O Blogger, Where Art Thou?

Surprise!  It’s me:)

For anyone counting, it has been 144 days since my last post.  You’ve been on my mind, as has what would be my three-year blogoversary this month.  The time has come to say “hello” and update anyone who might still be following the errant life and Waisting Times of the former blogger known as Karen.  So, today I once again bring you my thumbs:)

Thumbs up:  Life is good.  Let’s just get that out of the way.  My disappearance from blogging doesn’t reflect anything negative in my life.  No weight gain (as is so often the case when a blogger of this genre goes missing).  No major stressful life incidents.  No emotional upheavals or crisis.  Just the continuation of whatever cosmic shift brought a sudden end to the words flowing from my fingers to this page.  I haven’t missed it.  Oh, I missed YOU!  And sometimes missed the creativity as I would find myself blogging snippets in my head.  And, no, since several of you have asked, I have most definitely NOT missed social media.  Thumbs up at how much more time I have now and how much less of it I spend online.

Thumbs down:  My health.  So the big news is that I’ve been recently diagnosed with a rare autoimmune disease called Pemphigus Vulgaris.  Basically, my body is attacking my skin, specifically my mucous membranes, and for me, the symptoms were all in my mouth and throat.  I found it incredibly ironic that someone who has struggled with food and eating for so long should suddenly find herself in a position where her mouth becomes the focus of her life and every swallow hurts.  I could have blogged volumes about the mental aspect of suddenly truly appreciating true physical hunger and food as fuel and nutrition.  Thumbs up that from what I can tell, my diagnosis came much earlier than most.  Thumbs up that I have responded to medication amazingly fast and with minimal apparent negative side-effects to a heavy dose of Prednisone.  I will continue to take it for months to come, maybe indefinitely, along with a recently added antibiotic.  Thumbs up that I have never had as much willpower in my life to stick to a healthy eating plan, bound and determined to stave off what seems to be an almost inevitable weight gain from steroid use.

Thumbs up:  Getting smart.  A phone, that is.  After (four days short of) four years of faithful service, I retired my still-working dumb phone and copied my husband in his purchase of a Samsung Galaxy S iii.  I cannot say enough about how much I love my new phone.  Oh, the continual joy and convenience from this shiny, inanimate object.

Thumbs up:  Number one son.  My oldest seems to have settled easily into life in the real world.  He is established in his new state (halfway across the country from me, but, thumbs up, he has many friends near him).  He seems to enjoy his job as much as any recent college grad can enjoy any job that rudely interferes with what was so recently a life filled with free time and limited scheduling.  Thumbs down that he’s decided not to spend his vacation time at home this month.

Thumbs up:  Number two son.  Just turned 20, thus my inability to continue to refer to him here as “my teen.”  He is comfortably ensconced in his frat house and was recently elected to an executive position for the coming 12 months.  He has already been snowboarding this season and plans to spend part of his winter break in CA doing more.  Thumbs down that his major is still up in the air.  But he at least thinks he has a possible direction now.  Thumbs up that I am doing very well at “letting go” and not being a long-distance helicopter mom.

Thumbs down:  WordPress.  Really?!  It just logged me out in the middle of this post.  Thankfully it had been auto-saving as I typed along and I didn’t lose much.  That might have really put me over the edge of never blogging again!  And while I’m thinking about WordPress, I wonder if I can import all my content from this self-hosted (i.e. costing money) blog into my old  WordPress.com (i.e. free) blog.  Hmmm.  I can!  Done.  Someday when I shut down this blog, the old content will still be here.

Thumbs up:  Work.  Still enjoying it.  Have finally almost conquered the register!  (Amazingly, after nine months, I still sometimes encounter something new, like having to modify the tax rate for a return from another state.)  Have gotten past the constant backaches from standing.  My feet don’t even hurt unless I do a longer than typical shift.  (Remember – I get to wear my workout shoes to work!)  Thumbs up that I have exerted self-control and not spent every measly dime I earn on clothes.  Thumbs up that working makes me appreciate my time spent NOT working all that much more.

Thumbs up:  Yoga.  Still going.  Twice a week when my schedule allows.  I like it a lot.  For me it is about the flexibility (of which I have very, very, very little) and the strength of holding the poses.  Thumbs down that my mind still wanders and I probably should pay a lot more attention to my breathing.  I still think about being zen, now and again.  But not very often.

