have a mani/pedi to go to and a Guys and Dolls rehearsal tonight.  Those are not exactly aerobic activities, but they get me out of the house for a few hours and away from potential snacks.

i am in desperate need of the mani/pedi.  I have not had one since the end of July, the week before we left of Hawaii, so six weeks ago!  I've given myself a manicure two weeks ago, and I've filed my toenails about one a week.  Still, I am really looking forward to the professional touch!

Here are some pictures from Summer Frozen Fun.

Sand sculpture at the entrance

No one was in front of us at the parade.  That almost never happens.  Anna in her carriage.

This year they have Olaf!

Hans

Elsa got her own ice float this year.

We asked for the Cowboy room at Great Movie Ride, so they gave us row one!  We never had that before.

Sure enough, we got highjacked by a cowboy.

New show with Olaf, very cute.

The Sing-Along is lots of fun.  It's in a nicer, much bigger theater now.

At the end there was literally a BLIZZARD!

Summer Frozen Fun, part two, at last.

Today we will finally get to Disney's Hollywood Studios for Frozen Summer Fun.  This is our third attempt!  It looks like it will be a go today for sure.  All of our body parts are functioning as well as can be expected at this age, and there is no hurricane on the horizon.  We will take our rain ponchos in a back pack because there is always afternoon thunderstorms possible.

Yesterday Evey and Eric had a lovely long hike and then went to San Francisco to see Billy Joel live in concert.  Lowell and Emily saw him in Baltimore back in July and this is the same tour.  I'm sure they must have had a great time.

Mark and I went to shul and were surprised to see there was a bar mitzvah!  We almost didn't go in when we got there so early (for us!) and the parking lot was packed, but we did go in and had no trouble getting seats.  It was a lovely service and our friend Jody was the caterer.  The food was outstanding, and as always, I ate too much.  That's no doubt why I'm up a few pounds today.  When we got home, we didn't do anything but sit in front of the TV, or on the lanai reading, or playing on the computer.  Sitting was the main activity!

Hopefully, all the walking around at the Studios will work some of that off today.  There are going to be a few new things this year.  Olaf has his own 10 minute stage show.  There's some additional special floats in the parade.  They are also showing that adorable short animation,  Frozen Fever, that ran in front of the new live action Cinderella movie back in March.  Anyway, I really loved it, and I'm looking forward to seeing it again.  We have fast passes for Star Tours, Great Movie Ride, and the Frozen Sing-a-Long, too.  Of course, we will have dinner at the Commissary as always and see the nighttime fireworks.  It's going to be a lovely day.

Love Fridays. Who doesn't? And it's Evey and Eric Gaertner's Fourth Anniversary!!!!

We had our NARFE meeting yesterday, which is always enjoyable.  Then I had my sonogram, which was acceptable.  Then we went to a movie in the ballroom, which was fun.  So much for Thursday.

Today is Friday.  I have spent the morning tidying up for the cleaning lady.  Doesn't everybody?  Soon we are heading up to the Village Center to get some tickets for Jay and the Americans when they come later in the year as well as two tickets for tonight's classical piano concert.  Our friends Donna and Alan are going with us and will hold us seats in the ballroom so that we can slip in at the last minute.  It's very hard for us to get out of the library at 4, get home, make and eat a Shabbat dinner, and get anywhere by 7, even if it's only up at the Village.  Still, the concert should be amazing.  We also plan to walk a mile in the indoor track, hit up Publix for a few last minute things, and work in the library from 1-4.  Busy day, but an awesome day!

At Lowell and Emily's wedding, July 12, 2014.

Finally, Happy Anniversary to my dear daughter Evey and her fabulous husband Eric.  It's their fourth wedding anniversary.  They have now known each other nearly 10 years because they met in the fall of '05, their freshman year of college.  Some things are just meant to be.

At their wedding reception, Sept. 4, 2011.

Relaxing in the cabana in Aulani in 2015.

Here they are in the summer of 2010 in Eric's NJ backyard, preparing to head to California!

Our first visit to CA in July of 2010 when we drove her car across country for her.

Fourth of July weekend at Eric's parents' house in NJ, 2014.

update on GYN appointment

My GYN gets great marks on the websites that rate doctors, and his wife is a GYN Oncologist who came to Solivita and gave a talk on the subject of robotic surgery, which is how I got her name and then his.  Unfortunately, he's also an OB, so I ended up seeing a nurse practitioner yesterday.  I can only assume he was delivering a baby, so the nurse was sent in to cover.  The waiting room was so crowded when we got there that there were no seats left, and it's a BIG waiting room since there are three or four doctors in that office.  Even so, I was seen only 40 minutes after my scheduled time.  I admit I was sitting and waiting and thinking that I should find a good GYN who is not also an OB!

