Catching Up Yet Again

 

I'm taking a break from writing about diet and exercise until December 11. I may make references to it in these blogs, but I'm determined not to obsess about it ! Here's my "week in review" so far !

Thanksgiving turned out to be a nice day despite forecasts of bad weather that came out earlier in the week. I got a late start (left the house after 10:30, which is when I was supposed to be picking up Lauren) but it all worked out. Since Barb had to travel to Virginia for the birth of her grandson, Rich was left to host the day. Lauren and I went over early to help. Since I pre-made the stuffing and gravy all we needed to do was peel and cook the potatoes and get out all the dinnerware, while Rich fried the turkey. Everything went perfectly and we enjoyed the entire meal. Last year my stuffing was kind of dry so this year I made sure to add extra broth and also added a little bit of water when I reheated it. It turned out perfect ! We didn't have a ton of leftovers because everyone took a plate home, so that was great too ! I overate a little and paid for that when I got home. I was pretty uncomfortable most of the night.

Friday morning I woke to a chilly house. It was only 68 in the downstairs and the registers were cold. The upstairs and the laundry room had warm registers but the temps were more like 66 in those zones. I went to the basement and could feel the water line to the living room was relatively cool to the touch, while the other 2 zones were hot. I unplugged the system and restarted it but that didn't change anything. I was freaking out - yet again it's just before vacation and my heat is acting up. After I thought about it a while I decided to turn off the heat to the upstairs and the laundry room and then restart the system. Once I did that the line for the downstairs heated right up, along with the registers in the living room and dining room. That told me the system is 100% in working order and I think it was prioritizing the colder zones. No one ever explained to me how this system works or is supposed to work and the book for the boiler doesn't go into the system that circulates the hot water throughout the house. As a result, I have no way to know when there might be a problem. In this instance, I think everything is fine and I am just too anxious about it. I did change the thermostat for the laundry room to 68 so the system doesn't have to work so hard to get to temp. The upstairs has been on 68 and that is perfectly comfortable. I did leave the living room zone on 70 as I spend the most time in this area. When I go to Disney I'm setting all the zones on 65. 

When I went to leave Thursday I was very upset to see the dash light up like Christmas still ! I filled all the tires with my new compressor yet the tire pressure system still said they were underinflated. I was so upset and thinking the compressor settings were off but I didn't have time to get the compressor out again, so I just left. Well, to my surprise within a couple minutes of driving the warning light turned off ! I guess it takes a couple minutes for the sensor to recognize the tire pressure had been changed. I was really happy to see that ! Yet another problem solved ! 

I did very little on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. I mostly sat on the couch watching YouTube or playing slot games. I did finish up the laundry, went to the grocery store and started packing for Florida. I am packing so much lighter I barely need a carryon bag ! 

In an effort to not get sick this time, I started taking Airborne on Saturday. It's mostly just a gigantic dose of Vitamin C with a few other elements thrown in and the chewable tablets actually taste pretty good !

I really want to get my front porch decorated for Christmas before I go, so that the lights can go on and off while I'm gone. The plan right now is to do that tomorrow during lunch or after work. Today I cleaned the litter boxes during lunch but I didn't accomplish anything after work. I'm in such a funk right now and it's 100% because I'm going to Florida as a fat person. I'm really disappointed in myself and although I have said is 100 times this year I am going to try harder when I get back.

Monday and Tuesday were work days and my heating problem in the downstairs returned. I was completely wrong in my thinking about zones being prioritized based on temp. They are not ! I couldn't figure out what was wrong and today (Wednesday) I tinkered with it some more. The problem sounded like air in the system so I opened one of the faucets on the circulation system and let some water out. Well - that was stupid and it caused the boiler to shut down due to low water. As a result I immediately had no heat and no hot water. I frantically texted the guy that fixed the boiler last November - which I should have done first thing Monday ! He was kind enough to come right out and within 20 minutes it was fixed. There was sediment clogging things up (no surprise), so the water wasn't refilling. Going forward I will contact him immediately if there is a problem ! My days of tinkering are done ! Lucky for me it only cost $80 to fix. I did tell him I'd like him to come back and address some of the issues I've had from day one - mostly that one register in the bedroom never gets very warm. The hot and cold water is also backwards in the bathroom. I'd just like him to tinker with the system to make sure everything is set up correctly and working to its full potential. I'm also going to have him come every October to service the boiler and make sure it's all set for winter heating. I got very lucky today as he is going out of town tomorrow for 3 days ! If he couldn't fix it today I don't know what I'd have done. There's a little bit of a silver lining in this cloud, because if I had left it alone the heat probably would have failed completely while I was gone.

With the heat problem out of the way and off my mind, I went outside after work to clean up the driveway. We had at least a foot of snow over the past 2 days. My new plow guy did an amazing job clearing the driveway, so I couldn't be happier. There was less cleanup for me to do along the edges of the driveway, so I was able to spend time clearing away what the plow left at the end of the driveway. I also widened the end of the driveway. I like to keep on top of that because if I don't the snowbanks get higher and the driveway gets narrower ! Tomorrow is supposed to be in the 40's and rain is on the way, so I'm glad to have all the excess snow shoveled out of the way. 

Leaving my cats is weighing on my mind a lot this year. I just know Alyssa and Erin will not feed Abby the way I do and that worries me. She survived last year but I feel like she is a bit more frail this year. I'm just not feeling the holiday spirit and I'm depressed about being so fat. I'm hoping some sun at Disney will help lift my spirits ! If it does, I am 100% ordering a light therapy device as soon as I get home. I am so down this year. Tomorrow or Friday night is really my last chance to get the front porch decorated. I really want to do that so my house doesn't look so deserted. 

I'm pretty well packed when it comes to clothing. I have last minute things like charging my phone, Fitbit, power bank and Magic band - then I can pack those items. I decided not to fuss with a dress and brought a pretty sparkly top for our fancy dinner night. I can wear it with my black jeans. Weather in Orlando looks to be low to mid 70's next week, which will be perfect.

I finally made the decision to stop playing the online slot games. They were taking all of my time every single day. I'm going back to puzzle games like Candy Crush, which challenge my mind and can be played at my own pace. The slot games had me chasing daily, weekly and monthly challenges. The pressure to not miss a day was too much.

I've really just been in a depressed slump for the past couple of months. When I get back from Florida I'm really going to try hard to get back on track with diet and exercise.

Today I discovered that The Polar Express is on Hulu ! This is my favorite holiday movie and I watched it 3 or 4 times today ! I love putting it on at bedtime as I can turn over, close my eyes and just listen to it while I fall asleep.

I didn't get a lot of work done today because of the heating issue. Tomorrow I need to buckle down and try to get as much as I can done before I go on vacation. Friday is an office day and I know I won't accomplish much, so tomorrow is key.

After a nice hot shower and 2 aspirin to address my sore body I felt human again for the first time in a while. Having the heat issue resolved is a huge weight off my shoulders.