Thumbs down:  My body.  I have seemingly entered the “my body is falling apart” years.  Thumbs up that my calf injury from last year has finally mostly healed although it was close to nine months and some starts and stops before I really got back to doing consistent cardio again.  Thumbs up for cardio!  Thumbs down that I woke up one day in July with an apparent pinched nerve somewhere between my neck and upper arm.  That brought me months of discomfort, finally leading me to see a chiropractor for the first time in my life.  Thumbs up that said nerve is much better now, although not totally resolved, thanks, I think, to time, since the chiropractor, to her surprise, wasn’t able to improve things over the course of a month.  Thumbs down that the two therapeutic massages I tried didn’t improve things either; I’d have loved an excuse to pamper myself.

Thumbs ironic:  Blog offers.  In the months I’ve been missing, I’ve gotten a slew of offers related to my blog.  Crazy, that.  Some have even been ones for products I’d have tried if I’d been posting.  Oh well.

Thumbs up:  I loved LA.  (Sing it with me now.)  Hubby and I went out to visit our son for Parent’s Weekend at his university.  This trip we stayed at a condo instead of a hotel, complete with a view from the balcony of the Hollywood sign.  We saw our son briefly each day (dinner out, parent’s tailgate at the frat, Costco run, Lakers’s pre-season game) but spent most of our time playing tourists.  Fun.  Thumbs up for frequent flier miles.  We’ll make the long drive out to visit our other son in PA some time this spring.

Thumbs up:  Vacations.  I’ve got two great ones coming up.  I had not intended to leave you with a cliffhanger in my last post about next summer’s big trip.  We are going to Alaska.  With my brother and SIL.  Small cruise ship on the inner passage, then a day in Anchorage before we head to Denali National Park.  Thumbs up that I got my first pair of hiking boots (after spending an hour and a half in the REI store in LA) and am very slowly breaking them in.  Thumbs up for my return to Canyon Ranch Spa (thanks again to my mom) in February.

Thumbs up:  Purple.  Long my favorite color.  I wear it often.  I even have incorporated it into decor in my home.  (Okay, let’s call that eggplant or, hmm, aubergine.)  And now, a new purple love – sweet potatoes.  YUM.  My SIL, an amazing gardener, brought me a sampling of sweet potatoes when she and my brother recently visited.  Some were purple skinned but light fleshed; one was dark purple through and through.  They were so delicious that I’m almost inspired to take up gardening for myself.  Almost.  Maybe I’ll finally try purple cauliflower:)

Thumbs undecided:  Blogging.  In the back of my mind I am still considering starting a new blog.  I have no idea what I would write.  But the words for this post, once I finally sat down and started typing, came so fast and felt so good flowing out, just this little bit of creativity again.  If I do return to blogging, I think it will be a new home with no connections to this blog.  If you would like to know my new URL, if it happens, please tell me in the comments below or via email (since I do not intend to link or publicize my new location here).  And I’ll be in touch when/if I start anew.

Thumbs thankful, joyful, peaceful, wishful:  Life is good.  My boys were both home for the Thanksgiving.  I was actually so much more aware of being thankful on the holiday this year.  Funny how having something bad happen can make you so much more appreciative of all that is good.  Thank you for being here.  I wish you all a happy, healthy holiday season and the best of everything in the new year.

 

Thumb-thing's Missing

Thumbs down:  Gone missing.  I’m still here:)  Barely.  Still haven’t made any decisions about my blogging future but I did accidentally think of a possible title if I go with a new blog.  Mostly, I haven’t had the urge to write ANYTHING.

Thumbs up:  You.  For your kind words and shared wisdom and continued support as I waffle and ramble on about blogging.  Or not blogging.  Thank you:)

Thumbs up:  Long-distance mothering.  My son, now officially a resident of a state halfway across the country, reminds me now and then that it’s nice to be still needed.  Last week he called to ask how to get chocolate out of a shirt.  This past weekend he texted several times to get details about a recipe.  He seems to be settling into his new life just fine.  Thumbs down that when I hugged him goodbye, after spending almost a week helping him shop and set up his apartment, I broke down into unexpected tears.  I guess it finally hit me:(

Thumbs confused:  Too much of a good thing.  My other son, on the other hand, is still home, although we mostly just see a trail of pizza boxes and dirty clothes since he sleeps until the afternoon then stays out until the wee hours of the morning.  Recently we had him take a sophisticated (which also means expensive) aptitude test to see if it would help him with his struggle to change college majors.  It didn’t much because, drum roll, he’s pretty much good at everything!  Makes it rather hard to narrow down a direction.

Thumbs up:  Work.  Going fine.  I’m enjoying it.  Mostly.  The register still confounds me.  I’m shaking my head just thinking about it.  Thumbs down.

