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All my family and friends in Minnesota are going to laugh at this but I’m in North Carolina and this is very cold for here.

It was 11 degrees here when I got up at 7:30 am.

And the predicted high for today is 27 degrees.

That’s below freezing folks.

Yesterday, it rained a bit and people were watching closely to see if it turned into snow.

Sure glad I brought my hat and gloves.

Now  if they would just heat the main building so we didn’t need to wear them inside.

I wonder if they think of shivering as exercise?

TTYL,

Linda

On Friday the doctor here recommended I cut one of my blood pressure pills in half.

So I did that Saturday, Sunday, and this morning.

Then I went to the nurse to get a new reading.

112/70.

The  nurse said we might need to reduce it more. She said that often happens at about 20 lbs loss.

Then I went to a morning stretch class and still got a little dizzy.

She may be right.

Which shouldn’t surprise me since she has been working here about 30 years so well knows what the trends are when it comes to medicine and weight loss.

Wouln’t it be wonderful if I get off all meds by the time I leave mid-March?

TTYL,

Linda

Yesterday, in an exercise class, I got light-headed. When I stopped participating the instructor asked me if I was OK. Then another participant said I was pale. As the class ended they both expressed concern about me with the participant refusing to leave me alone for fear I would faint and no one would notice me in that seldom used room.

So she walked me out to my next activity where she expressed her concern about me to one of the exercise trainers. The trainer assured the participant that she would keep an eye on me and she did.

This was not my first episode of light-headedness here. But, it was stronger than previous ones. So I did my next exercise at half speed and was fine with that.

This morning, following the advice they all gave me, I asked the nurse to take my blood pressure. It was the lowest reading I remember ever having.

I take three pills every morning to keep my heart from pumping too hard. It appears that as my weight drops and my fitness improves my heart does not have to work so hard to pump my blood. Apparently, the pills are making it not work hard enough now. I have an appointment to see the doctor here on Friday to see if it is time to reduce my meds.

Is that another success?

TTYL,

Linda

December 21st my iPad decided to become private. It stopped showing me what it was doing. I could hear things happening. iTunes would connect and say it was backing up my iPad to my laptop. But my screen was blank.

It looked much like a window with the top half being a slightly different gray tone than the bottom half. And someone keep pulling down a window shade that was a another shade of gray.

So, what did I do? I called Dave, of course.

We tried this. Then we tried that. Then we tried another thing. Until finally we decided we couldn’t fix this ourselves. I would need to make a trip to the local Apple Store.

Since I took my van to Texas I don’t have a car here. The Apple store is less than 10 miles away but that’s a nearly $30 taxi ride each direction. So, I showed some friends here what was happening and word got around that I needed a ride to the Apple Store. Fortunately, a woman, from Minnesota no less, was going that way December 23rd.

So I hitched a ride to the Apple Store. Sort of. If you look at the mall map below you will see an entrance on the upper right between Macy’s and section D.

 

I was dropped off there with instructions to walk to the central court then right on out the other side and a block up a pedestrian only street. Unfortunately my definition of the other side did not match that of the giver of instructions and I did not see this map before I went. So I walked all the way down to JC Penney. Wrong. I was supposed to turn between sections B & C and go out that side. Instead I went out the side of Penney’s and walked through the parking lot to the “Lifestyle” mall on the north side of this mall.

I did eventually find the Apple Store where I traded in my broken iPad and a bunch of money for a new one. But they were out of the SIM card I needed to make the cellular part work. They said there was a Verizon store by the center of the mall I had just walked through. And I remembered seeing it but had no idea where it was. So I found this map. Guess where it was?

Right. All the way back by the entrance I had come in. So I walked all the way back again, taking rest breaks along the way because I was totally exhausted.

But my new iPad works. And it is lighter than the one I had so I won’t get so tired carrying it around. And the taxi picked me up at that door and brought me right to my door here.

Still, I took today off and stayed home. I don’t feel a need to do any exercise classes today.

Merry Christmas.

TTYL,

Linda

ps. My FitBit says I walked almost 2 1/2 miles yesterday. It has been years since I walked that far which I’m taking as a sign of my increased health.

Thursday I got invited to a white elephant gift exchange next Thursday. Do minimalists own white elephants? Am I going to have to go buy one?!!! Guess I don’t get to keep those new earrings I just bought but have not yet worn. Wonder what I will do with what I get in exchange? Ah, the price we pay to participate in community.

One woman was missing the Christmas preparation. She persuaded staff we should get to decorate. So they put up a tree and gave us bins of decorations and we spent Friday evening decorating the lounge area and listening to Christmas music. It feels a lot more like Christmas here now.

Tomorrow afternoon there is a wrapping party where we get to wrap our white elephants then place them under the tree. I plan to sneak peeks to see if I can figure out what is in which package. That will be followed by a sing-a-long around the piano.

The gift exchange is scheduled for Christmas night. Should be interesting. Everyone who brings a gift gets to pick a number from a hat. Then number 1 gets to choose a gift from under the tree. Then number 2 gets to choose, etc. When all the gifts are distributed we go around again and you get to swap your gift for someone else’s if you want to do so. Only then do any of the gifts get opened. I think I won’t swap my first choice because I would probably wind up wishing I had it back. Maybe I should pick the package I wrapped so I get to keep my earrings? Nah, the fun is in seeing what you did get.

And there will be a special menu for Christmas dinner. Beef tenderloin with shrimp, parsley potatoes, roasted asparagus, and chocolate pudding. Does that sound like Christmas to you?

TTYL,

Linda