The nurse practitioner was very nice, and in general I like and respect them very much.  She listened to me, did a urine test to rule out kidney stones or bladder infections, and did an exam.  She offered me pain pills, but I declined them.  Advil is doing nicely.  She told me to stop taking 800 mg twice a day and move to 400 or 600 three times a day instead.  I didn't even take any yesterday because the pain was more of an annoyance than actual pain.  So far this morning I don't think I need any either.  For some reason the whole thing got much better yesterday.  Of COURSE, because I went to the doctor so nothing hurt!

She did order an ultrasound, which I'm having tomorrow afternoon and then a follow up visit to discuss the results next Friday.  That's all I could expect, so the visit went as I thought it would.

I started Guys and Dolls last night, and it was wonderful!  My friends Donna and Esther had saved me a seat.  That was so kind and unexpected.  We sang two songs from a big Mamma Mia medley and then worked on The Impossible Dream.  It was just so much fun to sing and to be part of a big choir again.  I had skipped an entire year because last year I got that gigantic cyst on my back that took multiple office visits and surgeries to clear out.  It just made it too hard to get to the rehearsals or sit against a chair for too long.  I'm just a little afraid that if the ultrasound shows a hysterectomy is in order, I will need to drop out again this year.  I would be sad, but I'll enjoy going while I can right now.  Singing is so much a part of me! 

Today we are having a play date with Barb and Al.  We have combo tickets for the new Orlando Eye, the Wax Museum, and the SeaLife Aquarium.  I'm not sure about going on the EYE.  I don't like heights, and the thing has broken down and stranded people a few too many times.  On the other hand, the weather is perfect today and it doesn't move too fast.  There are no seats in it, so you have to stand up for the entire 20 minute ride.  Even Mark isn't sure about doing it!  The Wax Museum and Aquarium are new and right by the EYE.  They may even be owned by the same company because the website sells combo tickets to the three.  We got an outstanding deal from AAA.  We are also going to have a fun lunch at the kosher place nearby.  Mark and I have been looking forward to that because it's been about a year since we went there.

Tonight I have my SOJC choir which will be quite the contrast to last night's big choir.  I could have SIX people maximum tonight if everyone comes, but everyone NEVER comes.  We are definitely singing for the High Holidays this year, but after that, I am still not sure of the future of this choir.

3 p.m. appointment time

Today is mostly about going to the GYN this afternoon.  I don't know what he will say or what tests he might order, but I will write a second one either tonight or tomorrow morning after the appointment.  I have spent some time this morning googling hysterectomies and the recovery time for the various types, just in case.

I checked my weight from January of 2014, my last appointment at this GYN's office.  I am up 30 pounds since then, so I bet he will not like that.  Maybe I'll get lucky, and he won't care.  If I do need a surgery, I hope they can do it at this weight.  I have had 9 surgeries, but none of them were at a weight this high.  This morning I weighed 276.6.  I have been nervous and upset this week, which means I overeat.  I didn't even report yesterday's weight for Monday, but it was essentially the same as today.  That means I've gained three pounds.  That's so typical for me when I'm stressed and not exercising.

Mark and I enjoyed seeing the new ballroom.  The stage is squared off and bigger.  New curtains were installed on the sides to create a more private and nicer looking "backstage" area.  That area also hides a door to the kitchen hallway where they created a small powder room for the use of the kitchen staff as well as performers.  There is no need to go out into the house or to use the public bathroom.  On the other hand, that one bathroom will be fine for small groups or a single performer, but when 120 Guys and Dolls performers all need it at intermission, it will be woefully inadequate!  LOL.  It's clearly not for them.  The sound system may or may not be new.  Although a band was playing live on stage and using the sound system, I could not tell if it was better, new, or the same.  The bar they created in the back looks nice.  They put it where they used to set up coffee pots for club activities and where the big table for the sound engineers for Guys and Dolls would set up their equipment.  I guess they will have to set up somewhere else now.  The biggest thing we noticed that was NOT changed was the carpet.  Because I was specifically looking for new and fresh things, the ratty, dirty carpet really stood out.  In fact, this was the first time I noticed that there are three different types of carpet  and they don't even go together.  i asked if it was going to be replaced but was told it was not in the budget.  It is supposed to get steam-cleaned, but I think it would need more than that to improve its look.  We enjoyed the morning, though.  The band was good and we got free coffee and a cupcake.

Then we walked up the village street to the gym.  We walked the track.  I walked 20 laps, one mile, in 21 minutes.  I was pretty happy with that because walking makes the cyst hurt, so I didn't know if I could do it.  It didn't hurt as much as I had feared it would.  I had also taken 800 mg Advil with breakfast, which was shortly before we left, so it was definitely working at the time.  Later Mark also went up and lifted weights, but I have been doing that lately.

Yesterday I won FIVE games of Mah Jongg.  Last week I only won one game and yesterday five.  That's the way that game goes!

I can feel the adrenaline pumping because I'm nervous about going to the doctor for fear of what they will find or what tests they will order.  I'll write what happens later tonight or tomorrow.  I promise.