Thumbs up:  Summer reading.  I’ve been really going to town on books lately.  Two of the ones I’ve most enjoyed are Gone Girl (despite a thumbs down on the ending) and the Steve Jobs biography (despite the fact that I have never owned an “i” anything).  Thumbs down that it is still a constant battle to not mindlessly snack while I lay supine on my couch with a book propped up on my mid-section, my favorite reading position.  Thumbs up for the book I just finished, The Stonecutter, which I wouldn’t have even started since, yes, I do sometimes judge a book by its cover, or at least, by the “inside flap,” had my mother (aka book supplier) not known me so well to think to call me to tell me that I’d like it.  Sometimes mother really does know best.

Thumbs up:  Summer TV guilty pleasures.  Two of my favorite shows right now are Design Star and Food Network Star.  Pure fun with no concentration or thought needed.  Thumbs up at getting caught up on chick shows while my guys were out-of-town.  Thumbs down at the brouhaha over House Hunters being staged.  I wish it wasn’t, but I still enjoy watching.  And speaking of brouhaha, thumbs down that the world cares so much about TomKat.  Or that the media thinks the world cares so much!

Thumbs still waiting:  Personal training.  As some of you already know, for years I have been working out every week with my mom and a trainer.  FUN!  But not for the past month while our trainer is between gyms.  I miss it and I miss seeing my mom and catching up twice a week.  But thumbs up that I’ve been pretty consistent with getting to MY gym (where I also do yoga) for strength training group classes.  Thumbs up that it doesn’t even cost me anything since my fee pays for unlimited classes.

Thumbs down:  The weather.  Hot.  Hot.  Oh, did I mention it’s been hot?  And dry.  So dry that the gas line leading to our friends’ house broke in the dry ground.  We spent time hanging out in their yard, waiting for the “gas man,” after we dropped them off from dinner recently, because an observant neighbor smelled the gas outside.  Thumbs down that I ended up with a slew of mosquito bites and right now I am ITCHHHHY.  And, thumbs down, apparently I’m allergic.  To the mosquito bites, not the heat.

Thumbs down:  Car trouble.  Almost the minute my husband (aka liaison to all things car related) left town, the check engine light came on in our minivan.  Thumbs up that thanks to some internet research, I discovered an auto parts store nearby that would check it for free and read the “error code,” even on a Sunday evening.  Thumbs up that it ended up being nothing serious.  The irony was that as my teen left home (for the overnight trip to take the aptitude test mentioned above), he admonished that I should NOT drive his car while he was gone; for a few hours there it looked like I might have to!  Thumbs up that he’s pretty excited about his new (used) wheels and that his college roommate will be flying here so that they can make the long drive out to California together.  Thumbs up that I’m only just slightly worried about two teens in an SUV taking a road trip cross-country.

Thumbs down:  Food.  For the last month I have eaten more crap than, well, than in a really long time.  There are several reasons, or call them “excuses,” but I don’t plan to write about that stuff anymore.  Just want to be honest, given how and why I started this blog, and say that, yes, oops, I did it again.  But I am once more back on track.  Thumbs down that it is very clear to me that I will ALWAYS need to be diligent to not slip into old habits and to not lose focus of the new ones that serve me well.  Thumbs down that I really should feel motivated to write a blog post about that habits stuff, but, nope.

Thumbs up:  New recipe.  The vegetarian and the “good carb-er” happily met in the middle with grilled, marinated portobello mushrooms.  Meanwhile, the carnivore, aka our teen, had a steak.  Thumbs down that our son has been getting lots and lots and lots of Chinese food while he’s home.  I’m pretty sure that even the healthiest sounding of options are not actually healthy.  Probably even the broccoli that I nibble from his dishes (heaven forbid he ingest a vegetable) is laden with sugar and salt and…

Thumbs to be determined:  Blood pressure.  Whenever I see my internist, as I did last week for my annual exam, my blood pressure measures high.  I’m used to this anomaly so I have gotten smart and track it for a while at home before I go in, so that I can show her the very good readings that are typical for me.  This year she wasn’t taking my word for it and wants me to bring my home machine into her office to be sure it’s accurate.  Meanwhile, my husband’s pressure, which he also tracks at home, has been reading above normal for a while so I’m happy to report that I think he finally is accepting that he should implement some lifestyle changes to see if he can bring it down before his own appointment in a few months with the same doctor.

Thumbs up:  Future plans.  I have something very excited planned for next year.  A fabulous trip.  A “my nest is finally empty and I’m going to splurge and say I’m celebrating my 25th wedding anniversary and 50th birthday so I don’t feel guilty spending all that money” trip.  I don’t want to say more about it yet until dates are officially chosen and deposits are paid.  But if I actually had a bucket list, this would be one of the top items on it:)

What destinations are on your travel bucket list?  Read any good books lately?  How’s the summer treating you?